Chapter 19 - Greg Lost the Company Before He Lost MeWestBridge Pharmaceuticals terminated GV Event Logistics.
Not because I called them.
Their compliance team learned of the investigations through Granite Harbor and litigation disclosures.
Greg’s company depended heavily on WestBridge.
Without them:
Revenue fell by almost half.
Staff layoffs followed.
That hurt innocent employees.
I hated that.
Arthur reminded me:
“You did not forge the documents.”
Still.
Consequences travel.
Greg placed GV Event Logistics into restructuring.
Potential buyer offered to acquire client contracts and equipment.
Sale proceeds would pay employees, taxes, and secured creditors first.
Little likely remained for Greg.
Then Vance Meridian.
Waterfront purchase terminated.
Seller retained deposit and filed claim under guarantee.
Chloe’s fifty percent became worthless.
Diane’s promised payout disappeared.
Briarstone option terminated.
My house title litigation continued, but no sale.
The system collapsed exactly because it had no stable money underneath.
Then Greg requested mediation again.
This time no suit.
No expensive watch.
He sat across from me.
“I lost the company.”
“I heard.”
“Twenty three people may lose jobs.”
“I’m sorry for them.”
He looked angry.
“You don’t feel responsible?”
“No.”
That surprised even me.
Months earlier guilt would have swallowed me.
Now:
“You used my identity to make the company look stronger than it was.”
“I was going to fix it.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“No, Greg. You were going to fix the numbers if the next deal succeeded.”
Silence.
“And if it failed?”
He looked away.
Exactly.
Then:
“Did you ever love me?”
He looked hurt.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one.”
“Yes.”
I believed him.
That was important.
I did not need him to have married me as a con artist for the story to make sense.
People can become entitled slowly.
He loved me.
Then depended on my income.
Then resented dependence.
Then hid failures.
Then used money.
Then forged permission.
Each line made the next easier.
Then I asked:
“Why didn’t you defend me when Chloe hit me?”
His eyes filled.
“Because if I sided with you, she would have told you everything.”
There.
Chloe had threatened him before dinner.
If Greg did not deliver her promised $300,000 after house sale, she would tell me about the trust and children’s withdrawals.
At dinner, when Chloe slapped me, Greg froze because any confrontation might make her explode verbally.
He chose silence to protect the secret.
That was why he stared at his plate.
Not cowardice alone.
Calculation.
I almost wished it had been only cowardice.
Then:
“She wore the necklace to provoke you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know she would?”
“No.”
“Did you know she might say something?”
“Yes.”
“So when she hit me, you protected her because you were afraid she would tell me.”
“Yes.”
That was the exact moment our marriage ended.
Now I finally understood it.
Then Greg said:
“There’s something Chloe hasn’t given you.”
“What?”
“A recording of Mom.”
Diane.
“What recording?”
“From the night we created the fake Maya email.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does it say?”
Greg looked toward Arthur.
May you like
“My mother was the one who said we should make Maya disappear from the paperwork.”
Continue to the next part: Greg reveals Diane was present when the fake identity was created and may have shaped the scheme from its beginning.
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