Chapter 2 - The Verification Call
I called the number printed on the certified letter.
Ashley came inside after me. Emma stayed close to her, while the iPad remained on the porch step where she’d placed it.
When someone from the insurance office answered, I explained that I had received the certified notice and that the signature on the attached release wasn’t mine.
I didn’t accuse Ashley of anything. I didn’t have to.
The representative asked enough questions to verify who I was, then explained why the file had been flagged instead of closed. The disputed form conflicted with information already recorded when the accident was first reported, and the deposit instructions didn’t match the information previously associated with me.
Most importantly, no settlement funds had been released under those instructions.
I sat down.
That was the first good news I’d heard since opening the envelope.
The representative told me the claim would remain under review until I provided corrected information directly. Future paperwork involving my signature would have to be verified with me rather than routed through the contact path that had been used before.
Then I asked about the sentence concerning another child.
The answer made Ashley start pacing.
The original intake information had indicated that another minor had been present when Noah crashed. The later release—the one carrying my forged signature—said no other child had been involved.
“Who gave you the later form?” I asked.
The representative couldn’t give me every internal detail over that call, but the copy in my hand already showed enough. Ashley’s name appeared where the witness information had been completed, and the disputed deposit instructions led to an account that wasn’t mine.
I ended the call after arranging to respond through the office’s verification process.
Ashley spoke before I could put my phone down.
“You are making this sound worse than it was.”
I looked at her. “I’m reading what’s on the page.”
“I was trying to fix a mess.”
“By signing my name?”
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“You weren’t handling anything back then. You were exhausted. Noah had appointments constantly. Bills were everywhere. I thought I could take care of it.”
She said it with the irritated confidence of someone describing a favor that had gone unappreciated.
