Chapter 2: The Call That Changed Everything
Friday came faster than I expected.
I was sitting in Miriam's office when my phone started going off.
Dad.
Three calls in four minutes.
I let every one go to voicemail.
Then Lena called.
I picked up.
"Ava." Her voice was different.
The warmth was completely gone.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, Lena."
"The account is empty.
The broker told Dad there's a trust he's never heard of and that he has zero authority over it.
The closing agent is waiting and Dad can't produce the funds."
I said nothing.
"Ava.
There are people standing in a house right now waiting for a transaction that isn't coming.
Do you understand how humiliating this is?"
"I understand perfectly."
She went quiet for a moment.
Then her voice dropped low.
"Mom is crying.
Dad looks like he's going to have a heart attack.
Is that what you wanted?"
"What I wanted," I said carefully, "was for someone to ask me before spending $2.4 million that belonged to me."
She hung up.
I sat with the phone in my hand and felt something I hadn't expected.
Not satisfaction.
Not anger.
Something quieter.
Then Miriam looked up from her desk and slid a document across toward me.
"There's something else you need to see, Ava."
I looked down at the paper.
It was a transaction record.
Dated fourteen months ago.
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The amount was $340,000.
And the name on the receiving account wasn't Lena's.
