Chapter 12 - The Second Bank Account
The audit uncovered a joint account Lena had never opened.
Her name appeared beside Eric’s.
The account received transfers from the household card and Westlake Senior Consulting.
It also funded payments to a woman named Kara Bell.
Kara was Eric’s coworker.
Lena recognized her from the company Christmas party.
Eric had described her as a junior salesperson.
The payments included hotel charges, restaurant bills, and monthly transfers marked “rent assistance.”
Rachel asked the obvious question.
“Do you think they were having an affair?”
Lena looked at the dates.
The first hotel payment occurred fourteen months earlier.
Two months before Eric’s income supposedly collapsed.
His financial trouble had not started the deception.
The deception created the financial trouble.
Eric spent money on Kara, hid the spending, then took more from Lena to cover the gap.
Lena did not confront him directly.
Investigators contacted Kara.
She initially denied knowing Lena’s money was involved.
Then they showed her messages from Eric.
Once the house is refinanced, I’ll finally be free.
In another message:
Mom is handling Lena. She knows how to push her.
Kara realized Eric had lied to her too.
He told Kara the house belonged to him and Lena refused to leave.
He promised to buy a new property after the divorce.
Kara provided every message.
One contained a photograph of the cream folder.
Eric had secretly taken it while Lena was at work.
He sent the image to Kara with the caption:
This is the only thing standing in the way.
He knew exactly what the folder contained.
May you like
His frightened reaction in the kitchen was not ignorance.
It was recognition that Lena had removed the evidence he needed to steal her house.
