Chapter 6 - He Thought the Money Was His
Richard arrived at Miriam Cole’s office at 10:03 the next morning without an appointment.
He carried flowers.
White roses.
Maya hated white roses.
Richard knew that.
He bought them anyway because expensive flowers were never about the person receiving them.
They were about the person watching him give them.
The receptionist stopped him.
“I’m here to see my wife.”
“She isn’t available.”
“She’ll see me.”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
It was the smile he used with hotel clerks and hostesses when he expected rules to bend.
“I think you misunderstood.”
The receptionist did not blink.
“I didn’t.”
Miriam appeared from the hallway.
“Mr. Vance.”
Richard spread his hands.
“I’m not here to cause trouble.”
“Excellent.”
Miriam pointed toward the elevators.
“You can continue not causing it somewhere else.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
“I need five minutes.”
“No.”
“My marriage is not your business.”
Miriam raised an eyebrow.
“You filed a custody petition.”
“You made it my business.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“I know about the Sterlings.”
Miriam gave him nothing.
“I don’t know what you think you know.”
“I know Maya’s mother was Amelia Sterling.”
Still nothing.
“I know there’s a trust.”
Miriam’s eyes sharpened slightly.
Richard saw it.
There.
Confirmation.
His confidence returned.
“I want to speak to my wife.”
Miriam folded her arms.
“You should speak to a matrimonial attorney.”
“I don’t need one.”
“You really do.”
Richard smiled.
“Maya and I are married.”
“Yes.”
“For seven years.”
“Yes.”
“So whatever happens next affects me.”
Miriam almost looked amused.
“Not the way you think.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you should speak to counsel.”
“Are you telling me I have no rights?”
“I’m telling you I represent Maya.”
“If she inherits billions while we’re married—”
Miriam interrupted.
“Stop.”
Richard stared.
“You have now stated enough for me to understand why you’re here.”
“That’s not why—”
“You didn’t arrive with flowers after the birthday party.”
“You didn’t arrive after the custody hearing.”
“You arrived after learning the woman you called helpless may have money.”
Richard’s face darkened.
“You don’t know anything about my marriage.”
Miriam stepped closer.
“I know someone opened one hundred eighty-six thousand dollars in fraudulent debt under your wife’s identity.”
The color drained from Richard’s face.
That was all Miriam needed.
She had not accused him.
She had merely stated a fact.
His reaction did the rest.
“You should leave,” she said.
Richard recovered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
He left the roses on the reception desk.
Miriam waited until the elevator doors closed.
Then she picked them up and dropped them into the trash.
Maya watched from the hallway.
“He came because of the money.”
Miriam turned.
“Yes.”
Maya looked at the trash can.
“Seven years.”
“What?”
“I spent seven years wondering what I had to do differently to make him treat me like I mattered.”
Her voice remained calm.
“That’s all it took.”
“Not me leaving.”
“Not Lily crying.”
“Money.”
Miriam did not try to soften it.
Maya appreciated that.
“Use it,” Miriam said.
Maya looked at her.
“What?”
“The clarity.”
“That man is going to spend the next several months trying to confuse you.”
“He’ll apologize.”
“He’ll blame his mother.”
“He’ll blame Vanessa.”
“He’ll blame stress.”
“He’ll say he was afraid of losing you.”
“He’ll tell you the worst thing he ever did happened because he loved you too much.”
Miriam picked up a file.
“When he does, remember the flowers came after six-point-eight billion dollars.”
Maya never forgot.
The Sterling trust investigation accelerated.
A probate specialist verified Amelia’s identity through historic medical records and the DNA match.
A private laboratory confirmed Maya as Amelia’s biological daughter.
Birth records showed Elaine Hart had given birth to Maya under an alias in a small hospital in Vermont.
The certificate listed no father.
That question created another mystery.
Maya had never known her father.
Amelia claimed he died before Maya was born.
Julian had no proof either way.
For now, Maya did not care.
She had one parent to grieve.
She did not need a second ghost.
The larger problem was Conrad.
He hired counsel.
Then additional counsel.
Then a public-relations firm.
The family had not publicly announced Maya’s identity, but rumors were spreading.
Reporters began calling Jenna’s apartment.
Someone photographed Lily through the front window.
That ended Maya’s willingness to stay there.
Julian offered a guest apartment owned by the company.
Maya refused.
Then he offered to pay for a hotel.
She refused again.
Finally, Miriam found a furnished rental through a client.
Maya agreed to pay what she could later.
Julian stopped arguing.
“You don’t like people helping you.”
They stood outside Miriam’s office.
Maya looked at him.
“I don’t like help that becomes ownership.”
Julian understood exactly where the sentence came from.
“I will never ask you to repay me for acting like your uncle.”
Maya’s expression softened.
“You’ve been my uncle for three days.”
“Biologically, thirty-one years.”
“You missed some birthdays.”
“All of them.”
His face changed.
The joke disappeared.
Maya regretted the words immediately.
Julian looked away.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You’re right.”
“I wasn’t trying to—”
“I missed all of them.”
He met her eyes.
“And I will spend a long time wishing I hadn’t.”
Something shifted between them.
Not forgiveness.
There was nothing to forgive yet.
But the beginning of family.
Richard, meanwhile, had discovered the inheritance answer Vanessa already knew.
Inherited property was generally separate property in New York.
Assets distributed directly from a trust to Maya would not automatically become his.
Richard read the explanation three times.
Then he threw his phone.
It struck the wall.
Vanessa jumped.
Olivia looked up.
“This is ridiculous.”
Richard paced.
“I supported her for seven years.”
Vanessa almost spoke.
She remembered Maya paying utilities from her tips.
Maya buying Lily’s clothes.
Maya covering groceries.
But she remained silent.
Richard continued.
“I paid rent.”
Olivia nodded.
“You were her husband.”
“You’re entitled to something.”
“Exactly.”
Vanessa quietly picked up her purse.
Richard turned.
“Where are you going?”
“Work.”
“You said they suspended you.”
“They want a meeting.”
“Don’t tell them anything.”
Vanessa stared.
“About what?”
“Us.”
She almost laughed.
“Richard, there’s a video of me standing beside you at your daughter’s birthday.”
“Just say we’re friends.”
“Friends who spent four nights at the Fontainebleau together?”
Olivia’s head snapped toward them.
Richard glared.
“Not now.”
Vanessa’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She looked at it.
A text.
Ms. Moore, my name is Miriam Cole.
I represent Maya Vance.
I believe you possess the original birthday-party recording.
Vanessa went cold.
Richard noticed.
“Who is it?”
“No one.”
She locked the phone.
Richard stepped toward her.
“Give me that.”
Vanessa moved back.
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“It’s my phone.”
Richard laughed without humor.
“I pay the bill.”
“No.”
“Maya does.”
Silence.
The words came out before Vanessa could stop them.
Richard stared.
“What?”
Vanessa’s face changed.
She had seen the credit records.
Maya’s card.
The one Richard used for hotel bookings.
She had assumed it was a shared card.
After the fraud story broke privately among lawyers, she understood.
“You used her name.”
Richard’s voice lowered.
“Be careful.”
Olivia stepped between them.
“Vanessa, this is not the time to become dramatic.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Did you know?”
Olivia’s silence was answer enough.
“You knew.”
Richard grabbed Vanessa’s arm.
Not hard enough to injure.
Hard enough to remind.
“You don’t say another word.”
Vanessa looked down at his hand.
Then up at him.
Something died in her expression.
Not love.
Whatever she had felt for Richard had never deserved that word.
It was the belief that she was different from Maya.
That Richard’s cruelty had been reserved for a woman too weak to keep him interested.
Now Vanessa understood the simpler truth.
Richard did not divide women into women he loved and women he hated.
He divided them into women he controlled and women he had not controlled yet.
She pulled away.
That night, Miriam received an email.
No message.
One attachment.
A forty-seven-second video.
She watched it.
Then called Maya immediately.
“You need to come in.”
“What happened?”
“We have the original recording.”
Maya arrived with Julian twenty minutes later.
Miriam pressed play.
The video opened before the cake incident.
Olivia’s voice was clear.
She thinks she can ignore you in front of your own family?
Richard answered.
I’ll handle it.
Olivia:
Make sure everyone sees.
Then Richard looked toward the table.
Toward Maya.
Toward the forty-seven guests.
He smiled.
And walked directly toward her.
Maya watched the screen without moving.
When it ended, Julian said nothing.
Miriam closed the laptop.
“This changes the custody case.”
Maya nodded.
“And potentially more.”
“What?”
“Richard claimed under oath that the incident happened spontaneously after you became aggressive.”
Maya understood.
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“Can he be charged?”
“Perjury is difficult and depends on materiality and prosecutorial interest.”
“But it damages credibility.”
“Badly.”
Julian looked at the email.
“Who sent it?”
“Vanessa.”
Maya stared.
“Why?”
Miriam opened the second message that had just arrived.
This one contained text.
I need to tell you the rest.
Beneath it:
Richard didn’t just use Maya’s identity for credit cards.
May you like
Olivia helped him create the company.
And I know where the money went.
