Chapter 5
Emma did not flinch, nor did she lower her arms. She kept the documents firmly extended toward Walter, ensuring that her grandfather could examine every line of the meticulous financial trail she had spent the last six months uncovering. "There is nothing to discuss in private, Elaine," Emma replied, her voice remaining steady and cold. "The accounting is right here. Every single payment, down to the wire transfer confirmation codes, is documented and verified by an independent forensic auditor." Richard lunged forward, taking two angry steps toward Emma’s chair, his face flushed a furious, blotchy red. "You little ingrate!" Richard yelled, dropping all pretense of corporate professionalism. "We gave you a roof over your head! We fed you! We let you sit at our table! And you hire a forensic auditor behind our backs to dig into our private finances? You are dead to us!" Walter moved with astonishing speed for a man in his late seventies. He stepped between Richard and Emma, planting his tall frame firmly in his son's path with a look of such absolute lethal disgust that Richard instinctively stumbled backward. "Step back, Richard," Walter commanded quietly. "If you raise your voice—or a finger—toward my granddaughter in my presence again, I will have security throw you out of this estate before you can finish your appetizer." Richard swallowed hard, his chest heaving as he realized he had completely lost control of the situation. He looked around the table for support from the other relatives, but every single person had averted their eyes, stunned into silence by the brutal exposure of their family's darkest secret.
