Chapter 5 - THE SECRET STARTED BEFORE THE AFFAIR
The forensic accountant discovered something I had not expected.
M&B Property Strategies existed before there was clear evidence of a physical affair.
At least a year before.
That confused me.
Until Andrew called.
He was recovering at home.
“I think the money came first,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Brenda complained about finances for years. She said Mark knew ways to invest that I didn’t.”
Andrew was a conservative accountant.
Mark loved risk.
Apparently Brenda liked Mark’s version better.
She began moving her savings into deals he recommended.
Then Mark began using her as a nominee on certain investments because he did not want me seeing everything attached to his name.
Business secrecy became emotional intimacy.
Emotional intimacy became hotel rooms.
Hotel rooms became the back seat.
But the foundation had been money.
Then Andrew sent me one more document.
An email Brenda had printed and hidden inside a tax folder.
Mark to Brenda.
Dated almost five years earlier:
As long as Laura thinks the company is only clearing 600K, she’ll never question where the rest goes.
Laura.
My name.
I stared at it.
Our marriage had not begun collapsing when Mark slept with Brenda.
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It began when he decided I did not deserve the truth about the life I had helped build.
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