“Do not what?”
“Turn this into something physical.”
Her face went pale.
Adrian continued:
“I’m not taking it from you.”
He stepped back.
“You can hand it to me or tell me what’s in it.”
She looked down at the folder.
Outside, the mower stopped.
Silence filled the kitchen again.
Finally Simone placed the folder on the island.
Adrian opened it.
The first page contained a logo.
TURNER & COLE PERFORMANCE.
He stared.
Not Simone Cole.
Turner & Cole.
Below it:
PRIVATE FITNESS. RECOVERY. WELLNESS.
A commercial lease proposal.
A location in Sandy Springs.
4,800 square feet.
Five-year term.
Adrian flipped pages.
Equipment quotations.
Interior design estimates.
Insurance.
Projected membership.
Then:
CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION.
Simone Cole — $125,000.
Malik Turner — $35,000 plus operations contribution.
Adrian looked up.
“Where did you get one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars?”
Simone looked away.
His stomach tightened.
“Simone.”
“Our account.”
“What account?”
“The investment account.”
They had several.
“Which?”
“The Hawthorne account.”
Adrian went cold.
That account held roughly $310,000.
Money accumulated over eleven years.
Joint money.
Not retirement.
Not children’s education.
Still money neither had ever withdrawn more than $15,000 from without discussing.
“How much have you already moved?”
Simone whispered:
“Sixty-two.”
Adrian stared.
“Thousand.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“When?”
“Over six months.”
Adrian remembered seeing transfers.
Some to an LLC.
SCC Holdings.
He asked once.
Simone said it was for tax planning related to freelance consulting.
He believed her.
“SCC.”
“Yes.”
“Simone Cole Consulting.”
“That’s what you told me.”
“It was originally.”
“What is it now?”
She swallowed.
“Simone Cole Capital.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Creative.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I was.”
“When?”
Silence.
Again.
Adrian flipped farther.
Then stopped.
HOME EQUITY CREDIT FACILITY.
Proposed amount:
$300,000.
Property:
their house.
Borrowers:
Adrian Cole and Simone Cole.
His name sat beneath a signature line.
The signature had not yet been completed.
Relief came first.
Then Adrian saw an attachment.
A scanned copy of his driver’s license.
Another of their 2024 tax return.
Another of the deed.
Another of Adrian’s signature on an old refinancing form.
His stomach turned.
“What is this?”
Simone’s face changed.
“It wasn’t submitted.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“We were preparing options.”
“We.”
She said nothing.
“You and Malik.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at the signature sample.
“Why do you need this?”
“The lender wanted documentation.”
“My signature?”
“They needed identity verification.”
“Then why is my old signature page in the packet?”