Just understood. It nearly undid me more than kindness would have. He opened the file and turned a few pages toward me.
“Because you’re named guarantor,” he said, “you’re entitled to review the current reporting in the file before we finalize your decision.”
There were three tabs flagged in yellow. Borrowing base summary. Past due receivables.
Personal financial statement. I studied the numbers. The line had been drawn down harder than Anthony admitted.
Two major client payments were over ninety days late. Cash on hand was thinner than it should have been going into winter. And there, on the personal financial statement Anthony had submitted six weeks earlier, was the leased black Range Rover I had pretended not to judge when he parked it outside Rachel’s house.
Monthly obligation: $1,386. Not illegal. Not catastrophic.
Just insulting. “You knew,” I said. Samuel chose his words with care.
“I knew the renewal required stronger support than he appeared to understand.”
“Did my daughter know?”
“I can’t speak to private conversations in their household.”
