Chapter 10 - The Voicemail
I listened once.
Only once.
Then told Rebecca never play unless legally necessary.
“Code worked.”
Derek’s voice.
“Wire’s pending.”
Then:
“She’s sitting at bus stop thinking this is about eighty bucks.”
I had spent hours under cold sky wondering how to make him forgive me.
He had been laughing.
Then:
“If bank releases tomorrow, we move everything out and Briarline becomes her problem.”
Clear.
Then:
“She’ll apologize when she gets home.”
I had planned to.
That was the worst.
Catherine found me in her library later.
I had gone because my apartment felt too small for grief.
She sat beside fireplace.
“Thomas said you listened.”
“Yes.”
“Do you want advice?”
“No.”
“Excellent.”
Silence.
Then:
“I would give it badly.”
I smiled faintly.
We sat.
Eventually I asked:
“Why did I believe him?”
“Because marriage normally contains trust.”
“I handed over everything.”
“Most people share things with spouses.”
“I let him change passwords.”
“Yes.”
“I stopped checking.”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that stupid?”
Catherine turned toward my voice.
“When I ran a public company, I delegated signing authority worth hundreds of millions.”
Then:
“Was that stupid?”
“No.”
“Trust is not stupidity.”
She tapped cane.
“Refusing evidence forever can become denial.”
“But you changed after evidence.”
I did too.
Then criminal investigation.
The voicemail shifted.
Detective Reyes and state attorney reviewed.
Possible charges:
Identity theft.
Forgery.
Bank fraud.
Theft from employer.
Conspiracy.
Brenda.
Derek.
International transfer.
Federal authorities consulted due bank and offshore wire.
No arrest yet.
Complex financial cases.
Then Derek’s job.
Sterling Crown special committee completed preliminary findings.
Terminated Derek for cause.
Terminated Brenda for cause.
Not waiting criminal.
Employment standard different.
Reasons:
Undisclosed related party vendor.
False conflict certifications.
Misuse company funds.
Unauthorized reimbursements.
Retaliation against staff? Did they retaliate? We can add. A controller named Nathan Lee questioned Briarline and Derek put him on performance plan. Audit found. Good.
Then Howard Sloan stepped down as executive chair voluntarily because governance failure.
Independent chair.
Company continued.
Catherine's lender credit committee granted covenant waiver conditioned on controls.
No collapse.
Then Derek filed wrongful termination demand.
Claim Catherine pressure.
Special committee’s independent counsel documented process.
Weak.
Then Brenda’s relationship with father collapsed.
Not my problem.
Then affair became public because court filings.
Derek blamed me.
He posted? Avoid public social drama. Through friend.
Then divorce discovery.
His finances.
He had $186,000 in separate retirement.
Nashville? No debt earlier? In this story Derek’s motive is management buyout. We need personal financial motive. Could be he and Brenda wanted to buy dealership and needed capital. He also had $280k secret debt from investment. Let's add carefully now.
Discovery showed Derek had borrowed $220,000 against brokerage and credit to fund Harbor Nine startup.
He was underwater.
Management buyout needed more.
The fraudulent vendor margin was their capital.
He wanted control.
Brenda wanted father’s company.
They needed seed.
Then why life with Olivia? He used her identity because clean credit, not expecting death. This is financial abuse, not murder. Good.
Hotel receipts are affair.
Biggest secret corporate fraud/frame job.
No need kill.
Then divorce settlement.
Prenup? Not mentioned. They likely no prenup, modest vs Derek. Marital assets limited.
Joint savings mostly gone.
Condo rented.
Car maybe lease in Derek name.
Pension.
Retirement contributions.
The central issue restitution for money withdrawn.
Court could allocate marital estate, not corporate fraud.
Rebecca sought reimbursement for $44,000 joint funds transferred to Briarline without consent.
Derek argued business investment for marriage.
But Olivia not aware.
Court would later decide.
Then my mother’s $80 gift.
I visited.
She wore blanket I bought.
I laughed.
“That thing destroyed marriage.”
“No.”
She said.
“It exposed one.”
Good.
Then she handed me eighty dollars.
“No.”
“Take.”
“No.”
She shoved into my purse.
“Buy something irresponsible.”
I cried laughing.
I bought books.
No guilt.
Then Catherine gala? She asked me to foundation meeting.
I went as Olivia, not Alexandra.
She introduced:
“My friend Olivia Bennett.”
Not granddaughter.
After:
“You demoted me.”
“Promoted.”
Friend chosen.
Then Thomas drove.
He said:
“Mrs. Wilmington likes you.”
“I know.”
“Dangerous.”
We laughed.
Then prosecutors asked whether I would testify grand jury if needed.
“Yes.”
Then digital forensic analysts found one more Derek note.
Not accusation letter.
A timeline.
BUS STOP DAY
4:30 fight.
4:40 transfer.
4:45 code.
5:00 call bank.
6:30 retrieve Olivia.
7:00 apology.
7:30 dinner.
He had scheduled my humiliation.
Retrieve Olivia at 6:30.
He actually planned to go back after bank call.
By then Catherine had me.
His repeated calls began around six.
He had not wanted me gone permanently.
He wanted me gone long enough to use my phone.
Catherine said:
“You ruined his schedule.”
I smiled.
“No.”
She did.
Then corrected myself.
“He did.”
Because if he had not abandoned me, I would never have met Catherine.
But I refused to make abuse necessary for rescue.
I would rather none happened.
May you like
Still, he had miscalculated.
Continue to the next part: Derek’s own planning note proves the bus stop “lesson” was timed around the bank transfer, down to the minute he intended to come back and collect Olivia.
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