Chapter 4

Sophie Finch suddenly lunged at me.

"You know exactly how hard our family works for every dollar, and you'd actually stiff us on the bill!"

"You're a lawyer. How can you have no shame at all?"

But before she could touch me, the police held her back.

"Ma'am, calm down! Assaulting an officer is a criminal offense!"

Pinned in place, Sophie kept cursing.

"You ungrateful little wretch! Your father died young. If it weren't for our family lending a hand, do you think you'd be where you are today?"

"Now you've made it big, you don't know your own people anymore!"

"So cheap it's a disease. Won't even cover one meal!"

The words landed with a sting in my chest.

My father did die young. But all this so-called help they kept talking about.

It was only what I got when my stepmother's cruelty left me with nowhere to turn, and I showed up at their door begging.

They handed me a few old clothes and a few bowls of leftovers, the way you shoo off a beggar.

Later, when my business took off, I paid every kindness back twice over.

Holiday gifts and cash envelopes every single year, never missing one. Loans I never once chased down.

The strings I pulled to get their people jobs.

And still they always thought it wasn't enough.

"Aunt Sophie."

I turned to look at her and spoke calmly.

"The year my father died, I was twelve. You gave me a pair of old shoes. I still remember it."

"Two years ago, when your son needed work, I called in a favor and sent a gift, and got him into a solid corporate job."

"Last year, when your daughter got married, I gave ten thousand."

"Last month, at your grandson's one-month celebration, I put in five thousand."

"You keep saying you helped me out. When did I ever not pay it back? When exactly does the paying back end?"

Sophie's mouth opened, then closed. Nothing came out.

I looked around the room.

"Anyone else think I owe them a favor? Say it now."

"Say it, and we'll settle every account down to the penny. Once we've settled today's five hundred thousand, whatever's mine to pay, I'll pay. Whatever isn't, don't expect a single cent."

The room went dead silent.

The relatives who'd been so righteous a moment ago.

Now they were all ducking their heads, playing ostrich.

That was when Cicely tugged my sleeve.

"Mom, my cousin just whispered to me. When they were ordering, great-uncle said not to save money, order all you want, and great-aunt said to grab a few extra party favors to hand out to the neighbors back home..."

"Officer."

My eyes turned cold. I faced the police. "I'm requesting that all the security footage be preserved, especially the parts showing the ordering, the signing, and them stopping my daughter from leaving."

"Also, these party favors."

I pointed at the ones left on the table and the boxes bulging in the relatives' pockets.

"They're part of the billed consumption. Before liability is determined, I'd advise sealing them as evidence."

"Dorothy Butler, you have no conscience at all!"

Iris Lambert completely lost it. She'd stuffed five silk scarves into her pocket and was frantically shoving them into her bag.

"Why should we hand over gifts we took ourselves!"

"Because they were charged under my name," I said coldly. "Did you pay for them? Did you put down a single cent? Until you pay, that's called stealing someone else's property."

A few of the younger cousins had already quietly pulled the party favor boxes out of their pockets and set them on the table.

Their faces were something to see.

But some of the older ones were like hens guarding a brood.

Clamping down on their pockets for dear life.

Watching the sure thing slip right out of their hands.

They all started cursing at once.

"Dorothy Butler, we're all family. It's not like you're short on money, so why fuss over this?"

"And today's your daughter's big day, a fine occasion, getting into college, and you're still nickel-and-diming? You really are a cheap little penny-pincher!"

"Whatever you say, there's no way you're getting a cent out of our pockets today!"

"Just be good and settle the bill. We'll be running into each other from now on. We're still family."

"If you won't think about appearances and you push this all the way, don't blame us for cutting ties!"

I gave a cold laugh and was about to speak.

Cutting ties was exactly what I'd been hoping for.

Then a startled cry came from behind me.

"Something's wrong!"

"Dorothy Butler, your daughter's gone!"