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My stomach tightened.
Melanie looked down at the folder in her hands.
“And Claire… Zurich wasn’t his final destination.”
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“His ticket was Denver to Chicago, then Chicago to Zurich. From there, he had a one-way ticket to Singapore under another identity.”
The silence between us felt heavy.
“He wasn’t planning to take me with him,” she said. “He was going to leave me with the Palm Springs lease, the baby, and every financial obligation tied to that place.”
A cold, razor-sharp calm settled inside me.
“Why come to me?” I asked.
Melanie swallowed hard.
“Because he took my money too.”
She clutched the manila folder tighter against her chest.
“Four hundred thousand dollars from my family trust. He said it was for a business we were building together. If he reaches Singapore, I may never see a single dollar again.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Lucas hadn’t just betrayed his wife.
He had built an entire system of lies around every woman who trusted him.
“When does he land in Chicago?” I asked.
Melanie looked at the time.
“Less than an hour.”
“Come inside.”
Inside the study, we didn’t waste a second.
We didn’t cry.
We worked.
I contacted my bank, reported suspected fraud, and had the account access restricted while I moved the portion of the funds that legally belonged to me into a separate account Lucas could not access without authorization.
Melanie spread the documents across my desk.
Forged bank statements.
False identification applications.
Signed promissory notes.
Wire-transfer records.
Emails between Lucas and Chloe.
Travel documents under another identity.
Everything was there.
I picked up my phone and called Arthur, a financial-crimes investigator who had worked closely with my late father.
“Arthur,” I said steadily. “I have evidence of wire fraud, identity fraud, forged financial documents, and attempted theft. Lucas is flying through Chicago right now.”
His voice changed immediately.
“Send me everything.”
I forwarded every document Melanie had brought.
Within minutes, Arthur was coordinating with federal investigators and airport police in Chicago.
Then I called Chloe.
She answered on the second ring, her voice sickeningly cheerful.
“Hey, Claire! Did Lucas get off okay? How are you holding up?”
I almost laughed.
“Enjoy that fifty thousand while you can, Chloe.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Investigators already know exactly where it came from.”
Her breathing changed.
“Claire, wait—”
“You helped him steal from me.”
