The commercial properties belonged to the company, which meant that, for now, Frank didn’t have access to them.
Nina exhaled. But it was far too early to relax.
The nightmare started on the next page.
Three apartments bought during the marriage and rented out for income had been sold six months ago.
Nina reread the line several times. Checked the dates.
When? How?
She had never signed any documents authorizing the sale of property. Her consent as a spouse had been legally required for transactions like that.
A rush of heat hit her, followed by icy cold.
Unless—
He had power of attorney — a broad power of attorney, one that gave him full control. Including the right to handle real estate.
Damn it.
She had signed it years ago without even reading the fine print.
She needed to revoke it immediately. Why hadn’t she thought of this sooner? But did it even cover the right to sell property? Nina had no idea. All of that had always been handled by her father,and after his death, by Frank. She’d never involved herself in those matters. She ran the charity center, took care of her daughter, and in the evenings did embroidery while watching TV.
Nina clenched her phone so tightly her knuckles went white. She jumped up, wrapped her arms around herself, fighting off the panic. No. She wouldn’t let him drive her into a breakdown.She wouldn’t let him win.
Nina quickly typed a message to Robert Stanfield.
"I need to meet with you."
The reply came almost instantly.
"Is it urgent?"
"More than you can imagine."
Nina dropped the phone onto the bed and closed her eyes.
***
Robert Stanfield’s office greeted Nina with silence. The workday was already over, so there was no risk of prying eyes or listening ears.
“Nina, what’s going on?” he asked when she sank into the chair across from him.“You requested a large volume of documents. Company income reports, dividend payouts…”
Nina opened the folder, doing her best to keep her face composed.
“I just want to be sure everything’s under control.”
“You’ve never been interested in the finances before,” he noted.
“I decided it’s time.”
He nodded, though she still caught the doubt in his eyes.
Nina leaned over the documents and felt the blood drain from her face. All of her dividends had been routed to Frank under a separate financial authorization he’d set up years ago. Then he’d transferred the money into their joint account. She’d never even imagined how enormous the company’s profits really were. But the report didn’t lie.
What shocked her most was how drastically the actual amounts differed from what Frank had been transferring to their account.
