My Sister Forged My Professional Credentials for a Discount — I Voided Her Engagement Party

Part 2

Page one was the certificate of insurance.

The certificate holder was listed as the Mountain Laurel Hotel.

The insured event was my sister’s engagement reception.

The coverage was a standard two million dollar general liability policy.

The carrier was Terra Risk Group.

The broker of record was Brenda Endicott.

My license number was printed clearly just below my name.

The signature line was signed.

I read the license number twice.

I read it a third time.

I could see the framed certificate on my office wall in my head.

I had not signed any broker delegation form for any event in April.

I had not signed a broker delegation form for my sister ever in my life.

I turned the page.

Page three was the signature page of the broker delegation form.

The signature on the form was a careful, wobbly version of my own.

It was the kind of signature you would copy if you had a photograph of an original to trace from.

I have an old social media post from the night of my swearing-in ceremony.

The signature on my certificate is visible in the photograph if you zoom in.

I closed the binder.

I could feel the brass-rimmed paperweight on my desk in my head.

I walked into the women’s restroom.

I closed the door of the handicapped stall.

I sat down and took my phone out of my purse.

I called the head of compliance at my firm.

I told him there was a certificate of insurance for an event today with me listed as the broker.

I told him I never signed it.

He pulled the file and confirmed it had been auto-flagged for low confidence weeks ago.

I had missed the notification during first-quarter renewals.

He told me this was a felony.

He asked if I was the affected broker and if I was willing to file a report.

I told him to file it immediately.

I told him my family forged it.

I told him to void the policy retroactive to the issue date.

The master contract required valid event coverage to proceed.

The hotel would have to cancel the event.

He confirmed the void.

I thanked him and hung up.

I came out of the restroom and walked back toward the ballroom.

Megan was on the dais tapping her champagne flute.

She was giving a speech about choosing your real family.

Barbara was looking at her phone.

She was typing a message rapidly with her thumb.

I left the ballroom.

My mother caught me in the hallway.

She asked me to stay and let Megan have the spotlight.

I told her about the note I had read on the clipboard.

She tried to explain it away without apologizing.

I stepped around her without another word.

I walked through the service door into the back corridor.

Tyler was standing there with his coffee cup on a stack of napkins.

He told me he had watched Megan write the note.

He said he would not defend them anymore.

My phone rang.

Compliance told me the void notice had reached the hotel manager.

The legal team would be contacting Craig within the next thirty minutes.

I walked to my car and drove home.

If you have ever stood in a room full of people who think they know you because someone in your family has been telling them lies, what would you do?