He bought clothes she hadn’t seen on the credit card statements she managed. Expensive ones. Then came the cars—leased at first, then upgraded again before the ink on the last contract had dried. Loans appeared where there hadn’t been any. Short-term, he said. Strategic. “You have to look successful to be successful.”
Alexis didn’t panic. She asked questions. Calm ones. About why the company was carrying new debt when the margins were already narrow. About why personal spending was being routed through business accounts. About how they were supposed to plan for Tyler—school, stability, a future—if everything was being stretched thinner for appearances.