Chapter 6 - The Financial Fortress
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While Derek was pacing the floors of her apartment, Skylar was sitting in a plush leather chair inside the private office of the regional bank manager.
She had taken an Uber directly from the hospital to the financial district. The bandages on her face drew sympathetic stares from the tellers, but she held her head high, refusing to shrink away. She was done hiding the damage Derek had caused.
"Ms. Bennett, I have pulled up all of the accounts linked to your social security number," the bank manager, a sharp-eyed woman named Evelyn, said as she turned her monitor slightly. "You have your primary checking, the joint savings account, and two credit cards where Mr. Foster is listed as an authorized user."
"I want him removed from everything," Skylar said firmly. "Immediately."
Evelyn clicked a few buttons on her keyboard. "I cannot remove him from the joint savings without his signature, as you both opened it together."
"Then drain it," Skylar instructed. "Transfer every single cent from the joint savings into a brand new, sole-proprietor checking account. Leave exactly one dollar in the joint account."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow, clearly picking up on the severity of the situation, especially given the thick white bandages covering half of Skylar's face.
"Consider it done," Evelyn said, her fingers flying across the keys. "I am also freezing the two credit cards and issuing new ones with different account numbers to a P.O. Box of your choosing."
"Thank you."
"Ms. Bennett, while I am looking at the transaction history for the joint account... I feel obligated to point out a pattern."
Skylar leaned forward. "What pattern?"
Evelyn printed a thick stack of papers and handed them across the desk. "Over the past four years, there have been automated, bi-weekly transfers from this joint account into an external account at a different banking institution. The external account is registered solely to Suzanne Foster."
Skylar stared at the highlighted lines on the paper. The amounts were staggering. Five hundred dollars here, a thousand dollars there. Over the years, Derek had siphoned tens of thousands of dollars of Skylar's hard-earned money directly to his sister behind her back, disguising the transfers as routine bill payments.
A fresh wave of anger washed over her, hot and clarifying. The coffee burn throbbed, a physical reminder of the price she had paid for finally saying no.
"Cancel those recurring transfers," Skylar said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "And flag any future attempts to access these funds by Derek or Suzanne Foster as fraudulent."
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"All access is hereby revoked," Evelyn confirmed, handing Skylar a new, temporary debit card. "Your money is secure, Ms. Bennett. The fortress is locked."
Skylar put the card in her wallet. For the first time in six years, she felt the true weight of her own financial power. Derek had tried to make her feel small, but he had been living on her dime the entire time. It was time to cut the purse strings.
