Chapter 5 - Frozen Assets
By 8:00 AM on Monday, the dominoes began to fall.
My father arrived at his firm’s main bank branch, intending to transfer the remaining funds out of the family business account and move them overseas. What he didn't know was that Marcus Vance had already executed the emergency court order at midnight.
When the teller informed my father that all linked personal and corporate accounts were completely frozen pending a judicial audit, he flew into a rage. He slammed his fists on the counter, screaming at the staff until bank security escorted him out into the rain.
Meanwhile, I sat in Mr. Vance’s high-rise office downtown, sipping warm tea while reviewing the official bank ledgers.
"Your parents were careless, Mia," Mr. Vance said, dropping a thick folder onto the glass table. "They didn't just take loans in your name. They used your high credit score—built through your summer internships—to secure a $120,000 equity line of credit."
"And where did that money go?" I asked, my fingers tightening around my cup.
"Straight into Ethan’s offshore trading accounts," Vance replied, shaking his head. "Your father was using your identity as a financial cushion to keep your brother from facing grand larceny charges three years ago."
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My phone buzzed on the table. It was a text from my mother: “You are destroying this family. Your father’s heart can’t take this. If anything happens to him, his blood is on your hands.”
I didn't cry. I didn't feel a flicker of guilt. I took a screenshot of the text, saved it to our legal evidence folder, and blocked her number.
