Chapter 2 - THE SIGNATURE THAT WASN’T HERS
For the first time since the acid had touched my skin, I felt something colder than pain.
Fear.
Not fear of Logan.
Not anymore.
Fear of what I had unknowingly given him.
The nurse locked the hospital room door and pulled the curtains shut. Then she placed my phone within reach before leaving to contact my attorney.
I stared at the ceiling.
My mind kept returning to that page.
The night before our engagement party.
Logan had been unusually affectionate.
He had brought champagne, kissed my forehead, and told me he wanted to “protect our future.”
Then he placed a thick stack of documents in front of me.
“Just routine financial paperwork,” he'd said.
I remembered asking why there were so many pages.
He smiled.
“Because once we're married, everything becomes complicated.”
I had trusted him.
That was my mistake.
Forty minutes later, my attorney, Daniel Reeves, entered the room carrying a leather case.
His expression changed the moment he saw my bandaged face.
“Maya…”
“Don't.”
My voice cracked.
“Bring me the documents.”
Daniel opened his case and placed the papers on the table.
I couldn't turn the pages myself, so he did it for me.
Power of attorney.
Investment authorization.
Insurance amendments.
Property transfers.
Corporate beneficiary forms.
My stomach tightened.
“Why did I sign all of this?”
Daniel looked at me carefully.
“You didn't.”
Silence.
He pulled one page from the stack.
“This signature is supposed to be yours.”
I stared at it.
It looked like mine.
Almost perfectly.
But there was something wrong.
The final letter in my surname curved upward.
I never wrote it that way.
Daniel noticed.
“You've signed legal documents for me for years,” he said quietly. “I'd recognize your signature.”
He placed another document beside it.
“This one is genuine.”
The difference was tiny.
But once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.
Someone had practiced my signature.
Over and over.
Daniel's face hardened.
“Maya, these documents transferred controlling interest in your late father's company.”
My breathing stopped.
“My father's company?”
“You still own forty-one percent.”
I stared at him.
“Still?”
Daniel nodded.
“Or at least you did.”
He turned another page.
The controlling shares had been transferred into a private trust.
The trustee?
Logan Vance.
My fiancé.
The man who had just paid someone to destroy my face.
I closed my eyes.
Then Daniel whispered the words that changed everything.
“There is one problem for Logan.”
“What?”
“The transfer isn't legally valid.”
I opened my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because the person who signed it…”
Daniel pointed at the forged signature.
“…wasn't you.”
A slow smile appeared on my lips.
For the first time since the attack, I felt something other than helplessness.
Hope.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Maya…”
“What?”
“The police found the man who attacked you.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
May you like
Daniel lowered the phone.
“He's asking for you.”
