Chapter 5 - Blood and Money
My father stared at the bank routing numbers as if they were venomous snakes.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Who owns that offshore account, Dad?" I demanded, tapping the paper.
Before he could answer, the conference room doors burst open.
My mother stormed inside, her eyes blazing with irrational fury.
"I knew you would use your little corporate job to terrorize this family," she screamed.
"He stole half a million dollars from his employees, Mom," I fired back.
"He did what he had to do to protect our lifestyle!" she yelled without a hint of shame.
I looked at her in pure disgust, realizing she had known about the embezzlement all along.
They had skipped my graduation to throw a lavish party with stolen money just to keep up appearances.
"I have a legal obligation to report this to the Halden Vale board," I informed them.
My mother marched right up to my face, her expression twisting into a cruel smirk.
"If you fire your father, I will completely destroy your new career," she threatened.
"You have absolutely no power over me anymore," I reminded her.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a manila envelope.
"I paid a hacker to fabricate a massive academic integrity violation against you in the Stanford database," she stated calmly.
My heart skipped a beat as she pulled out a fake disciplinary record bearing my name.
"It looks incredibly real, and I will anonymously email it to your boss in New York," she continued.
"They will fire you immediately for lying on your background check."
I realized my mother was a genuine sociopath willing to ruin her own daughter out of sheer spite.
"You would rather destroy my life than accept responsibility for your own crimes?" I asked.
"You owe us everything for raising you, Marlo," she said coldly.
"Fix the audit report by tomorrow morning, or say goodbye to your nine million dollars."
She grabbed my father by the arm and dragged him out of the room.
I stood completely alone, my hands shaking with a mixture of rage and terror.
My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.
May you like
It was Ingrid Søberg.
"Marlo, the board just received a very disturbing anonymous tip regarding your Stanford credentials, and we need you on a video call immediately."
