A Party?

Laura read the email three times before the words stopped looking like a hallucination.

Panic rose as she kept pacing around, hoping everything would make sense again.

From the email the bank sent her, she noticed the buyer to be GreenCore Automobile Ltd. That was Thomas company. Finally she paused, "the damage has been done already. What to do now?"

She sat down and drew in a deep breath. The very first step would be understanding just how threatening this was to her future. She hurried to check the downloaded contract from her email and took a screenshot of every page, then shared to her icloud for backup.

Scrolling through her contacts, she swallowed hard, then dialed a number. It was her lawyer, Jonathan. They'd been together for a long while, one of the few people close enough to her to call family. But now, she felt nothing but betrayal from him.

"Laura... thank God you called!"

She asked, her voice was soft, filled will fear. "Tell me you didn't authorize that transfer."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Laura. You insisted on it!" Jonathan cried out immediately. "What's going on?"

"My money," Laura froze, not knowing how to say it. "I--I've never insisted on ruining myself before, Jonathan. I..."

Jonathan exhaled sharply. "Two nights ago. You were slurring. I thought you'd been drinking. You said you were done fighting him. That you wanted everything in his name."

Drinking? She hadn't touched alcohol in months. Not since she suspected pregnancy.

Her temple throbbed suddenly, it was a dull ache, "what are you saying?"

"Your signature was right there so one would believe me even if I went to the cops. Especially when you sent me that threatening text last night. I'll share with you now."

She presses her fingers against her forehead. Why can't she remember two nights ago?

Jonathan continued, "you threatened my license if I didn't file immediately."

He'd forwarded the text to her.  As Laura read through, she realized it had been truly vicious. Well calculated and cruel.

It sounded just like her.

That became scarier than obvious forgery.

"Nothing would have been in my favor. I know you as a smart woman and maybe you thought you were making a bold move. But there's already a confirmed verification passed biometric authentication sent from the bank."

He went on, "I tried to see you yesterday but Thomas said you were resting. That you weren't taking visitors."

Her breath stilled.

Resting?

She sure remembered sleeping a lot, and waking up feeling groggy. Her head began to ache.

She quickly checked her call log and found multiple outgoing calls she never remembered making.

Missed calls from Jonathan...

Tea tasting slightly bitter...

She marched straight to the kitchen immediately.

There she found the ginger tea cup from the night before still in the sink. Lifting it up, she her nose crunched in disgust at a faint bitter smell beneath the ginger. Her face was a mask of confusion now.

Jonathan still on the phone kept calling, "Hello? Hello?"

Finally, she felt her mind hardening. "Jonathan, there's still time. Let's meet at the diner. ASAP!"

In under 15 minutes, she arrived at a small diner where she and Jonathan sometimes hung out to talk business. Jonathan was already waiting for her. Laura marched down towards where he sat.

Jonathan brushed through his bald hair, smiling proudly as he sighted her. "Welcome."

"Exactly what mess am I in right now?" She sat down, placing her purse beside her.

"Well firstly, the estate transfer is closing in 72 hours. And the transfer was initiated to GreenCore Automobile Ltd. Director is a woman named Rita Smith, daughter to the actress Regina Smith."

"Yea, he's claiming the estate but in his company's name. But why is he using this Rita girl as director?"

Suddenly, it hit her. Rita was from Thomas's marketing consultant team. "She called some nights ago. It was just our anniversary, and Thomas had stayed late on the phone with her laughing and blushing like an idiot. He said they had some late-night strategy meetings and it was nothing for me to worry about."

Someone came towards their table. "Can we take your order, miss?"

"Just give the usuals," Jonathan said with a smile.

"Here, use my card to pay." Laura handed Jonathan her card, her attention was still fixated on her phone.

"The card is declined, ma'am." The lady said after swiping the card.

Laura frowned, "what? Try again."

She tried again but gave the same report. "It's still declining."

"Its just a bank error. No need to pay now anyway, we can always pay before we leave." Jonathan said, dismissing the lady politely.

"My card was declined?"

"Check your account balance." Jonathan suggested.

"That's insane. I would know if--"

"just to confirm something," he insisted.

Laura opened her bank app, put in her details and waited for it to open.

Account restricted.

"Huh? My own account is...restricted?"

"That's what I wanted to confirm. Somehow, he's managed to freeze your account." Jonathan said.

Suddenly ringing in her head, Laura began to realize the threat Thomas had made earlier, and it made more sense to her now.

"You think you're so strong? You don't even have access to your own accounts."

"I moved everything into my company's holding account last night. You know, for protection."

  

"We need to take legal steps now, Laura."

Laura went quiet.

Jonathan watched her carefully. He couldn't even begin to imagine what she must had been going through right now.

Finally, Laura shook her head. "No. Not yet, at least." She said. "I still want him comfortable."  Her eyes became sharp now conviniently plotting her way out.

Laura looked at the app, frowing. "He didn't freeze it," she said calmly. "He must have replaced my recovery access."

She searched through her contact list and dialed the bank. "Hi. This is Laura Grayson. I need an immediate in-branch verification for compromised credentials. Today."

"Yes. I'll bring identification."

Just as she hung up, she received a call from Thomas. "Laura, baby. We need to talk, I'm sorry about everything."

"Why is your mistress buying my family estate?" Laura launched out.

"What?" Thomas said, laughing. "Laura, don't you think you're being unfair right now? We have one little fight and you're already making assumptions?"

"So Rita isn't someone important in your life? You think you can get away with this?"

"Listen, Laura, let's settle this over dinner tonight. I'm throwing a little party, for our anniversary. I didn't forget."

Anniversary that was more than two weeks ago.

"What do you say to that? I want to celebrate you, my love."

She said nothing and hung up. "Jonathan? I need the details of Rita Smith. Every piece of info I can get. Oh and, Thomas is throwing me a party tonight. You're invited."

"A party? Laura...what are you...?"

A smile spread on her face. "I'm ending this tonight."