Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
My mother looked like she wanted the hardwood floor to open up and swallow her whole. She set her half-empty wineglass down on the sideboard with a trembling hand, refusing to meet my eyes.
"Mom... I didn't know the exact amount," Denise stammered, pulling her knit cardigan tightly around herself. "Patricia just... she told me that you had agreed to help everyone equally this year. She said Evan had plenty of private insurance and that Nora had pride—that she wanted to handle things on her own."
"You came to my apartment in July, Mom," I said, tears finally burning in my eyes as I remembered that afternoon. "You sat on my sofa. You saw that the air conditioning wasn't running in ninety-degree heat. You watched me mix formula with tap water because I couldn't afford bottled spring water. You told me that 'hard times build character' and that Evan would have wanted me to be self-reliant."
Denise winced, shrinking back against the wall. "Nora, honey, I didn't think you were actually starving! You never asked me for money!"
"Because every time I called you crying, you told me Grandma was getting old and shouldn't be burdened with financial stress!" The truth hit me with sickening force. "You and Patricia coordinated this. You kept me away from Grandma so she wouldn't see what was happening to us!"
"I didn't steal anything!" Denise sobbed. "Patricia just paid off my car loan in June! She told me it was a gift from her bonus!"
"With Nora's money," Grandma Margaret said, her voice dropping into a register of total disgust. "With an orphan’s survival fund. You allowed your sister to rob your own daughter and granddaughter so you could drive a paid-off sedan."
Richard Vance cleared his throat, stepping between the family members with the precision of a surgeon preparing an incision.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are well past family drama," Richard said, pulling several legal notices from his briefcase. "What occurred here is felony grand larceny, bank fraud, and conversion of fiduciary trust funds. Because the trust assets crossed state lines via federal wire, this falls under federal wire fraud statutes."
Patricia’s face drained of color until she looked like a ghost. "Richard... we've known each other for twenty years. You played golf with my father."
"And your father would roll over in his grave if he saw you stealing milk out of his great-grandchild's mouth, Patricia," Richard replied coldly. "I represent Margaret Vance and the Vance Family Legacy Trust. I do not represent you. In fact, Clara and I have already drafted the initial criminal complaint."
May you like
He laid a crisp, white document with the county prosecutor's header on the table.
"You have two options," Grandma Margaret said, her voice devoid of even a trace of mercy. "And you have exactly ten minutes to decide which one you take."
