He claimed I might move money into private accounts and leave her exposed if the marriage ended.
So when he asked her to let him search my office, she agreed.
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer was honest enough to hurt.
“Did you know he was copying company records?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about Ridgeline?”
“I knew the name.”
“The transferred contracts?”
“No.”
“The loan?”
“No.”
“The forged signature?”
“No.”
“The dinner tonight?”
She looked at me.
“What about it?”
I went to the couch.
Retrieved the napkin.
Placed it on the table.
Claire stared.
“What is that?”
“The food I didn't eat.”
Her face changed.
“I didn’t put anything in your food.”
I watched her closely.
“Then why were you waiting for me to fall asleep?”
Her eyes filled again.
“Because you always fall asleep on Fridays after that medication.”
“What medication?”
She froze.
There it was.
I had taken prescription sleep medication briefly the previous winter.
Not recently.
Claire knew that.
“Ryan said you still took it sometimes.”
“Ryan doesn't prescribe my medication.”
“I thought—”
“No.”
I picked up the napkin.
“Then this gets tested.”
She nodded immediately.
“Fine.”
That reaction mattered.
Later, the food tested negative for sedatives.
I was relieved.
Claire had not drugged me.
My suspicion had been wrong.
That fact did not save the marriage.
But truth mattered even when it cleared someone I no longer trusted.
Chapter 8: Saturday Morning
At 6:15 the next morning, I called our corporate attorney, Melissa Ward.
By 7:00, she was at my house.
I showed her everything.
The access logs.
The copied credential.
Ridgeline.
The pending contract transfers.
My forged authorization.
Claire’s guarantee.
Melissa barely spoke for thirty minutes.
Then she looked at me.
“You cannot go to the office.”
“Why?”
“Because Ryan may already be there.”
“So?”
“So this stopped being a friendship problem five hours ago.”
She made calls.
Our outside IT security vendor froze high-level credentials.
The hospital transfer queue was suspended.
The bank received notice disputing the guarantee.
At 8:10, Ryan attempted remote administrator access.
Denied.
At 8:14, another attempt.
Denied.
At 8:27, he called me.
I did not answer.
At 8:31, he called again.
Then sent:
We need to talk before lawyers ruin this.