A vase on a side table had a small inventory sticker beneath it.

One hallway was dark even though it was barely four in the afternoon.

Near the office, two envelopes marked FINAL NOTICE sat beneath a stack of mail.

Javier took my arm lightly.

I moved away.

“Sofia, your mother called our business manager.”

There it was.

“How long after you left me did that happen?”

Nobody answered.

Mariana folded her arms.

“Mom was just trying to teach you a family lesson.”

I took out my phone.

“Was this part of the lesson?”

I played her video.

Mariana’s face changed.

Then I opened the group chat.

Orientation day.

She’ll learn.

Teresa looked at Javier.

“That was private family conversation.”

“About me.”

“You’re part of the family now.”

I looked at Javier.

“Am I?”

He rubbed his forehead.

“Sofia, please. Altavista suspended the review.”

Again.

Altavista.

Not the rain.

Not the video.

Not me.

Teresa sat down in one of the foyer chairs.

“Do you understand what that contract means to this property?”

“No.”

Her expression tightened.

“It means jobs. It means stability.”

I glanced toward those final-notice envelopes.

“How bad is it?”

Javier looked sharply at his mother.

Teresa didn’t answer.

I opened my banking app.

For the first time, I began adding up what I had paid since our engagement.

The deposit Mariana couldn’t cover for her wedding venue.

A catering installment.

Repairs to one of The Pines’ guest cottages.

A property insurance shortage Javier had called temporary.

Several smaller transfers.

I stopped when the total passed $68,000.

I turned the screen toward Javier.

“How much of this did your family know came from me?”

He stared at the number.

Teresa stood.

“Those were family expenses.”

“They were my expenses.”

“You’re married to Javier.”

I locked my phone.

“That doesn’t make my account family property.”

Nobody spoke.

The rain tapped against the tall windows behind us.

My suitcase was leaving a thin trail of water across Teresa’s polished floor.

I picked up the handle.

“I’m leaving.”

Javier stepped in front of me.

“Please don’t make decisions tonight.”

“Move.”

He did.

Then, as I reached the front door, he said something that made me stop.

“There’s paperwork we need to talk about first.”

I turned around.

Teresa closed her eyes briefly.

Mariana looked at the floor.

“What paperwork?”

Javier swallowed.

“It’s connected to The Pines.”

“What does it have to do with me?”

He didn’t answer.

I walked back toward him.

“Javier.”

Teresa spoke instead.

“It was supposed to be temporary.”

I looked at her.

She had just answered a question I hadn’t asked her.

I took my phone out again.

“Show me.”

Ten minutes later, Javier placed a loan document on the desk in his father’s old office.

The amount at the top was $140,000.

My name was on it.

So was a signature that looked almost exactly like mine.

Almost.

I touched the paper once, then pulled my hand back.

“I didn’t sign this.”

Javier shut the office door.

“Sofia, I can explain.”

I photographed every page before he could say another word.

Then I emailed the photographs to myself.

Outside the office windows, the rain was still falling.

This time, I wasn’t standing in it.

The Signature That Wasn’t Mine

“You borrowed a hundred and forty thousand dollars in my name?”

Javier stayed behind the desk.

“Not exactly.”

I pointed at the document.

“My name. My financial information. A signature pretending to be mine. Which part isn’t exact?”

He lowered his voice.

“The Pines was in trouble.”

Teresa stood near the office door.

She wasn’t surprised.

That bothered me almost as much as the signature.

“How long did you know?” I asked her.

“Sofia, Javier was trying to protect his family.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

She looked toward her son.

I waited.

Finally, Javier sat down.

“We were behind on several obligations. The loan gave us time.”

“And you used me to get it?”

“We were going to pay it back.”

“With what?”

Silence.

Then I understood why everyone had panicked so quickly when Altavista suspended its review.

“The Altavista contract.”

Javier rubbed both hands over his face.

“If the management agreement went through, the property would have enough revenue to restructure everything.”

I stared at him.

The plan was painfully simple.

Use my financial information.

Get the money.

Keep The Pines alive long enough for Altavista to come in.

Repay the loan before I noticed.

“Did you know my mother was CEO before you married me?”

His head came up.

“Don’t do that.”

“Answer me.”

“Of course I knew who your mother was. I Googled your family after we started dating. Anyone would.”

That wasn’t proof he’d married me for Altavista.

But standing in that office, I didn’t need to invent motives I couldn’t prove.

What he’d actually done was enough.

I picked up my suitcase.

“I’m leaving.”

Javier came around the desk.

“Give me one night to explain this properly.”

“You had thirty minutes.”

He stopped.

“What?”

“Thirty minutes while I was walking in the rain. You didn’t call once.”