You Are My Reason - Willow Winters Page 0,46
the drop.”
“The drop?” I ask him, feeling the blood drain from my face. Jace never mentioned buying any properties. “This was with our personal assets? Not the business?”
He nods at my question, taking in a deep inhale. “They were on the decline when he purchased them. He was a bit surprised that they continued to drop, yes.” Mr. Walker leans back, waiting for my reaction.
“How much of a decline?”
“Fourteen million.”
I close my eyes, gripping the edge of the seat for a moment. Fourteen million. That’s … I can barely think straight. When we married, I know my assets were around twenty million. How could he take such a large chunk and not disclose any of this to me?
“There’s still nearly six million invested so you can withdraw if you’d like. I like to say you’ve never lost money until you sell, but the fact is that I still believe you’re not going to see the return your deceased husband was banking on.”
My entire body is tense and on edge. Fourteen fucking million dollars. Fourteen million! I want to scream and curse, I want to throw up. It takes me a moment to gather myself to be able to respond.
“Why am I just learning about this now?” I ask him in a voice that’s more filled with anger than full of shock and grief. I flip through a few pages with shaking hands, reading through them, but not actually reading a word.
Fourteen million and now I can only sell for six? I’m going to be sick.
“Well, it was stable but it’s recently gone up just a touch, and I’m of the opinion that you should take advantage of the current climate.”
My mouth hangs open just a bit as I look back at Mr. Walker, eyeing his blue suit and thin red tie. I blink a few times, then fall back into my chair and shut the folder.
“Is this all of the investments?” I ask, realizing how little I knew of Jace’s dealings. For the first time in my life, I’m worried. I’ve never had to concern myself with income. I’ve been blessed and grateful, but I wasn’t careless. This right here, this feels like careless to a maximum degree and I’m embarrassed. I’m sick to my stomach and mortified.
I swallow thickly and cross my legs, not able to stop my foot from rocking back and forth in the air. It’s only as I sit here, my mouth feeling dry and my body like ice, that I realize I know nothing about my current financial situation. I trusted Jace to handle all this.
“Allen,” I say as I pick at the clutch in my lap and look up at the man I grew up with. He’s an old friend of my father and I do trust him, but right now I feel unsettled.
“Yes, Julia?” he asks.
“Financially speaking,” I say then pause, taking in a steadying breath before I continue, “is everything all right?”
He takes a moment to answer me and the time ticks by slowly while I wait for his reply.
He opens his mouth, looking down at the desk but doesn’t say a word and dread hits me. “You’re going to be fine, Miss Summers. You will be.” He puts strength behind his words and looks straight into my eyes as he speaks.
I should be relieved, but he didn’t exactly answer my question.
“It’s going to be difficult getting this money back, especially considering the amount of debt you went into when remodeling your home.”
“What?” I feel struck by his last statement. “We didn’t go into debt.” I got everything I wanted on that remodel because it was funded by the money I’d made with my first publishing contract. It was my personal reward to myself. “I know how every penny was spent and I know it was paid for with the money I brought in.”
I can’t help that my voice is full of panic and my tone is accusatory. I sit there on the edge of my seat, waiting for a response from Allen. I swallow the lump in my throat as he clicks on his mouse and takes off his glasses, scrolling through a row of spreadsheets.
“The remodel put you in quite a bit of debt, I’m sorry to say.” I shake my head in disbelief as he adds, “If you were to sell the apartment, it could potentially make its money back.”
Chills travel down every inch of my body as I take one breath, then two. “What apartment?” I ask him,