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“Seems so.” He paused, then asked a bit hesitantly, “You’re not upset with me for taking those liberties without asking you?”
“No.” She laughed lightly, but her heart felt . . . full. Full of tenderness and affection for this perfect man who’d become her knight in shining armor. No guy, not even Benjamin, had ever cared for her the way that Hunter already did, and it overflowed her with hope for the future. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about what a PI might have uncovered on Helena.”
“Maddux dropped the dossier off at my place while we were at the hospital. He also gave me a brief rundown of what’s inside, but I think you need to read it for yourself and make your own conclusions about Helena,” he said, a grave expression on his face.
She swallowed hard, appreciating the obvious warning. “Okay. I’m ready to see it.”
He nodded, then stood up and went to his home office down the hallway, then returned a few seconds later with a folder and handed it to her. He sat down in front of her again, and she inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before opening the file to read the typed report inside about the woman who’d been her cruel and evil stepmother for so many years.
The first page revealed all of Helena’s basic personal information. Her maiden name, her previous married name, and her current one after marrying Elle’s father. Also included were a list of addresses of all the places she’d lived and the jobs she’d worked over the years prior to becoming a Darian and letting Elle’s father support her extravagant lifestyle.
As Elle perused the first few pages, nothing stood out as worrisome, until she came to the outline of Helena’s financial portfolio, which included two prior bankruptcies.
Elle felt her stomach roll as she looked through the ongoing list of Helena’s debts. Over a dozen major credit cards . . . all maxed out and most delinquent on payments, totaling over two hundred thousand dollars in money owed to various creditors. Before Elle could completely digest that shocking information, her gaze fell to the next section of the report, which stated that a second mortgage had been taken out on Elle’s house two months ago in a loan amount of four hundred thousand dollars.
Elle looked up at Hunter in confusion. “I think your PI made a mistake. There is no way that Helena could have taken a second loan on the house and withdrawn all that equity without me knowing. We co-own that house and it requires joint paperwork and signatures.”
“Trust me, Noah Reeves doesn’t make mistakes,” Hunter said of the man who’d compiled all of Helena’
s information, then added more quietly, more somberly, “Turn the page, Elle.”
She suddenly didn’t want to, for fear of what she might see and read next. But she knew she had to find out the entire truth, no matter how gut-wrenching and devastating it might be. The next few sheets of paper were grainy printouts of what appeared to be signature pages from a loan document listing her name, Helena’s name, and the property address of the home they lived in . . . and the loan amount of four hundred thousand dollars that had been paid out as a second mortgage.
“This is impossible …” The whole scenario perplexed Elle until she took a closer look at the signatures on each page. Though the papers had been notarized, her name had not been signed in her handwriting. Someone else had falsified her authorization of the loan.
She blinked, utterly stunned. Another printout from the PI revealed that the bulk of the equity money was now sitting in a savings account under Gwen’s name, to keep Helena’s creditors from seizing the cash to pay off her outstanding debts. Not only had her stepmother stolen all the equity from the house for herself, she’d tried to hide the substantial funds. Holy crap.
Elle glanced up at Hunter, her mind spinning, though one thing was crystal clear. “Helena committed fraud.”
Hunter nodded. “Yes.”
“This explains why she refused to take a second loan, or even sell the house. Because her deceit would have been brought to light.”
“So she poisoned you to prevent you from finding out,” Hunter said, his thoughts echoing Elle’s.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to believe any of this, but all the information in this report makes everything that’s been happening with Helena make sense.”
“What are you going to do?” Hunter asked gently.
So many feelings swirled inside Elle. Anger. Hurt. Sadness.
But rising above it all was a sudden emotional and mental strength, stemming from all she’d endured, giving her the courage and fortitude to do what she should have demanded a long time ago.
“I’m going to take back everything that is rightfully mine.”
The following morning, Hunter drove Elle back to her house, unsure of what to expect once they arrived. She’d spent the rest of the night in a quiet and subdued mood, and he’d respected her need to think things through, to take the time to digest all she’d learned . . . because what she’d read in the PI report had undoubtedly rocked her world.
Elle would confront her stepmother in whatever way was right for her, personally. In a way that resolved everything she’d been through since her father’s passing. As much as Hunter wanted to slay this dragon for Elle, to be her protector and defender, this wasn’t his battle to fight. But he’d already told Elle he’d be right next to her the entire time, supporting whatever choices she made—and making damn sure that Helena didn’t lay another finger on her.
He honestly had no idea what Elle intended to do or say today, but he’d ultimately back up whatever decision she made . . . as long as after this confrontation was over, one of those decisions included her being his. Forever. The thought of Elle walking away after his heart had finally started living for the future again—a future with her—would devastate him.
When they arrived at the house, he parked at the curb, and as they headed up the walkway with her carrying the file from Noah Reeves, he grabbed her free hand, giving it a warm, gentle squeeze to let her know she had this. She turned to look at him, and though her smile was a bit on the tense side, he also saw the determination in the depths of her eyes.
When they quietly entered the house, Hunter released her hand, letting Elle be her own woman so that the conviction and bravery within her would shine through all on its own. Hearing voices coming from the kitchen, they headed in that direction, finding Helena, Claire, and Gwen all sitting at the table having breakfast.
“I’m home,” Elle announced, and Helena stared at her with a combination of wariness and feigned concern that made Hunter’s palm itch to smack the latter off the woman’s face.
Gwen smirked at Elle, uncaring that she’d spent a few days in a hospital, and Claire, who’d pretty much saved Elle’s life, put down her fork and looked genuinely relieved that her stepsister had survived the harrowing ordeal Helena had put her through.
