VICTORIA: "Are you saying my money was used to support Richard?"
DANIEL: "I am saying the records show transfers that require explanation. We need to establish who authorized them, under what conditions, and whether they complied with the original arrangement."
HELEN: "Your father wanted to help Richard. That is all."
VICTORIA: "Then why didn't he tell me?"
HELEN: "Because he knew you would misunderstand."
VICTORIA: "You keep saying that as though I am incapable of understanding a financial document."
HELEN: "You were serving overseas. You had enough responsibilities of your own."
VICTORIA: "You could have called me."
HELEN: "It wasn't that simple."
VICTORIA: "It never seems to be simple when I ask a question."
Helen looked away.
Daniel removed a bank statement from the folder. Several entries were highlighted in yellow, and handwritten notes appeared beside particular dates.
DANIEL: "These transfers took place over several years. Some were described as temporary advances. Others were recorded as payments connected to business expenses."
VICTORIA: "Were they repaid?"
DANIEL: "Some appear to have been partially repaid. Others remain unresolved in the records I have reviewed."
VICTORIA: "How much money are we talking about?"
DANIEL: "I would rather provide a verified figure after the complete accounting has been finished. I do not want to give you an estimate that later proves inaccurate."
Victoria nodded slowly.
She appreciated the answer. She had spent years learning that an incomplete answer could be more dangerous than admitting that something remained unknown.
VICTORIA: "Who had authority to approve the transfers?"
DANIEL: "That depends on the individual transaction. The original documents identify certain restrictions, and some of the later records refer to authorization forms."
VICTORIA: "Forms bearing my name?"
DANIEL: "Yes."
Victoria felt her stomach tighten.
VICTORIA: "I don't remember signing them."
Helen immediately leaned forward.
HELEN: "You signed many documents when you were younger. You cannot expect to remember every piece of paperwork."
VICTORIA: "I remember the important documents I signed."
HELEN: "You were busy with your career. Your father handled financial matters for the family."
VICTORIA: "That does not explain why I supposedly authorized transactions I knew nothing about."
DANIEL: "We will need to examine the original signatures before reaching a conclusion."
Victoria studied the copy in front of her.
The signature looked familiar at first glance, but something about the final letters seemed different. The copy was faint, and she knew that comparing signatures from memory was not enough to establish whether a document was genuine.
She would need the original paperwork and an independent examination.
Still, she could not ignore the date printed near the bottom.
It corresponded to a period when she had been away for an extended military training assignment.
She remembered that time clearly. Her schedule had been demanding, and access to personal communications had been limited. She had received very few letters from home.
Her father had called once to ask whether she had received a document from the family attorney.
Victoria had told him that she had not.
He had gone quiet before telling her not to worry about it.
At the time, she had assumed that he was referring to an ordinary administrative matter.
VICTORIA: "Dad once asked whether I had received a letter from you."
Daniel looked up.
DANIEL: "Do you remember approximately when?"
VICTORIA: "Several years before he died. I was away for training. He asked whether something had arrived from your office."
DANIEL: "Did you ever receive it?"
VICTORIA: "No."
Daniel wrote a note.
DANIEL: "That may be relevant. I will check the correspondence records."
Helen stood abruptly.
HELEN: "This is becoming ridiculous."
Victoria looked up at her.
HELEN: "You are taking a few documents and treating them as proof that someone betrayed you. Your father was trying to help his children. He wanted Richard to succeed, and he wanted you to have a secure future. There is nothing sinister about that."
VICTORIA: "I haven't accused anyone of betrayal. I am asking why the documents contradict what I was told."
HELEN: "Because you do not know the whole story."
VICTORIA: "Then tell me the whole story."
Helen pressed her lips together.
For several seconds, she remained standing without speaking.
Then she slowly sat down.
HELEN: "Richard's business was in trouble. He had debts, employees depending on him, and contracts that were about to collapse. Your father believed that if the company failed, Richard might never recover."
VICTORIA: "So you used the fund?"
HELEN: "We believed the money would be replaced."
VICTORIA: "Who is we?"
Helen's eyes flickered toward the documents.
HELEN: "Your father knew that Richard needed help."
DANIEL: "Some of the transfers occurred after Frank had requested a complete accounting. The correspondence suggests that he was not satisfied with the explanations he received."
HELEN: "He was under pressure. He worried about everything."
DANIEL: "That does not answer the question."
Helen's hands began trembling.
HELEN: "You don't understand what it was like. Richard was losing everything. Your father was ill. I was trying to keep the family from falling apart."
VICTORIA: "And you decided that I was the easiest person to leave out of the conversation."
HELEN: "That isn't fair."
VICTORIA: "Was I told about the transfers?"
Helen did not answer.
VICTORIA: "Did I agree to them?"
HELEN: "You would have wanted to help your brother."
VICTORIA: "That isn't the same as agreeing."
HELEN: "I thought you would understand eventually."
Victoria stared at her mother.
For years, Helen had treated Richard's problems as emergencies and Victoria's concerns as inconveniences. Now she was admitting that decisions had been made because she assumed Victoria would eventually accept them.