Part 2

Victor bent for the envelope. I got there first, but I didn't grab it. I took a picture where it lay, with the room number reflected in the mirror behind him. My lawyer had once told me to preserve a document before anyone could change it. I had never expected to use that advice against my husband.

The page was a proposed sale agreement for the Mercer Building. Its price was substantially lower than a recent appraisal, and my signature appeared at the bottom. I had refused to sell the building twice. The tenants were small businesses, several of whom had rented from my mother for years.

“That's a draft,” Victor said. “The signature was a placeholder.”

“A placeholder that looks exactly like mine?”

Maya climbed out of bed, fully dressed in her pajama top and trousers. She looked at the page and then at Victor. “You told me Anna approved the sale.”

He turned to her. “This is between my wife and me.”

“You made it my business when you asked me to prepare the buyer's numbers.”

The word buyer caught my attention. I photographed the rest of the agreement while Victor stood watching. Then I set the papers on the desk. “I'm leaving. Please don't follow me.”

At the door, I stopped. “I shouldn't have hit you. I'm sorry. But the signature and the lies are still yours to explain.”

In the elevator, Maya sent me a message: I have the emails. Please don't let him make me disappear from this.