Chapter 2: The Account That Wasn't Supposed to Exist
“Give me one good reason I shouldn't call the police right now.””
My father's voice cut through the bright living room.
Celeste stared at him, her fingers tightening around the edge of the wooden table. The afternoon sunlight illuminated every detail of her face, including the tiny twitch beneath her left eye.
“Marcus, please,” she said.
“You're making this sound criminal when it's a family matter.””
He placed his phone beside mine.
“Sixty-eight thousand, four hundred and twenty dollars is missing from accounts connected to my household and my company. You want me to pretend that's normal?””
“You said you would take care of me.””
“I do take care of you!””
“Not the way you used to.””
I stood beside the sofa, trying to understand how the conversation had become about Celeste's disappointment rather than the money she'd taken.
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“Explain the transfers.””
Celeste glanced at Aria.
That single look told me she was searching for an ally.
“Your daughter has never liked me,” Celeste said.
“You know that. She's been waiting for a reason to turn you against me.””
I felt something hot rise in my chest.
“I'm standing right here.””
“And I'm speaking to your father.””
“No,” Marcus interrupted.
“You're answering my question.””
Celeste inhaled sharply.
“The money was moved into an account I control. I intended to put it back.””
“When?””
“When things settled down.””
“What things?””
She looked away.
Marcus picked up the phone and began listing the transactions aloud.
“Six thousand dollars from Bennett Construction on March twelfth. Eight thousand five hundred on April second. Four thousand seven hundred on May eighteenth.””
He paused.
“Those dates don't match a family emergency.””
Celeste reached for his arm.
“Marcus, you know how difficult things have been. Aria needed support. The house needed repairs. There were expenses you didn't know about.””
“What repairs?””
“The bathroom.””
Marcus stared at her.
“The bathroom was renovated last year. I paid the contractor myself.””
Celeste's hand dropped.
Aria stood near the table, her new MacBook still unopened.
“Mom,” she said softly, “you told me Dad approved the money.””
Celeste turned toward her.
“Aria, not now.””
“But you did. You said Dad wanted me to have something nice because I'd worked so hard.””
“That's enough.””
Aria flinched.
I'd seen Celeste use that tone before. It was the tone that ended conversations, silenced questions, and made everyone else feel guilty for having them.
This time, however, Aria didn't look away.
“Did you know it was Nia's money?”” she asked.
Celeste's expression tightened.
“I knew where the money was coming from.””
The admission landed like a slap.
My throat constricted.
“You knew,” I whispered.
Celeste turned to me.
“Nia, don't be dramatic. You live in this house. You eat the food I buy.
You use the electricity I pay for. You think your father can support everybody without making adjustments?””
“Then why didn't you ask him?””
“Because he always says no when it comes to you!””
The room went still.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Careful.””
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“What? You want me to lie? Every time Aria needs something, you call it an investment.
Every time Nia needs something, you call it a responsibility. I was tired of watching you treat your biological daughter like she was the only child in this family.””
I stared at her.
“You stole from me to prove Dad loves me more?””
“Don't twist my words.””
“You just said—”
“I said you have everything handed to you!””
Marcus struck the table with his palm.
“Enough!””
The laptop box jumped slightly.
Aria grabbed it before it could fall.
Marcus turned to Celeste, his expression rigid.
“You don't get to steal from my daughter and call it fairness.””
Celeste's eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained sharp.
“So now I'm a thief? After everything I've done for this family?””
“You moved money without permission.””
“I was going to replace it.””
“With what?”” he demanded.
“The other money you've already taken?””
He turned back to the phone.
“I'm calling Denise.””
Denise was the accountant who had handled Bennett Construction's books for almost a decade. She'd helped my father establish the company after he'd left a job that paid him barely enough to cover our bills.
Celeste stepped toward him.
“No. Don't involve her.””
“Why not?””
“Because she'll misunderstand.””
Marcus pressed the call button.
Denise answered almost immediately.
“Marcus, thank goodness. I've been trying to reach you.””
“I'm looking at some transfers I don't recognize. They're connected to an account belonging to Celeste.””
There was a pause.
Then Denise said, “I was afraid that was what you'd found.””
My father went completely still.
“What does that mean?””
“I flagged unusual payments three months ago. Several withdrawals were authorized using your digital credentials.””
“I didn't authorize them.””
“I know that now. The approval records were inconsistent.””
Celeste began shaking her head.
“Denise doesn't know what she's talking about.””
Marcus raised one finger, silently telling her to stop.
Denise continued.
“Marcus, there's something else. The transfers aren't all from the company operating account. Some were recorded as reimbursements against your personal business reserve.””
“How much?””
“I haven't completed the audit. But the total exposure may be substantially higher than the amount you're seeing.””
My stomach dropped.
Marcus gripped the edge of the table.
“Send me everything. Every transfer, every approval, every account involved.””
“I'll send the preliminary report tonight.””
He ended the call.
For the first time since he'd walked through the door, he looked frightened.
Not angry.
Frightened.
I moved closer.
“Dad, is your company in trouble?””
He looked at me and forced himself to breathe.
“I don't know yet.””
Celeste wiped her eyes.
“You see what you've done?”” she whispered to me.
“You've brought this family to the edge of disaster over money.””
I stared at her in disbelief.
“You brought us here.””
She shook her head.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed for this family.””
Marcus turned toward her.
“Then tell us where the money went.””
Celeste's lips parted.
For a moment, I thought she might finally answer.
Instead, she grabbed her purse from the chair.
“I'm going for a drive.””
“No,” Marcus said.
“You're staying here until we understand what's happened.””
“You can't control me!””
“I can protect my family.””
“Your family?”” she cried.
“That's all you've ever cared about. Your daughter, your company, your reputation. Where do I fit into any of it?””
Marcus's expression hardened.
“Right now? I don't know.””
Celeste stared at him.
Then she looked at Aria.
“Get your things. We're leaving.””
Aria didn't move.
“Mom, where did the money go?””
Celeste's mouth tightened.
“Don't you dare question me after everything I've done for you.””
Aria's eyes filled with tears.
“Then stop making me feel like I have to.””
Celeste recoiled as if her daughter had struck her.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Celeste snatched her purse and marched toward the hallway.
Marcus didn't follow.
Instead, he picked up the laptop box, examined the receipt sticking out from beneath the packaging, and turned it over.
His face changed.
“That's strange,” he murmured.
I stepped beside him.
“What?””
He pointed to the receipt.
The laptop had been purchased three days earlier using a company credit card.
But beneath the purchase total was a line that made my father's fingers tighten around the paper.
*AUTHORIZED BY: MARCUS BENNETT*
“I never bought this,” he said.
Aria stared at the receipt.
“Mom told me you ordered it.””
Marcus pulled out his phone and photographed the document.
Then he looked toward the hallway where Celeste had disappeared.
“Someone used my credentials to authorize this purchase.””
A second later, his phone buzzed.
An email from Denise appeared.
*Subject: Preliminary Audit — Additional Account Discovered*
Marcus opened it.
His eyes moved across the screen.
Then he whispered, “Oh, God.””
“What is it?”” I asked.
He turned the phone toward me.
The report listed another account.
It wasn't under Celeste's name.
It wasn't under my father's name.
May you like
It was registered to a company none of us had ever heard of.
And the date it had been created was six months before Celeste married my father.
