Chapter 9 - R.P. Consulting
Rachel reached the laptop before I did.
She slammed it shut.
I grabbed the edge.
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Is R.P. Consulting yours?”
“You’re making assumptions.”
“Then say no.”
She didn’t.
Margaret stepped between us.
“The money was managed.”
“By whom?”
“By me.”
I looked at her.
“So you authorized those withdrawals?”
“As trustee, I have responsibilities.”
“The account lists me as authorizer.”
“You probably signed forms years ago.”
“I did not.”
“You sign things without reading them.”
“No, Mom. You’re thinking of people you can intimidate.”
Her eyes flashed.
Rachel picked up the laptop.
I blocked the doorway.
“Put it down.”
“Move.”
“No.”
Chloe and Madison were watching from the hall.
Sophie clung to my hand.
I realized how ugly this had become for all three girls.
I stepped aside.
Rachel carried the laptop into the living room.
I followed.
She placed it on the coffee table and opened it.
For a moment, I thought she had decided to show me.
Then I saw what she was doing.
She was deleting files.
“Rachel.”
She clicked again.
A folder vanished.
I reached the laptop and pulled it away.
She grabbed the screen.
It nearly snapped backward.
“Stop!”
“Let go!”
Margaret seized my arm.
Sophie screamed.
I released the computer immediately.
Not because Rachel deserved it.
Because Sophie had already seen enough adults using force.
Rachel pulled the laptop toward herself.
I stepped back and lifted my phone.
“I photographed the account page.”
She froze.
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“No.”
Rachel’s voice lowered.
“You don’t know what you’re looking at.”
“Then tell me what R.P. Consulting is.”
Silence.
Chloe whispered, “It’s Mom’s.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
I turned.
Chloe looked terrified but continued.
“She has envelopes with that name.”
“Chloe, stop.”
“They come to our house.”
“Stop talking.”
“I saw one in your car.”
Rachel stood.
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
“Now.”
Chloe didn’t move.
Madison grabbed her hand.
I looked at Rachel.
“What does your company do?”
“Consulting.”
“For whom?”
“Clients.”
“What kind?”
“That is none of your business.”
“It became my business when seventy-two thousand dollars from my daughter’s account went into it.”
Margaret said, “The funds were reimbursing family expenses.”
“What family expenses?”
“The house. Food. School. Medical bills.”
“Sophie’s expenses do not equal seventy-two thousand dollars.”
“You have no idea what raising children costs.”
“I raise her.”
That silenced Margaret for half a second.
I looked at the account page on my phone.
Three withdrawals.
$24,000 each.
Exactly.
That did not look like reimbursement.
It looked scheduled.
I enlarged the photograph.
Each transaction occurred on the same day of three consecutive months.
The fifteenth.
Today was the fifteenth.
I scrolled to the bottom of the page.
A fourth transfer was pending.
$24,000.
Scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
I checked the time.
4:31.
Twenty-nine minutes.
I looked at Margaret.
“You’re taking another twenty-four thousand today.”
Rachel’s face hardened.
“You cannot stop it.”
The certainty in her voice frightened me more than denial.
“Why not?”
She looked toward the torn guardianship form.
Then back at me.
May you like
“Because according to the documents already on file, you authorized it.”
📖 Follow Emily’s race to stop the 5:00 p.m. transfer—and uncover the forged authorization Rachel claims is already beyond her reach in CHAPTER 10. 👇
