“I don’t want to make the biggest decision of my life just because Luca made one of the worst decisions of his.”
Phoebe nodded slightly.
It wasn’t approval.
It was recognition.
For years, I had believed strength meant acting faster than everyone else.
Buying before competitors.
Negotiating before hesitation appeared.
Ending problems before they grew.
But maybe strength could also mean refusing to be rushed by pain.
I still wanted to sell.
Maybe tomorrow I would.
But tonight I wanted answers first.
Real ones.
Not assumptions.
Not revenge.
Truth.
At four that afternoon, while Lily slept beside me, Phoebe called again.
Her voice was different.
“Jessi, are you alone?”
“Evelyn’s upstairs.”
“Put me on speaker and get her.”
Something in her tone made me stand despite the pull in my incision.
Evelyn came down moments later.
“What happened?”
I put the phone on the table.
“We’re both here.”
Phoebe spoke carefully.
“The bank sent over the full authorization chain.”
“And?”
“The signature on the valuation document appears to have been submitted electronically through your old email account.”
The same account used to authorize the security changes.
My skin prickled.
“So someone has access.”
“Yes.”
“Luca?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Phoebe.”
“I’m not going to accuse someone without evidence.”
I paced slowly across the kitchen.
“What else?”
“There was a verification step.”
“What kind?”
“A secondary contact had to confirm that you understood the purpose of the appraisal.”
“I never received a call.”
“I know.”
“Then who confirmed it?”
Phoebe went silent for half a second.
Long enough that I noticed.
“The number provided wasn’t yours.”
Evelyn and I looked at each other.
“Whose was it?”
“We traced it.”
“To Luca?”
“No.”
“Wendy?”
“No.”
“Stephanie?”
Another pause.
