Chapter 2 - THE FAMILY DINNER
The door opened.
My mother walked in first.
She wore the emerald dress Clara had bought her for Christmas.
The sight of it made something inside me twist.
Clara had spent three weeks searching for that dress.
My mother hadn't even thanked her.
Behind her came Daniel.
Then Sienna.
Then my aunt Margaret and two cousins.
Every one of them looked nervous.
Good.
“Julian,” my mother said.
I stared at her.
“Mother.”
She forced a smile.
“You're home.”
“Yes.”
“So suddenly.”
“I wanted to surprise Clara.”
My mother glanced at my wife.
Her expression hardened for half a second.
Then the smile returned.
“Oh, sweetheart. I didn't realize you were tired.”
Clara lowered her eyes.
I stepped between them.
“She is.”
My mother blinked.
“Then she should rest.”
“She will.”
Daniel cleared his throat.
“Julian, about tonight—”
“Sit down.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
“I said sit down.”
Nobody moved.
I pointed toward the chairs.
“One by one.”
They obeyed.
My mother sat first.
Daniel beside her.
Sienna took the chair nearest the door.
Margaret sat opposite me.
Clara remained standing.
I pulled out a chair for her.
She sat.
Then I placed the black velvet box in front of her.
My mother noticed.
“What is that?”
“A gift.”
“For Clara?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That's rather extravagant.”
“It is.”
“Do you mind if I see it?”
“Yes.”
The answer stunned her.
I leaned back.
“Actually, I don't.”
Daniel looked at me carefully.
“What happened?”
I smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Then why are we all sitting here?”
“Because I wanted to ask my family a question.”
My mother folded her arms.
“What question?”
I placed my phone on the table.
“Who gave Clara permission to work in my kitchen?”
Silence.
Sienna looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at my mother.
My mother looked at Clara.
“No one forced her.”
I nodded.
“That's interesting.”
I tapped the screen.
A recording played.
My mother's voice filled the room.
“You married into this family. Start acting like it.”
Clara's face went pale.
My mother stared at the phone.
“That was taken out of context.”
“Which part?”
She said nothing.
I played another.
Sienna's voice.
“You should be grateful Julian lets you live like this.”
Then another.
Daniel.
“You don't need to question how the money is spent.”
I stopped the recording.
The room was silent.
I looked at each of them.
“You thought the security system was decorative.”
Nobody answered.
“It isn't.”
Daniel's face changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
“You recorded us?”
“I protected my property.”
“You can't spy on family.”
I laughed once.
“You stole nearly five million dollars from me.”
Daniel went white.
My mother stood.
“What are you talking about?”
I turned the phone toward them.
The transaction appeared on the screen.
Daniel's account.
Four point eight million dollars.
Authorized with my forged signature.
Sienna whispered:
“Daniel…”
He stood abruptly.
“That's not what it looks like.”
“Then tell me what it looks like.”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing.
My mother turned toward him.
“Daniel?”
He looked trapped.
“I was going to explain.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
I stood.
“Soon isn't a date.”
My voice remained calm.
“That money was transferred while I was overseas.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“I was handling business.”
“You don't own my company.”
“I was protecting the family.”
“From what?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“From me?”
“No.”
“From Clara?”
Silence.
Clara's fingers tightened around the velvet box.
I looked at my brother.
“You didn't just steal my money.”
I pointed toward Clara.
“You convinced my wife that she wasn't worthy of standing in her own kitchen.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“She doesn't understand how this family works.”
I smiled.
“You're right.”
I picked up my phone.
“She doesn't.”
Daniel frowned.
“But I do.”
I opened another file.
This one contained documents.
Bank statements.
Emails.
Contracts.
Property records.
Then I placed them on the table.
Daniel stared.
“What is that?”
“The beginning.”
My mother looked at the papers.
Then at me.
“You wouldn't destroy your own family.”
I looked at her.
“You already did.”
No one spoke.
Then Marcus called.
I answered on speaker.
“Sir.”
“Go ahead.”
“We found eleven additional transfers.”
My mother gasped.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“How much?”
Marcus said the number.
“Twenty-three million.”
Clara covered her mouth.
I stared at Daniel.
Twenty-three million dollars.
Not four point eight.
Twenty-three.
The room went completely silent.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Julian…”
I looked at him.
“You have ten seconds.”
“To do what?”
“Tell me where the money went.”
Daniel looked toward my mother.
That single glance told me everything.
My mother had known.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
I started counting.
“Ten.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Julian, please.”
“Nine.”
My mother suddenly stood.
“Stop.”
I looked at her.
“Eight.”
She whispered:
“It wasn't for us.”
“Seven.”
“It was for your father.”
“Six.”
I stopped.
“My father?”
Nobody moved.
My father had been dead for six years.
My mother stared at me.
Her lips trembled.
“Your father left something behind.”
“What?”
She looked at Daniel.
He looked terrified.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“A second family.”
I felt the room tilt.
Clara grabbed my hand.
My mother continued.
“Your father had another wife.”
I stared at her.
“And another son.”
The clock on the wall ticked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I looked at Daniel.
“Does he know?”
Daniel's silence answered for him.
My mother lowered her eyes.
“He has been trying to contact you.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“Why?”
My mother whispered:
“Because he says half of what you inherited belongs to him.”
I looked at the documents on the table.
Then at Clara.
Then back at my family.
Suddenly, the stolen twenty-three million didn't look like the beginning of the betrayal.
May you like
It looked like a payment.
And someone had been preparing for a war I didn't even know existed.
