Chapter 7
“No.”
Daniel studied her carefully. “The document includes your initials on each page.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
His silence was immediate.
Claire felt cold despite the warmth of the room.
“What property schedule?”
“It lists certain assets excluded from the marital estate. Several items were identified as gifts from Adrian to you.”
“I received gifts, but I never signed a schedule.”
Daniel removed a photocopy from the file.
Claire saw her name at the bottom.
The signature looked like hers.
Not similar.
Hers.
She leaned closer.
The ink was dark, the loops familiar, the final stroke of the “B” slightly longer than she usually made it.
“I don’t remember this.”
Daniel lowered his voice. “That is why I wanted to discuss it in person.”
“What assets were excluded?”
He pointed to the list.
Jewelry.
A vehicle.
Two investment accounts.
And a property in Wisconsin.
Claire frowned.
“I don’t own property in Wisconsin.”
“The schedule says you do.”
“What property?”
“Lake Briar House.”
The name stirred a faint memory.
A photograph she had once seen in Adrian’s study. A weathered wooden house beside a lake, surrounded by birch trees. When she had asked about it, Adrian had said it belonged to his grandfather and had not been used in years.
“Why would that be listed under my name?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire read the page again.
Beneath the asset list was a handwritten note.
To be transferred upon Claire’s request.
She looked at Daniel.
“What does that mean?”
“I have no idea. The language is vague.”
“Who prepared this?”
“Adrian’s family attorney.”
“Was I present?”
“According to the signing certificate, yes.”
Claire shook her head. “I have never met that attorney.”
Daniel turned another page.
“There is a witness signature.”
Claire recognized the name.
Sophia Lane.
The room seemed to narrow around her.
Emily, who had accompanied Claire to the office, leaned forward.
“Sophia witnessed Claire signing a legal document?”
“That is what the page indicates,” Daniel said.
Claire stared at the signature.
Sophia Lane.
Elegant. Slanted. Confident.
A memory surfaced.
Three months after Claire’s wedding, Adrian had asked her to sign “some routine insurance paperwork.” He had brought the documents home in a folder and told her they were connected to the property transfer of a small lake house.
Claire had been busy preparing for a charity dinner. She remembered signing several pages at the kitchen island while Adrian answered emails nearby.