He smiled at me because he did not understand the true meaning behind my words. An hour later, my father sent me a short message telling me that Mark had arrived at the office. “He is in the boardroom now, so come in when you hear the recording start to play,” the message said.
I was waiting in an adjoining room behind a sheet of dark glass where I could see everything. I watched my husband sit down with a look of pure arrogance in front of the lawyers and the auditors. Mark was still smiling until my father placed the first thick folder of evidence on the mahogany table.
PART 3
My father did not raise his voice when he started to speak to the man who had betrayed us. “Mark, you did not come to this office today to receive a check for ten million dollars,” he said calmly. “You came here to explain why you tried to manipulate a family trust and steal from my company,” my father added.
Mark’s smile froze on his face and he looked as if someone had just slapped him. First, he tried to let out a short and nervous laugh to brush off the accusation. “Thomas, I think there has been a massive misunderstanding regarding the paperwork,” he stammered.
My father slid the first document across the table so that Mark could see his own forged signature. “No, there are many things in this life that can be confusing, but forged signatures are not among them,” my father said. Mark looked at the lawyers and then at the auditors as he realized there was no escape.
Robert spoke up and mentioned the medical bills that had been flagged by the accounting department. “We also have proof of every single payment made to the prenatal clinic in Santa Fe,” Robert noted. Mark’s face changed from pale to a ghostly white as he realized the secret was out.
My father then pressed a button on his phone and the recording of the accidental call began to play. “As soon as your father hands over the ten million dollars, I am leaving Audrey,” Mark’s voice boomed through the room. Then came the sound of Lydia’s laughter and the mention of the baby that they were expecting.
I walked into the boardroom at that exact moment and the air in the room felt electric. Mark stood up so quickly that his heavy chair scraped loudly against the polished floor. “Audrey, please let me explain what you heard,” he pleaded with a voice full of desperation.
He did not look like a man who was sorry for what he had done to his wife. He looked like a man who was terrified because he had finally been caught in his lies. “How long have you been sleeping with my best friend while you were sleeping in our bed?” I asked.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out of his throat as he stared at me. “It was just a mistake that got out of hand,” he finally managed to whisper. I laughed because my body did not know how to process the level of disgust I felt.
“Forgetting to pick up the milk is a mistake, but what you did was a calculated plan,” I told him. He lowered his gaze to the floor because he could no longer look me in the eye. My father stood up and told him that his access to every account was being revoked immediately.
“Civil lawsuits are being filed today and the auditors will be looking for criminal charges,” my father declared. Mark lost all of the color in his face and began to beg for a second chance. “Thomas, we can fix this because you know how much I truly love your daughter,” he cried out.
