Chapter 4 - The Audit of the Soul
The town car pulled away from the Pacific Palisades,
and I watched the mansion disappear in the rearview mirror.
Elias Thorne sat next to me,
a tablet in his hand,
his face showing a hint of a smile for the first time.
"You did well,
Maya,"
he said,
his voice much softer than it had been on the speakerphone.
"Your father would be incredibly proud of your precision."
"He always said you were the smartest person in the room,"
"even when you were only six years old."
I looked out at the ocean,
the waves crashing against the cliffs.
"I just did what I had to do to survive,
Elias."
"They were going to drown me."
"They already have,"
he replied,
handing me the tablet.
"The preliminary audit is already showing over four million dollars in unauthorized withdrawals from your trust over the last five years."
"Julian was using a series of offshore shells to hide the movement,"
"but he was sloppy."
"He didn't realize that as soon as you turned eighteen,"
"the transparency clauses would kick in."
I scrolled through the numbers,
seeing the luxury vacations,
the designer clothes for Serena,
and the failed tech investments.
It was a map of their greed,
a paper trail of their utter lack of respect for me.
"I want it all back,"
I said,
my voice firm.
"Every cent."
"I want the house sold."
"I want the assets liquidated."
"And I want my mother to be given a modest monthly allowance,"
"on the condition that she never contacts me again."
"As for Julian,"
"if he doesn't sign the confession of embezzlement,"
"I want him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Elias nodded,
typing notes into his device.
"And Serena?"
"Let her keep her social media followers,"
I said,
looking at my phone as a notification popped up.
Serena had just posted a tearful video about 'family betrayal' and 'losing everything.'
"She’s going to try to turn this into a victim narrative,"
I noted.
"Then we release the audit,"
Elias suggested calmly.
"We show the world exactly whose money she was spending for seven years."
"We show them the laundry room where the 'nerd' was kept while she lived like a princess."
I leaned back into the leather seat,
feeling the weight of the last seven years finally lift.
The audit was more than just a financial document,
it was a restoration of my father’s dignity.
He hadn't built a fortune so it could be squandered by a man like Julian.
May you like
He had built it for me.
And I was finally ready to use it for something real.
