Three days later, the morning sun poured into the grand study of the Sterling estate. Arthur Vance, the family's senior legal counsel for thirty years, set a thick blue binder onto the glass coffee table.
Arthur: Good morning, Evelyn. Clara. Richard.
Richard: Thanks for coming over so quickly, Arthur. How bad is the damage?
Arthur: Well, the forensic audit completed late last night. Jason managed to siphon off roughly four point eight million dollars over fourteen months.
Evelyn: Four point eight million... my God.
Arthur: The good news is that because Clara caught it before twelve o'clock on Tuesday, the Swiss wire transfer was flagged and frozen by international banking authorities.
Clara: So the three million is safe?
Arthur: Fully recovered and returned to your trust fund account this morning, Clara.
Richard: What about the remaining million and a half he spent?
Arthur: We filed a lien against Jason's personal real estate holdings, including his beachfront condo in Miami and his sports car collection. The liquidation will cover ninety-five percent of the loss.
Evelyn: Has he asked to see us from the holding facility?
Arthur: He has called my office seventeen times, Evelyn. He wants you to post his two hundred thousand dollar bail.
Richard: Absolutely not. He stays right where he is until the preliminary hearing.
Evelyn: I won't spend one single dollar of family money to bail out a man who attacked his sister.
Arthur: I figured as much. His criminal defense attorney filed a motion for reduced bail, but given the video evidence from the library corridor, the judge is unlikely to grant it.
Clara: What kind of sentence is he looking at, Mr. Vance?
Arthur: With the corporate fraud, forgery, and domestic assault charges combined? Minimum five years in state prison, likely seven if he doesn't take a plea deal.
Clara leaned back against the sofa cushions, letting out a long, quiet breath that she felt like she'd been holding for months.
Clara: I just want this nightmare to be over.
Arthur: It is over, Clara. You saved this family from complete financial ruin. Your father's company would have been bankrupt within six months if Jason had succeeded.
Richard: He's right, sweetheart. You were braver than any of us.
Evelyn: You held your ground when he threw that chair and paperweight. You didn't back down.
Clara: I learned how to stand up for myself from you, Mom.
Evelyn smiled softly, reaching over to squeeze Clara's hand as Arthur closed his blue binder and stood up from his chair.