The paper folder hit the nightstand with a sharp slap that echoed in the small room. Victoria stepped back slightly, her face pale under her makeup. She folded her arms tightly over her chest, trying desperately to keep her hands from shaking in front of the two sisters.
Victoria: You don't know anything about finance, Sarah. You're making wild accusations because you're emotional.
Captain Sarah Vance: Am I? What about the offshore bank transfer initiated yesterday morning at nine o'clock?
Victoria: That... that was a legitimate corporate transfer for the family holding company.
Captain Sarah Vance: Dad didn't have a holding company. He had a simple trust fund created for Maya's future.
Maya: Is that why my card was declined at the pharmacy last week? Because the account was empty?
Victoria: Maya, quiet down. The stress is making you delusional.
Captain Sarah Vance: Leave her alone! Don't you dare talk to her like she's crazy!
Victoria: I am her mother! I have legal custody until she turns twenty-one!
Captain Sarah Vance: Maya is twenty-two, Victoria. Her birthday was last month—the birthday you completely ignored.
Victoria: Her age is irrelevant when she is mentally incapable of managing her own finances!
Maya: I'm not incapable! I work forty hours a week and go to community college!
Captain Sarah Vance: She was trying to survive on six hundred dollars a month while you were living in a penthouse in Manhattan!
Victoria: That penthouse is a family asset!
Captain Sarah Vance: Purchased in your name only, using Maya's payout funds as a down payment.
Victoria took another step back until her back touched the cold glass of the window frame. The faint lights of the city outside shone through the window, reflecting off her tense profile.
Victoria: Even if that were true, you have no proof of where the funds originated.
Captain Sarah Vance: I didn't need proof on my own. I called Dad's old estate lawyer, Mr. Henderson, from the driveway forty minutes ago.
Victoria: Henderson retired three years ago!
Captain Sarah Vance: He retired from court practice, not from managing Dad's primary files. And he was very surprised to learn that you claimed Maya was deceased to accelerate the payout.
Maya gasped loudly, her hand flying to her mouth as fresh tears filled her eyes.
Maya: What?! She told the insurance company I was dead?!
Captain Sarah Vance: That's how she got the check cleared without your signature, Maya.
Victoria: That is a complete lie! It was an administrative error by the corporate office!
Captain Sarah Vance: An error that conveniently paid out three million dollars directly into your personal account?
Victoria: You can't prove I filed those forged death certificate forms!
Captain Sarah Vance: Mr. Henderson kept the original carbon copies, Victoria. And he's standing in the lobby right now with two state troopers.
Victoria's breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the closed door. The cold realization hit her that her carefully crafted lies were crumbling completely, leaving her exposed and helpless.