Chapter 21
The first emergency hearing was scheduled for Monday.
The board had secured temporary control.
The foundation accounts were frozen pending review.
Chase’s hospital privileges were under inquiry.
His publicist had resigned by email.
Sloane’s attorney had contacted Cecilia at 8:04 a.m.
“She wants immunity,” Cecilia said, tapping her pen against a folder.
Julian sat opposite me, sleeves rolled back, reading through a stack of wire transfer records.
“She won’t get immunity from everyone,” he said. “But cooperation may reduce exposure.”
I looked at the top page.
Sloane Mercer Consulting LLC
Monthly Retainer: $42,000
Purpose: Athlete Wellness Storytelling
I almost admired the arrogance.
“Forty-two thousand a month to post sunrise captions,” I said.
Cecilia nodded. “Plus housing, travel, jewelry, wardrobe, medical care, and undisclosed appearance fees.”
“Foundation money?”
“Some. Clinic operating accounts for others. A few routed through Chase’s personal account after reimbursements.”
Julian lifted a page.
“And here is the interesting part.”
He slid it toward me.
A scanned signature page.
My signature.
Not quite right.
The E was too open. The H too careful. Whoever forged it had studied, but not understood that handwriting carries mood. Mine had impatience in it. This signature had fear.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A spousal consent agreement,” Julian said. “Purporting to authorize Chase to pledge marital assets as collateral for a private credit line tied to Whitaker Development Partners.”
The room tightened.
Cecilia’s eyes sharpened.
“I never signed that.”
“We know,” Julian said.
He placed another page beside it.
“The notary stamp belongs to a woman in New Jersey who died six months before the date on the document.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because men like Chase truly do think paperwork is just decoration.
Cecilia’s smile was thin.
“That moves us from ugly to exquisite.”
“Criminal?” I asked.
“Potentially. Forgery. Fraud. Bank issues. It depends on who relied on it and how.”
Julian looked at me.
“Did Chase know the assets he was trying to pledge weren’t accessible?”
“He knew I had family holdings. He did not know the structures.”
“So he forged your consent to leverage assets he didn’t understand.”
“That sounds like Chase.”
One banker coughed into his fist.
Over the next week, the story grew teeth.
The board hired a forensic accounting firm.
Sloane gave a proffer interview.
Chase appeared on a morning news segment with a crisis attorney and said he was “the target of a coordinated smear campaign by a vindictive spouse.”