Chapter 7 - The Audit of Vengeance
The next morning, my executive legal and financial team arrived at the estate.
Richard Sterling, along with four senior forensic accountants, set up a command center in the grand library. For three days straight, they combed through five years of bank statements, tax filings, real estate deeds, and corporate transfers associated with the Duca Family Trust.
What they uncovered was far worse than I had imagined.
"Ethan," Richard said, sliding a thick leather binder across my desk on the fourth morning. "It’s massive. Over the past four years, your mother and sister diverted approximately $4.2 million from the main corporate maintenance account into private offshore holdings and personal shell companies."
"Four point two million?" I repeated, my jaw tightening.
"Yes," Richard nodded. "Furthermore, your brother Michael’s 'real estate firm' was nothing more than a dummy corporation used to launder money to pay off his severe gambling debts at casinos in Las Vegas and Lake Charles. They forged Emma’s signature on eighteen separate loan guarantees, using her name to secure private credit lines totaling another $1.5 million."
Emma, who was sitting beside me sipping warm tea, gasped, setting her cup down with a rattle. "They... they put one and a half million dollars of debt in my name?"
"They tried to, Mrs. Duca," Richard reassured her gently. "However, because the signatures are blatant forgeries—and we have handwriting analysis proving Jennifer executed them—those loan guarantees are legally void. But the criminal implications for your sister are severe."
"What are our options, Richard?" I asked.
"Option one," Richard explained, "we settle quietly. We repossess your mother's condo, seize Jennifer’s townhome and Michael’s sports cars, sell them off to liquidate the debt, and sign a permanent non-disclosure agreement."
"And option two?" I asked.
Richard smiled faintly—a cold, razor-sharp smile. "Option two: we file formal criminal complaints with the State Attorney General for grand larceny, identity theft, financial fraud, and forgery. Given the amount involved, Jennifer and Michael are looking at ten to fifteen years in state prison. Your mother could face five."
I looked at Emma. This was her decision to make. She was the one who had suffered under their boots for five years.
Emma looked down at her hands—hands that were beginning to heal with proper creams and rest—then looked up at Richard.
May you like
"Do option two, Mr. Sterling," Emma said softly, her voice filled with quiet, unbreakable resolve. "They didn't just steal money. They tried to erase my humanity. They need to learn that actions have consequences."
I smiled proudly, taking her hand into mine. "You heard her, Richard. File the charges."
