Chapter 7 - The Name They Tried To Steal
I stared at the phone in my hand.
The money wasn't only stolen from your trust.
Your parents were preparing another transfer.
To an account created in Leo's name.
For several seconds, I couldn't process the words.
Not because I didn't understand them.
Because I understood them too well.
They weren't finished.
My parents hadn't spent years hiding one mistake.
They had built a system.
A system where money disappeared.
Where names were borrowed.
Where innocent people became shields.
And now Leo was next.
I looked across the room.
My brother was asleep on the couch again.
The same couch.
The same place.
The same person who had given up everything for me without asking for anything in return.
I walked over and gently woke him.
"Leo."
His eyes opened immediately.
"What happened?"
I hated that he always knew.
I hated that he had learned to recognize fear in my voice.
"Daniel found something."
He sat up.
"What?"
I showed him the message.
He read it silently.
Then his face changed.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Disappointment.
"They're using my name again."
I sat beside him.
"Leo..."
He shook his head.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"I get it now."
"Get what?"
He looked at the floor.
"They never saw me as family."
I didn't answer.
Because a part of me had been thinking the same thing.
My parents had always treated Leo differently.
But I thought it was because he was the youngest.
Because he was quieter.
Because he didn't challenge them.
I never imagined they saw him as someone useful.
A name.
A signature.
A person they could control.
"They wanted you to look guilty," I said.
Leo nodded.
"And when that didn't work?"
"They would use you instead."
He laughed softly.
A painful laugh.
"Funny."
"What?"
"I spent my whole life trying to prove I wasn't like them."
He looked at his hands.
"And they spent theirs trying to make me part of their mess."
I reached over.
"Leo."
He looked at me.
"You are not what they did."
For a moment, he didn't say anything.
Then he nodded.
But I could see the pain.
Because betrayal from strangers hurts.
Betrayal from family changes the way you remember your entire life.
Daniel asked us to come to his office immediately.
When we arrived, he already had several documents waiting.
He looked more serious than before.
That worried me.
"What did you find?"
He opened the first file.
"The account in Leo's name was created six months ago."
Leo frowned.
"Six months?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Because that was when your parents began preparing a transfer."
He turned the document around.
The account information appeared on the screen.
"Your name was added as the owner."
Leo stared at it.
"But I never opened this."
"I know."
"Then how?"
Daniel pointed at the signature.
"Forgery."
My jaw tightened.
Again.
Another fake signature.
Another attempt to build a false story.
"What were they planning to do?"
Daniel opened another file.
"This."
The document showed a large transfer request.
My eyes moved down.
The amount made me freeze.
"Two million dollars?"
Daniel nodded.
"They planned to move two million dollars from the trust-related accounts into this account."
Leo looked confused.
"Why would they put stolen money under my name?"
I answered before Daniel could.
"Because if anyone investigated..."
Leo would be blamed.
The room became silent.
My brother understood.
His own name had been turned into a trap.
"They were going to make me the criminal."
Daniel nodded.
"Exactly."
Leo leaned back.
For the first time, I saw him truly angry.
Not loud.
Not violent.
Just controlled.
The same kind of anger I had seen in soldiers who had been pushed too far.
"My entire life," he whispered.
"They made me feel like I was invisible."
He looked at the documents.
"But I wasn't invisible."
A pause.
"I was convenient."
That afternoon, Daniel helped us secure Leo's records.
Bank accounts.
Employment records.
Anything connected to his identity.
Because we no longer knew what my parents had already done.
Every document mattered.
Every signature mattered.
Every missing piece mattered.
Then Daniel found something unexpected.
"Wait."
He stared at his screen.
"What?"
He zoomed in on a transaction.
"This transfer was approved from another location."
"Another location?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
He looked at me.
"The Carter family office."
My father's office.
Of course.
But then Daniel pointed at another detail.
"The authorization happened after business hours."
"So?"
He turned the screen.
"The security system was disabled manually."
I frowned.
"By who?"
Daniel opened another record.
A security access log.
Three names appeared.
Richard Carter.
Elizabeth Carter.
Chloe Carter.
My sister.
I stared at her name.
For years, Chloe had been the person I compared myself to.
The perfect daughter.
The favorite.
The one who always received attention.
I had always thought she was just spoiled.
But now...
She was involved.
"She knew."
Daniel nodded.
"Based on these records, yes."
I closed my eyes.
The yacht.
The party.
The champagne.
Her voice on the phone.
Can you not ruin one good moment?
She knew.
She knew I was hurt.
She knew I needed help.
And she still celebrated.
Not because she didn't understand.
Because she didn't care.
That night, I decided to confront her.
Leo tried to stop me.
"Vivienne."
"I need answers."
"Are you sure?"
I looked at him.
"No."
He was surprised.
"No?"
I shook my head.
"I'm not sure."
A pause.
"But I need to know."
I called Chloe.
She answered after several rings.
"Vivienne?"
Her voice sounded surprised.
"What do you want?"
I almost smiled.
Not hello.
Not how are you.
Straight to the question.
"I need to ask you something."
"About what?"
"The trust."
Silence.
A very small silence.
But enough.
"You need to stop listening to whoever is filling your head with lies."
I stared at the phone.
"You accessed the account."
"No."
"Chloe."
"I said no."
Her voice became defensive.
"Why are you doing this?"
I laughed quietly.
"Doing what?"
"Attacking your own family."
The words were almost unbelievable.
"You mean asking why my money disappeared?"
"It wasn't like that."
"Then explain."
Silence.
I waited.
Nothing.
"Chloe."
"You don't understand."
There it was.
The sentence everyone in my family used.
You don't understand.
But I did understand.
I understood that they thought I was too loyal.
Too forgiving.
Too willing to believe they loved me.
"I understand more than you think."
Her voice lowered.
"Vivienne, please."
That surprised me.
Please.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
"Why are you afraid?"
She didn't answer.
"Chloe."
Finally, she whispered:
"Because Dad said everything would be fine."
My stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Another silence.
Then:
"He promised nobody would get hurt."
I froze.
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
"Chloe, who?"
The call suddenly ended.
I stared at the screen.
Then my phone rang again.
Not Chloe.
Daniel.
I answered immediately.
"What's wrong?"
His voice was urgent.
"Vivienne, I found the original transfer request."
"Where?"
"In the bank archive."
"And?"
A pause.
"Your father signed it."
I closed my eyes.
"So we have proof."
"No."
His voice became lower.
"We have part of the proof."
"What does that mean?"
I heard papers moving.
Then Daniel said:
"Because the final approval wasn't your father's signature."
I stood still.
"Whose was it?"
A long pause.
Then:
"Yours."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"Someone forged your signature."
I looked around the room.
At the documents.
At Leo.
At everything my family had built.
Because suddenly, I understood the final piece of their plan.
May you like
They didn't just want to steal our money.
They wanted to make us look like we did it ourselves.
