“Naomi, I can explain,” Javier said.
“Explain it to the judge,” I replied.
I copied bank statements, conversations, photos, audio recordings, and contracts onto three USB drives. Then I sent everything to Kimberly Paige, a lawyer specializing in divorce and property fraud.
The next morning, Javier and Lydia arrived feigning remorse. When I didn’t answer the door, their pleas turned to threats.
They demanded half the apartment and one hundred thousand dollars in exchange for signing the divorce papers. Then Kimberly called me.
“Naomi, I found something in the land documents,” Kimberly said. “Javier didn’t act alone. There’s a firm involved that could turn this divorce into a criminal investigation.”
I peered through the peephole as Lydia smiled in the hallway, convinced she could still destroy me. What neither of them knew was that the person who had signed with Javier was about to betray them.
PART 3
Three days later, Lydia made good on her threat.
I arrived at my company in Scottsdale and found employees, clients, and onlookers gathered in front of the entrance. In the middle of the lobby, my mother-in-law was sitting on the floor wearing an old blouse, her hair disheveled, a handkerchief clutched in her hands.
Javier stood beside her, his head bowed, playing the role of the abandoned husband.
“Look what my daughter-in-law did!” Lydia sobbed. “She got rich off my son, took a young lover, and threw us out on the street. I have a heart condition, and she hit me.”
Javier looked up when he saw me.
“Naomi, I don’t want to hurt you,” Javier said. “Just give us my share of the apartment. Then I’ll sign the divorce papers and disappear.”
The scene was designed to force me to pay out of fear of a scandal. Four years earlier, I would have tried to calm them down.
That morning, I simply asked the head of security to turn on the lobby’s public address system and call the police.
“Repeat on camera that I have a lover,” I said. “Also explain why Javier is supporting a pregnant woman with money he took from my business.”
I showed them a photo of Brittany, the deposit slips, and the truck contract on my phone. Lydia stopped crying immediately.
Javier tried to take the phone from me, but two guards intervened.
“It’s all false,” Javier shouted. “You illegally accessed my computer.”
“That’s something the lawyers will discuss,” I replied. “Today you’re trespassing on private property and defaming me in front of witnesses.”
When they heard the sirens, they fled. However, their performance made it clear to me that they wouldn’t give up out of shame.
They would only stop when losing me ceased to be profitable. Kimberly gathered the evidence.
The house wasn’t jointly owned: my parents had transferred the money as a sole donation, and Javier had signed a notarized document acknowledging my ownership. Furthermore, the alleged partner who helped embezzle the money was his cousin Austin, an accountant at a real estate agency.
Kimberly discovered that Austin had also invested money in the Flagstaff property and that Javier planned to exclude him from the sale. When Austin learned he could be charged with fraud and money laundering, he asked to testify.
In exchange for his cooperation, he handed over contracts, receipts, and messages proving the deception began before our wedding. Javier had approached me after finding out my parents were selling a plot of land.
Lydia wrote to him then: “Treat her like a queen until she hands over the money. Then she’ll learn who’s in charge.”
Reading it hurt more than discovering Brittany. My entire marriage had been an investment for them.
At the first conciliation hearing, Javier arrived in a dark suit, feigning confidence. Lydia held a rosary between her fingers.
They were demanding one hundred thousand dollars and half of the apartment. They said that without this compensation, the divorce would drag on for years.
My lawyer placed three folders on the table.
“The house is the sole property of Ms. Naomi Andrews,” Kimberly explained. “Mr. Javier acknowledged this before a notary. Furthermore, we are requesting the return of eighty thousand dollars that were misappropriated to purchase land in Ms. Lydia’s name, as well as an investigation into transactions carried out with my client’s funds.”
Javier’s face went colorless.
“That money was a gift,” Javier said.
“Then it will be easy to explain why you invented a company and forged invoices,” I replied.
Lydia stood up suddenly.
“The land is mine!” Lydia screamed. “My son bought it from me because I raised him.”
“He bought it with the money he stole from me,” I answered.
At that moment the door opened. Austin entered accompanied by his lawyer and handed the secretary a memory stick containing original conversations, receipts, and a draft of the plan to mortgage my apartment.
Javier looked at him as if he wanted to kill him.
“Cousin, we had an agreement,” Javier muttered.
“You were going to sell the land without giving me my share,” Austin replied. “I’m not going to prison so you can support your mistress.”
The alliance dissolved in front of everyone. Lydia began insulting Austin.
Javier lost his temper and inadvertently admitted that the loan money would be used to pay Brittany and cover loans he had taken out in his business’s name. The judge suspended the conciliation and ordered copies to be sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
As I left, Brittany was waiting in the hallway. I hadn’t called her; I’d received a notification because some payments were linked to her account.
She was five months pregnant and was holding a folder with the purchase agreement for the truck.
“Javier, tell me you’re still going to pay it,” Brittany demanded.
He tried to hug her.
“Everything will be alright,” Javier said. “Naomi is exaggerating.”
Kimberly spoke before I did.
“The funds are frozen,” Kimberly said. “The land can be seized, and Mr. Javier must justify every transfer.”
Brittany looked at Lydia.
“You said the house would be his,” Brittany said.
