Chapter 1

After my family's company went bankrupt, my boyfriend's older brother came to me.

"Help me push through a loan. The money just passes through your account. I use it for a few days, then I pay it back."

I told him I had no assets and no credit.

He said that didn't matter.

"My brother will put his house up as collateral. His credit is fine."

I smiled and agreed.

Three days later, five hundred thousand landed in my account.

Then he called.

"I'm giving you an account number. Transfer the money over."

I shot back at once.

"I took out the loan. Why should I hand it to you?"

He got a little angry.

"We talked about this. It's just a formality, you're doing me a favor."

"This really isn't the time to joke around. I need that money for something big."

I hung up on him. The next day, the police showed up at my door.

"Someone filed a report. You're suspected of fraud."

1

Two officers, serious but polite.

"Sophia Henson, someone filed a report saying you're suspected of fraud."

I looked past the two of them to my boyfriend's brother, Mervyn Whitney, standing behind them, and asked with a smile.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was Mervyn who called you, wasn't it?"

It came out less like a question than a statement, and Mervyn jumped in right away.

"Yeah, I called them. What are you going to do about it?"

"We agreed. The loan comes through, the money's for me to use. Why won't you transfer it?"

He was worked up, and one of the officers stepped forward to calm him.

"Settle down for now. Let us get the facts straight first."

"Officer, I don't see what there is to sort out. Just arrest her!"

The other officer came over to me and spoke quietly.

"Do you want to answer questions here, or come back to the station with us?"

I thought for a moment, then answered evenly.

"It's simple, and the whole process is out in the open."

I started laying it out, and both officers moved in front of me, taking notes.

"Mervyn is the older brother of my boyfriend, Abraham Whitney. He works at a bank."

"A week ago he called me, said he was short on a target at work and needed me to help take out a loan."

"I agreed at the time, but I also said my family's company had gone bankrupt, so I had no assets and no credit."

Mervyn rolled his eyes and cut in.

"So you do know you've got nothing. Why would I come to you for a loan otherwise?"

The officer taking notes gave him a hard look.

"No one is asking you. Please stay quiet."

Mervyn hunched down and shut up. I calmly went on.

"Mervyn said my boyfriend, his younger brother Abraham, would guarantee the loan for me."

I hadn't even called Abraham back then. He was the one who called me.

"Did my brother ask you to help take out a loan, to hit some target?"

I'd asked him, curious.

"Look at my situation right now. Do you really think a loan would go through?"

Abraham swore up and down.

"With me guaranteeing it, there's no problem at all. Just listen to my brother and follow the process."

Two days later, Abraham and I went to the bank together to sign and do the interview.

The bank manager asked me a lot of questions, and I answered all of them honestly.

At the end, when it came to the guarantee, the manager turned to Abraham and asked him solemnly.

"Under the terms of the contract, if your girlfriend can't repay on time, you become the co-borrower responsible for repayment. Do you understand that?"

Abraham nodded without hesitation.

"I understand. No problem."

Once everything was done, the manager told us to go home and wait to hear back.

In the parking lot outside the bank, just as I was about to get in the car, Abraham suddenly grabbed my arm.

"When this loan comes through, you transfer it to my brother as fast as you can."

I asked him, curious.

"What is this money actually for?"

Abraham explained to me very patiently.

"My brother's found a really good project. Put in five hundred thousand, and it doubles in three months."

"If it earns a little more, I'll think about pulling some out to help pay down your family's debt."

After I heard that, I let it go and moved on to another subject.

"The wedding in three months, is it still going ahead as planned?"