Chapter 5: The Sister Who Helped Him Lie
Naomi stared at the name until the letters blurred.
*Victoria Bennett.*
Her older sister.
The woman who had helped her choose her wedding dress, stood beside her during the ceremony, and held her hand when Naomi's mother died two years earlier.
Victoria had been the first person Naomi called when she discovered she was pregnant with Ava. She had arrived at the hospital carrying pink balloons, a stuffed elephant, and enough food to feed an entire nursing team.
She was Ava's godmother.
She was Naomi's emergency contact.
She had a key to the house.
And according to the document on Naomi's coffee table, she owned the majority of the company Daniel intended to use for the transfer.
“No,” Naomi whispered.
She zoomed in on the photograph.
The name remained unchanged.
Victoria Bennett.
Below it was the registered business address, followed by the names of two additional officers.
Daniel's name was one.
The other belonged to a man Naomi had never heard of.
She searched the company online.
The results were sparse. A registration record. A mailing address. A website that displayed a generic photograph of glass office towers and a sentence about strategic investment management.
There was no meaningful business history.
No list of completed projects.
No staff directory.
Just a corporate name, a registration number, and a promise to provide financial services.
Naomi's stomach tightened.
She called her sister.
Victoria answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey, little sis. Everything okay?””
The sound of her familiar voice nearly broke Naomi's resolve.
Victoria sounded as she always did—warm, distracted, slightly breathless, as if she were doing three things at once.
Naomi looked toward the staircase.
Ava was asleep.
“Where are you?”” Naomi asked.
“At home. Why?””
“I need to ask you something.””
Victoria paused.
“Okay. What's wrong?””
“Have you ever heard of Bennett Strategic Holdings?””
The silence was brief.
But Naomi heard it.
“Why are you asking about that?””
“Because your name is on a document connected to a transfer from my joint savings account.””
Another pause.
Then Victoria laughed nervously.
“That sounds like some kind of administrative mistake.””
“Does it?””
“Naomi, I have several business registrations. You know that. I invest in different things.””
“You've never mentioned this company.””
“It's not important.””
Naomi looked down at the document.
“Apparently, it's important enough for Daniel to forge my signature.””
Victoria stopped breathing audibly.
“What?””
“Daniel tried to move our savings into an account connected to your company. He forged my signature on the authorization.””
“That can't be right.””
“I have the document in front of me.””
Victoria's voice grew sharper.
“Where is Daniel now?””
“Not here.””
“Did you throw him out?””
“Yes.””
“Oh, Naomi.””
There it was.
Not outrage.
Not disbelief.
Disappointment.
As though Naomi had done something unreasonable by refusing to let her husband steal from her.
Naomi felt something cold settle in her chest.
“Why do you sound upset with me?””
“I'm not upset with you. I'm worried about how you're handling this.””
“How I'm handling it?””
“You're emotional right now. You need to slow down before you make decisions that could affect Ava.””
Naomi gripped the phone.
“Don't use my daughter to make me doubt what I saw.””
“That's not what I'm doing.””
“Then answer my question. Why is your name on this company?””
Victoria sighed.
“Daniel asked me to help him with a business project. That's all.””
“What project?””
“An investment opportunity.””
“With our savings?””
“I didn't know he was using your money.””
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Did you know he was having an affair?””
Victoria said nothing.
Naomi's heart began to pound.
“Victoria?””
“I don't want to get involved in your marriage.””
The answer was worse than a confession.
Naomi gripped the edge of the coffee table.
“How long have you known?””
“Naomi, please.””
“How long?””
“I found out a few weeks ago.””
A few weeks.
Naomi thought of the Sunday afternoon when Victoria had visited for coffee. She had sat at the kitchen counter, played with Ava's hair, and asked whether Daniel was still working long hours.
Naomi had complained that he seemed distant.
Victoria had squeezed her hand.
“Men get distracted,” she had said.
“Don't let your imagination destroy something good.””
Now Naomi understood why her sister had been so eager to quiet her suspicions.
“You knew,” Naomi whispered.
“You knew he was sleeping with Brooke.””
“I knew they were close.””
“Close?””
“I didn't know the full extent of it.””
“But you knew enough to lie to me.””
Victoria's voice hardened.
“I was trying to keep your family together.””
“No. You were trying to keep me from finding out what you and Daniel were doing.””
“That isn't fair.””
“Then explain the company.””
Another silence.
Naomi waited.
Finally, Victoria said, “Daniel was in trouble financially. He needed help reorganizing some assets. He told me the money belonged to him.””
“It belongs to both of us.””
“He said you were separating.””
“He was still kissing me goodbye this morning.””
“Naomi—”
“And he was still promising to take our daughter to her birthday party. You know what else he was doing? Telling Brooke he would leave me once he moved the money.””
Victoria's breathing changed.
“Did he say that?””
“I watched the recording.””
“What recording?””
“The security cameras.””
A sharp intake of breath came through the phone.
Naomi looked toward the ceiling.
“Did you think I wouldn't find out?””
Victoria said nothing.
Naomi's voice trembled.
“Did you think I would just wake up one morning and discover that my husband had emptied our savings, and my sister had helped him, and somehow I would be too stupid to understand what happened?””
“I never wanted you to get hurt.””
“Then why did you help him?””
“Because I thought I was helping everyone!””
The sudden outburst startled Naomi.
Victoria continued, speaking quickly now.
“Daniel told me your marriage was already over. He said you were preparing to divorce him, but you didn't want to admit it because of Ava. He said the money was going to be divided eventually anyway.””
“He told you I was preparing to divorce him?””
“Yes.””
Naomi almost laughed.
“I asked him last week if we could renew our vows next summer.””
Victoria went silent.
Naomi remembered that conversation clearly. They had been sitting in the kitchen after Ava went to bed. Naomi had shown Daniel photographs of a small garden venue she liked.
He had kissed her hand and promised to think about it.
He had known, even then, that he was planning to move their savings.
He had known his mistress was waiting.
And he had known her own sister was helping him.
“Did he tell you about the forged signature?”” Naomi asked.
“No.””
“Did you sign anything?””
Victoria hesitated.
“Some preliminary documents.””
“What did they authorize?””
“I don't know. I didn't read every page.””
Naomi closed her eyes.
She could almost hear her mother's voice, reminding them both that signing something without reading it was a dangerous habit.
Victoria had laughed at that advice when they were teenagers.
Apparently, she had never learned.
“Send me copies of everything you signed,” Naomi said.
“I can't do that.””
“Why not?””
“Because it could create legal problems.””
“For whom?””
“For all of us.””
Naomi looked at the forged signature again.
“No, Victoria. The legal problems began when you decided my marriage was an opportunity to make money.””
“That's not what happened!””
“Then prove it.””
Victoria's voice dropped.
“Naomi, you don't understand the situation.””
“Then explain it to me.””
“I can't.””
“Or you won't?””
Victoria didn't answer.
Naomi ended the call.
For several seconds, she stood in the living room with the phone pressed against her palm.
She had expected betrayal from Daniel once she saw him with Brooke.
She had not expected it from her sister.
That hurt in a different place.
Daniel had been the man she married.
Victoria had been the girl who shared her childhood bedroom, the one who crawled into Naomi's bed during thunderstorms and promised that nobody would ever come between them.
They had grown up together, buried their mother together, and stood beside each other through every major moment of their lives.
Now Victoria had become part of the same secret that was tearing Naomi's family apart.
Naomi sat down and pressed her hands over her eyes.
She wanted to cry.
But before she could, her phone rang again.
It was Daniel.
She let it ring twice before answering.
“What?””
“Naomi, we need to talk.””
“We've talked enough for one day.””
“I spoke to Victoria.””
Naomi went still.
“Of course you did.””
“She told me you found the company documents.””
“You mean the documents with my forged signature?””
“Please stop saying it like that.””
“How would you prefer I describe it?””
Daniel exhaled impatiently.
“I made a bad decision. I was trying to protect myself.””
“From your wife?””
“From a divorce that could destroy everything I've built.””
Naomi stood.
“You built your life with me, Daniel. I supported you when your business nearly collapsed. I worked overtime while you tried to secure your first development contract. I paid the bills when your clients delayed their payments.””
“I know.””
“You know because you were there. You watched me do it.””
“I never asked you to sacrifice your career for me.””
Naomi stared at the phone.
“You didn't have to ask. We were married. I believed we were building something together.””
“We were.””
“Then why did you try to take it away?””
Daniel was quiet.
Finally, he said, “Victoria can explain everything.””
Naomi's stomach tightened.
“Why would my sister explain your actions?””
“Because she was involved in the business arrangement.””
“What arrangement?””
“I can't discuss it over the phone.””
“You can discuss it right now, or you can explain it to my lawyer.””
Daniel's voice hardened.
“Don't threaten me.””
“I'm not threatening you. I'm telling you what happens next.””
He lowered his voice.
“Naomi, you need to think about Ava. If you turn this into a legal battle, she's going to suffer.””
Naomi closed her eyes.
There it was again.
Their daughter.
The shield Daniel reached for whenever he wanted Naomi to stop asking questions.
“You don't get to use Ava as a weapon,” she said.
“You lost that privilege when you made her watch you betray her mother.””
Daniel's breathing became ragged.
“She shouldn't have seen that.””
“But she did. Because you turned off the camera and assumed nobody would notice.””
“I didn't know she could turn it back on.””
Naomi stared at the screen.
For one brief second, she couldn't believe what she had heard.
Then Daniel continued.
“I was careful. I checked the system.””
“Careful?””
“I didn't mean—”
“You weren't worried about hurting us. You were worried about getting caught.””
Daniel fell silent.
Naomi's voice became quiet.
“Don't call me again unless it's about Ava or the legal process.””
She ended the call.
Then she opened her email and created a folder for the bank notification, the photographs of the documents, and the security recordings.
She didn't know what she would need yet.
But she knew she would not allow Daniel to control the story any longer.
An hour later, a message arrived from an unknown number.
*You need to stop asking questions about Bennett Strategic Holdings.*
Naomi read it twice.
A second message followed.
*Daniel isn't the only person who could lose everything if you keep digging.*
She immediately took screenshots.
Then she called her bank again and asked whether they could identify every account associated with the pending transfer.
The representative promised to escalate the request.
Naomi wrote down the case number.
She was just putting the phone down when someone knocked on the front door.
Three sharp knocks.
She opened it cautiously.
Victoria stood on the porch, dressed in a beige coat, her blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She held a thick folder against her chest.
For a moment, neither sister spoke.
Then Victoria stepped inside without waiting to be invited.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Naomi closed the door.
“You can start by telling me why your company is connected to my savings.””
Victoria placed the folder on the console table.
“Because Daniel didn't tell you the truth about the money.””
Naomi stared at her.
“I already know that.””
“No.”” Victoria looked directly at her.
“You know about the affair. You know about the transfer. But you don't know what he was trying to pay off.””
Naomi felt the room grow cold.
“Pay off?””
Victoria opened the folder and removed a printed statement.
It showed a list of payments from an account connected to Daniel's company.
Several entries were marked with dates.
Others had handwritten notes beside them.
Naomi recognized one of the amounts.
It was nearly identical to the balance of their joint savings account.
She looked up.
“What is this?””
Victoria swallowed.
“Daniel owes someone a lot of money.””
“How much?””
Victoria hesitated.
Then she told her.
Naomi's knees weakened.
The amount was more than their savings.
More than the equity in their house.
More than Daniel could repay by simply selling his car or giving up his business.
“Why does he owe that much?”” Naomi whispered.
Victoria's face had gone pale.
“Because the property development he told everyone was successful never made the money he claimed it did.””
Naomi stared at the statement.
For years, Daniel had talked about expanding his business, buying land, and building a future for their daughter.
He had shown her glossy brochures and photographs of construction sites.
He had celebrated contracts over champagne.
He had promised that one day she would never have to worry about money again.
Now she was learning that the success he had described might have been a carefully staged illusion.
“Who does he owe it to?”” Naomi asked.
Victoria looked toward the front window.
“That's the part I was afraid to tell you.””
“Tell me.””
Victoria lowered her voice.
“An investor named Richard Cole.””
Naomi knew the name.
She had seen it on a Christmas card Daniel received the previous year.
She had assumed Richard was one of his business partners.
“What does Richard want?””
Victoria's hands trembled.
“He doesn't just want his money back.””
May you like
She looked at Naomi with frightened eyes.
“He wants the house.””
