Chapter 10 - The Debt He Couldn’t Run From
Greg stared at the document.
“You bought my father’s loan?”
“No.”
“One of our funds acquired a portfolio of commercial debt.”
“His company happened to be inside it.”
“You knew?”
“Not until yesterday.”
That was true.
I had never personally reviewed every loan held by Hartwell Capital.
I had people for that.
Rebecca’s team found the connection during the audit.
Greg stood.
“You’re threatening my family.”
“No.”
“I’m separating your actions from theirs.”
“Your father didn’t forge my signature.”
“You did.”
“He didn’t steal from the wedding account.”
“You did.”
“So I have no intention of destroying his company because of you.”
Greg stared at me.
That answer confused him.
He expected revenge.
What he got was accountability.
There was a difference.
“I’m giving your father thirty days to refinance the legitimate debt.”
“I’m also informing him that his company’s name appears on Blue Meridian documents.”
Greg’s confidence finally broke.
“He doesn’t know.”
“I suspected that.”
His father had built a legitimate business over thirty years.
Greg had used its reputation without authorization.
Sarah stood.
“We’re done.”
Greg looked at her.
“Baby—”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You’re emotional.”
She laughed.
“You lied about paying for the wedding.”
“You stole from my sister.”
“You forged documents.”
“You used your father.”
“And yesterday, while my niece was bleeding, you complained about your villa.”
Greg’s jaw tightened.
“You were screaming about your dress.”
Sarah flinched.
He smiled.
“Don’t pretend you’re better than me.”
The cruelty of the statement was that it contained truth.
Sarah looked at me.
Then she looked back at him.
“I’m not pretending.”
“What I did to Mia was unforgivable.”
“I’m going to live with that.”
“But admitting what I did doesn’t make what you did disappear.”
Greg had no answer.
Security escorted him out.
The next morning, his father arrived.
Thomas Mercer was nothing like his son.
He looked exhausted.
He apologized to me before sitting down.
Then he apologized to Sarah.
“I didn’t pay for this wedding.”
“I never told Greg I would.”
“He told me your family had arranged it.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Thomas continued.
“Greg has been using our company’s reputation for years.”
“I kept covering his mistakes.”
“I thought I was protecting my son.”
His voice cracked.
“I was teaching him there were no consequences.”
Dad looked at him.
Something passed between the two men.
Recognition.
Different mistakes.
Same excuse.
Love without boundaries had become permission.
Thomas gave investigators access to Greg’s business records.
Within forty-eight hours, the case expanded.
There were six potential victims.
Then nine.
Then thirteen.
May you like
The stolen amount crossed $1.4 million.
And suddenly, the ruined wedding dress became the least expensive disaster Greg had created.
