Chapter 4 - The Condo
The condominium cost $412,000.
Aster Holdings bought it eighteen months earlier.
Down payment:
$110,000.
Mortgage:
$302,000.
Source of down payment included:
$58,000 from my family account,
$37,000 from Arthur’s investment account,
$15,000 from Eleanor’s charity.
Mortgage payments came partly from Westlake Events.
Ivan lived there.
Eleanor visited regularly.
Building-access logs showed her entering at least twenty-three times in the last year.
Not an impulsive affair.
A second life.
Daniel said:
“Some payments from your account could have been disguised as family event expenses.”
“Marcus approved?”
“Several.”
That was now the central question.
I confronted no one.
Instead Priya recommended formal preservation letters where appropriate, banking fraud reports for questionable transactions, and separating my personal accounts from Marcus immediately.
I removed Marcus’s access to business-owned funds.
Not his personal money.
Not joint assets indiscriminately.
My company.
My accounts.
My responsibility.
Marcus noticed within hours.
He called from office.
“Why was my supplemental card declined?”
“Because it was tied to my business expense line.”
“You’ve always let me use it.”
“I’m reviewing expenses.”
Silence.
“Because of Mom?”
“Because of accounting.”
“Ximena.”
“What?”
“You’re overreacting.”
There it was.
The family’s favorite word whenever boundaries appeared.
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
“You’re freezing me out.”
“I froze one company card.”
“It’s humiliating.”
I almost laughed.
His mother had threatened to destroy me from back seat of SUV and he was humiliated by declined lunch.
Then:
“Did Dad tell you something?”
“No.”
Another lie by omission.
But strategic.
“You need to stop digging,” Marcus said.
My skin chilled.
“Into what?”
“I mean into Mom’s personal life.”
“You seem very worried about it.”
“She’s my mother.”
“And Arthur is your father.”
He hung up.
That afternoon, Arthur asked Eleanor to leave their home temporarily while he considered separation.
She refused first.
Then her attorney advised otherwise after Arthur revoked her account authority and began reviewing finances.
She moved into a luxury hotel.
Who paid deposit?
Marcus.
From his personal account.
That by itself was fine.
Then he transferred $25,000 into her account.
Also his right, if legitimate funds.
But why help the person suspected of diverting his father's money?
Maybe loyalty.
Maybe complicity.
Then building manager at Ivan’s condominium contacted investigators after receiving preservation request through appropriate channels.
Security video showed Marcus visiting once.
Eight months earlier.
He entered apartment with Eleanor.
Stayed forty minutes.
Left alone.
There.
He knew condo existed.
Did he know Ivan lived there?
Probably.
Still verify.
When asked later, Marcus said:
“Mom told me it was a charity property.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“I saw Ivan.”
“When?”
“That visit.”
“And?”
“She said he worked for Guild.”
“Shirtless?”
Marcus’s face tightened.
No answer.
“So eight months ago you knew there was at least something inappropriate.”
“I knew she was being stupid.”
“Did Dad know?”
“No.”
“Did I?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn’t my marriage.”
I stared.
“You were approving payments.”
He looked away.
“Mom said she needed help.”
“What kind?”
“Keeping things quiet.”
There.
“Did she tell you where money came from?”
“She said family account.”
“Which I fund.”
He flinched.
“I was going to replace it.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
“Maybe fifty.”
“Thousand?”
“Yes.”
Actual questionable amount tied to his approvals was much higher.
Then I asked:
“Did you know she used Dad’s retirement money?”
“No.”
He looked genuinely shocked.
Maybe true.
“Did you authorize $180,000 jewelry transfer?”
He closed eyes.
“That wasn’t supposed to be jewelry.”
“What was it supposed to be?”
“Investment.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
I went still.
Marcus had given Eleanor permission to move $180,000 from account I funded because she claimed she had private investment opportunity for him.
He did not know it would become jewelry purchase and Ivan transfer.
That reduced one kind of guilt.
It created another.
“You moved $180,000 of money I provided without telling me.”
“I was going to make a return.”
“With my money.”
“Our money.”
“No. That account was funded by my business distributions specifically for household expenses.”
He knew.
He had simply decided marriage converted permission.
Then Marcus said:
“You have millions. Why are you acting like this matters?”
That sentence ended something inside me.
Not marriage yet.
But illusion.
Then my phone buzzed.
Daniel.
He had found an additional $62,000 transfer from Aster Holdings.
Recipient:
Marcus Vance.
May you like
My husband had received money back from the same structure financing his mother’s lover.
Cliffhanger: Marcus insisted the $62,000 was repayment—but his own text messages showed he had negotiated a percentage for keeping Arthur quiet.
