Chapter 2 - The Mother's Greed
Everyone in the room froze as the sharp steel of the knife caught the hallway light.
"Put that weapon down right now, Denise," Uncle Robert warned, holding his hands up defensively.
My mother backed herself into the corner of the dining room with a wild look in her eyes.
"You do not understand the danger we are in!" she cried out desperately.
I held my daughter tightly, completely unable to comprehend the monster my mother had become.
"You let me sit in my freezing car at night counting loose change," I told her.
"I did it to keep you alive, Claire," Denise pleaded through her tears.
Grandma Margaret was entirely unmoved by the dramatic display of emotion.
"Richard, call the local police department immediately," Grandma ordered her lawyer.
"If you call the police, those people will kill all of us!" Denise shrieked.
Clara stepped forward with another page of the financial records in her hand.
"The money is completely gone anyway," Clara announced to the shocked room.
"What do you mean it is gone?" Patricia asked, her voice cracking with fear.
"The entire $180,000 balance was drained yesterday afternoon," Clara explained.
Richard pulled out a tablet and showed the digital transfer receipt to Grandma Margaret.
"The funds were wired to an offshore shell company registered in the Cayman Islands," Richard stated.
I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me as the reality of my stolen future set in.
"Who owns the offshore company?" Grandma asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
Richard tapped the screen of his tablet a few times to trace the corporate registration.
"The shell company is owned by a private investment group called Horizon Enterprises," Richard replied.
Patricia let out a loud gasp and dropped to her knees on the rug.
Uncle Robert stared at his wife as if she were a complete stranger.
"Patricia, why does that company name sound so familiar?" Robert demanded angrily.
Patricia refused to answer, choosing instead to sob uncontrollably into her hands.
"Horizon Enterprises is the startup company that our daughter Emily launched last month," Robert realized aloud.
The cousin who had begged me to come to this Thanksgiving dinner was the one who had stolen my money.
I looked around the entrance hall, realizing Emily was nowhere to be found.
"Where is Emily?" I asked, a sudden sense of dread filling my stomach.
The front door suddenly clicked open from the outside.
Emily stepped into the house wearing a luxurious designer coat that cost more than my car.
She looked at the crying women, the angry lawyers, and the knife in my mother's hand.
May you like
Emily simply smiled and locked the heavy deadbolt behind her.
"I see the family meeting started without me," Emily said smoothly.
