Chapter 18 - The Civil Case
The leasing company pursued Derek and Valerie for unpaid amounts and fraud losses.
The HELOC lender pursued Derek under settlement.
I was not responsible for those balances beyond negotiated property adjustments.
The remote notary’s insurer paid part of damages due verification failure.
Janice Cole lost her remote notarization authorization for a period and faced administrative discipline.
I felt almost sorry for her.
Almost.
She ignored low confidence warning.
But Derek and Valerie engineered the fraud.
Institutions had duties too.
Responsibility could be distributed without becoming diluted.
The divorce civil accounting finalized:
Unauthorized apartment payments from marital funds: approximately $38,400.
Furniture and baby specific expenses: $22,700.
Medical payments: $11,300.
Jewelry/travel/other affair expenditures: $19,600.
Not every dollar reimbursed.
Some were community funds Derek had power to spend, though deceit influenced equitable distribution.
The court/settlement gave me substantial credit against Derek’s share of property proceeds.
Final restitution obligations from criminal case separately covered forged debt losses.
No double recovery.
Lauren explained:
“You don’t get paid twice because harm appears in two cases.”
“I know.”
“You say that now.”
She smiled.
I had learned.
After everything, the actual money I permanently lost was less than I expected.
Legal fees hurt.
Time hurt more.
My credit was repaired.
My inheritance untouched.
My job stable.
The numbers recovered.
Trust took longer.
I changed bank habits.
Separate emergency account.
Credit freeze when not applying.
Transaction alerts.
Annual credit reports.
Not obsessive.
Protective.
I no longer believed marriage meant blind access.
If I ever married again, finances would include transparency and boundaries.
May you like
That did not feel unromantic.
It felt adult.
