Part 4
By noon, the text messages were getting desperate.
Claire, the fuel cards are being declined at the stations. The drivers are stranded. Call me immediately. — Robert.
Claire, where are you? We received a legal notice about the warehouse lease. This must be a system error. Fix this right now, your father is having a fit. — Janet.
I ignored them all. Instead, I took Anna out for lunch and a shopping trip. We went to a high-end art supply store downtown. I bought her the expensive watercolor sets she had been eyeing for months, the ones my sister Sabrina had called "a waste of money for a hobby that goes nowhere."
"Mom, this is too much," Anna said, holding the beautiful wooden case of paints. "Aren't we supposed to be saving money now?"
I knelt down slightly so I was eye-to-eye with her. "Anna, look at me. You never have to worry about money again. Your dad and I have you completely covered. What happened Friday night was a display of their character, not a reflection of your worth. You are going to college, and you are going to create whatever future you want."
A small, genuine smile broke across her face, the first one I had seen since Friday night.
When we got home, a sleek Mercedes was parked in our driveway.
My sister Sabrina was leaning against the hood, her arms crossed over her designer jacket, tapping her foot impatiently. As soon as I got out of the car, she marched up to me.
"Where have you been?" she snapped. "Mom and Dad have been frantic. The business is completely paralyzed, and you're out shopping?"
"Hi, Sabrina," I said, handing the shopping bags to Anna. "Go inside, sweetie. I'll be there in a minute."
Once Anna closed the front door, I turned back to my sister. Her face was flushed with anger.
"What did you do to the accounts, Claire?" Sabrina demanded. "Dad says the operational funding is gone. The drivers are threatening to quit because they can't fill their tanks. Do you have any idea how bad this looks? We're supposed to be celebrating Carter's acceptance, and instead, you're throwing a temper tantrum because you're jealous!"
"Jealous?" I repeated, my voice terrifyingly soft.
"Yes! Jealous!" she yelled. "You've always been bitter because Carter is the star of this family. You've always tried to diminish him because Anna is... well, because Anna is ordinary. So what if Mom and Dad helped him out? They have the right to use their money however they want!"
"Their money?" I took a step closer to her. Sabrina actually took a half-step back, surprised by the absolute lack of fear in my eyes. "They took seventy-three thousand dollars out of my daughter's personal education fund. A fund that I built. That isn't their money, Sabrina. That is grand larceny."
"It was a joint account! Dad’s name was on it!" she stuttered, her confidence suddenly wavering. "It’s perfectly legal!"
"We'll let the financial auditors and the state tax board decide how legal it is," I said, offering a calm, terrifying smile. "But since you think it's so fair to redistribute family wealth, I decided to do some redistributing of my own."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that as of this morning, I am no longer subsidizing your lifestyle through the company payroll," I said. "Oh, did you think I didn't know about the five thousand dollars a month you've been taking as a 'marketing consultant' for R&J Logistics? A role where you haven't logged a single hour of work in three years? I deleted your position this morning. Your corporate credit card is dead. Your car lease? It's registered under the business name. Enjoy it for the next forty-eight hours, because the repo man is coming for it on Monday."
May you like
Sabrina's mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked like she had just been struck by lightning.
"Have a nice weekend, sister," I said, turning on my heel and walking into my house.
