Chapter 7 - Eleven Transfers
The first transfer was only twelve thousand dollars.
Small enough to miss.
The second was eighteen.
Then twenty-five.
Then forty.
By the eleventh transfer, more than 1.4 million dollars had moved through accounts tied to me, Lauren, Vivian, and a holding company I had never heard of.
“Sterling North LLC,” Marcus said.
I looked at Lauren. “What is it?”
“An investment vehicle.”
“For what?”
She hesitated.
Dad answered. “A house.”
The wedding lawn vanished around me.
“What house?”
Marcus displayed a property record on the screen.
A waterfront home in Charleston.
Purchased three months earlier.
Buyer: Sterling North LLC.
Authorized manager: Lauren Pierce.
I stared at the photo.
I knew that house.
Lauren had shown it to me on her phone and called it her dream place.
I had joked, “Maybe in ten years.”
She had said, “Maybe sooner.”
“Whose name is on the deed?” I asked.
“Only the LLC,” Marcus said.
“And who owns the LLC?”
He looked at Vivian.
“Lauren and her mother, fifty-fifty.”
Vivian finally lost control.
“You arrogant people think every dollar belongs to you!” she shouted.
Guests recoiled.
Dad’s voice stayed calm. “Every dollar in this case did belong to him.”
Lauren grabbed her mother’s arm. “Stop talking.”
Vivian jerked away. “No. I’m tired of being treated like a criminal because your family hoards money.”
My mother whispered, “Your daughter pushed me to the ground.”
Vivian turned on her.
“And you’ve been poisoning Daniel against Lauren since day one.”
I stepped between them.
“No. You don’t speak to my mother like that.”
Lauren stared at me.
There it was again—the calculation.
Then she said, “Fine. You want the truth? Your mother isn’t innocent.”
Mom’s face changed.
Lauren pointed at her.
“She paid someone to follow me.”
May you like
Dad looked at Mom.
And for the first time that day, he looked surprised.
