Chapter 2 - The Hidden Ledger
For the first few days, life slowed down in an odd, painful way.
We drank tea in the mornings. We kept our small routines.
Everything outside looked peaceful, but the betrayal hung over the house like a dark cloud.
On the fourth day, I couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Grandma, how exactly did you give him the money?" I asked, sitting across from her at the kitchen table.
She blinked, surprised by the question. "I wrote David a check. He said he needed to deposit it directly into the travel agency's account."
"Did you see a receipt?"
"No, sweetheart. He's my son. I trusted him."
I pulled out my laptop. "I want to look at your bank statements. Just to be sure."
She hesitated, then nodded and walked to her bedroom. She returned with a small lockbox and handed me a stack of papers.
I scanned the most recent statement. The thirty thousand dollars hadn't gone to a travel agency.
It had been wired to an LLC I had never heard of: Apex Holdings.
"Grandma, do you know what Apex Holdings is?" I asked, turning the screen toward her.
She adjusted her glasses. "No. I've never seen that name in my life."
I typed the name into a public business registry. My heart began to pound against my ribs.
"The registered agent for this company is Aunt Linda," I whispered.
Grandma’s face fell. "Linda? But why would your father send the money to your aunt?"
"Because there was no European tour upgrade," I said, anger bubbling up in my throat. "They scammed you."
I spent the next three hours digging through public property records. What I found made me feel physically sick.
Aunt Linda and my father had recently purchased a foreclosed commercial property downtown.
The down payment was exactly thirty thousand dollars.
"They used your money to buy real estate," I told her, my voice trembling. "They never intended to take you on that trip. They just needed your savings."
Grandma sat completely still. A tear slipped down her wrinkled cheek.
"I gave them everything," she whispered.
"I know," I said, reaching across the table to hold her hand. "And we are going to get it back."
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I picked up my phone and dialed a number a friend had given me a year ago.
"Mr. Sterling?" I asked when the line connected. "I need a forensic accountant. And I need a lawyer."
