The $20 Million Secret That Destroyed Them

Over the next few days, Jordan stayed busy shooting wedding photos with Nanette.

From the beach to the mountaintop.

From sunrise to sunset.

Every kind of romance, checked off one by one.

I stayed busy putting together my art show and welcoming a fresh start.

Thursday night.

Jordan finally stirred again, sending one message: *Ten tomorrow morning, meet me outside the county records office. Dress nice.*

Friday.

I stood outside the county records office, watching couples walk in and out smiling, watching others part in mutual disgust.

Ten o'clock.

Jordan showed up.

He rushed over and said in a panic, "Nanette was cutting costs for the company on the procurement side, so she sold off a batch of old stock and low-grade products. Someone reported it."

"Go turn yourself in to the authorities, now!"

I'd braced for it, but hearing something this absurd still put a weight on my chest.

"Nanette did it. Why should I turn myself in?"

I asked.

"Because you're the company's legal representative! And her best friend!"

Jordan frowned, impatient. "Nanette's cried easily since she was little, she can't take that kind of hardship…"

"So I can take it?"

I cut in.

"You're tougher. Once this is over, we'll go get married."

Jordan answered without a second's thought.

That flat, resolute look in his eyes.

Left me with nothing to say.

Beep, beep!

Right then, a dozen or so cars pulled up.

Jordan's eyelid twitched wildly. He said to me, "Remember what I just told you."

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to. The legal representative on file is you."

"Whatever the liability, you're the one who bears it!"

And with that, he turned and ran.

Left me standing there alone at the door.

The dozen-odd cars stopped outside the county records office, and a whole swarm of people poured out and came straight at me.

"You're Martha Henson, right?"

"Pay up!"

"Or we tear your face off!"

Some of them were seething; others held their phones up high.

"I don't work at Gilbert's company. Why come after me?"

I didn't run. If anything, I was perfectly calm.

"Because you're the company's legal representative! They're gone now, so you're the one on the hook."

"No money today, and you're not going anywhere!"

Their tempers climbed higher.

One older woman had already rolled up her sleeves, ready to yank me by the hair.

"You may have this wrong. I'm not the legal representative of Gilbert's company."

I shook my head.

"Bullsh*t!"

"We've got the contract right here. How could there be a mistake?"

The man leading them said coldly.

To make me take the fall for Nanette, Jordan had actually handed the contract out.

I let out a soft laugh. "Have any of you actually opened it and looked? Are you sure the legal representative is Martha Henson?"

The man in front froze for a second, then hurriedly flipped the contract open to the signature page.

The others crowded in too.

There, on the signature line, was written: *Captain Underpants!*