Chapter 13 - The Flight HomeDominic and Amber were supposed to remain in Europe for several months.
Their plans changed on the fifteenth day.
It began when their cards were declined at a luxury hotel in Milan.
Amber assumed the hotel had made an administrative mistake. She handed the receptionist a different card.
That one was declined, too.
Dominic called his bank.
The representative confirmed that certain accounts connected to his company were subject to restrictions related to a legal dispute. She could not discuss every detail over the telephone, but advised him to contact his legal representative.
He ended the call and stared at Amber.
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“It means there is a problem with the accounts.”
“What kind of problem?”
“The kind that requires a lawyer.”
Amber lowered her voice.
“Did your mother do this?”
Dominic said nothing.
“Dominic!”
“I don't know.”
But he did know.
He remembered the phone call in which his mother had mentioned the court order. He remembered the strange calm in her voice when she asked him to explain the voicemail.
He had assumed she was bluffing.
Now he opened his email and read the formal notice waiting in his inbox.
The property sale was being challenged.
The power of attorney had been disputed.
The court had issued temporary restrictions concerning the house and certain funds.
There were references to suspected fraud and the preservation of evidence.
For the first time in years, Dominic felt genuinely afraid.
Amber snatched the phone from his hand.
“They can't do this!”
“They already have.”
“Your mother doesn't have the money to fight us.”
“She has a lawyer.”
“Then fire the lawyer.”
“It's not that simple!”
Amber looked at him as if he had personally arranged the entire problem.
“You told me everything was taken care of.”
“It was.”
“No, it wasn't. You said the document was valid.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You told me to use the new one.”
“Because you said it was legal!”
“You knew we never discussed selling the house with her.”
“You said she wanted to move!”
“She didn't!”
The argument attracted the attention of the hotel receptionist.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“We need to go home.”
Amber looked toward the window.
“Our vacation?”
“Forget the vacation.”
She seemed to struggle with the words.
Then she whispered, “If we return now, we'll lose everything.”
Dominic felt a bitter laugh rise in his throat.
They had already taken everything from his mother, and they still believed they were the injured parties.
He booked the earliest available return flights.
The remaining hotel reservations and tours would cost them substantial cancellation fees. Some purchases had already been delivered to their home. The new business investment was in doubt, and the restrictions on certain accounts meant they could no longer access money as freely as before.
By the time they reached the airport, Amber was furious.
“She has turned the entire family against us.”
Dominic stared at the departure board.
“No. We did that.”
She turned toward him.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
He had not meant to speak aloud.
At the airport, another problem awaited them.
A formal notice had arrived through their legal representative concerning the disputed property and the ongoing investigation. It instructed them to preserve relevant records and refrain from interfering with the proceedings.
Amber read the notice in silence.
Then she folded it and shoved it into her handbag.
“Your mother wants us to suffer,” she said.
Dominic did not respond.
During the flight, he kept looking at the dark window.
He remembered the voicemail.
He remembered his own voice, laughing as he told Amber that his mother could barely remember where she put her glasses.
He had believed the recording was harmless because he had assumed nobody would ever hear it.
He had also believed that if he spoke with enough certainty, the people around him would accept his version of events.
That had been true for years.
He wondered whether his mother had finally stopped believing him.
When the plane landed, he switched on his phone.
There were eleven missed calls from his lawyer, six messages from Victor Hale, and one message from Sarah.
Do not contact Mom without going through the legal representatives. The court order is in effect. The evidence has been preserved.
Dominic called Sarah.
She answered immediately.
“What have you done?” he demanded.
Sarah's voice was cold.
“What have I done?”
“You know what I'm talking about.”
“You sold Mom's house.”
“I was handling her affairs.”
“You forged the document you used.”
“That's not what happened.”
“I heard the voicemail, Dominic.”
He stopped speaking.
Sarah continued.
“I heard you explain to Amber how you planned to make Mom look confused if she challenged the sale. I heard you laugh about taking her money. You don't get to pretend this is a misunderstanding anymore.”
Dominic gripped the phone.
“What does Mom want?”
“She wants what was hers before you took it.”
“And after that?”
“I don't know.”
He heard the pain in her voice.
For one brief moment, he wanted to apologize.
He wanted to tell her he was frightened, that he had made a terrible mistake, that he had never imagined things would become this serious.
But before he could speak, Amber touched his shoulder and whispered, “Don't admit anything.”
The words silenced him.
Sarah heard the pause.
“That's what I thought,” she said.
She ended the call.
Dominic stood beside the baggage carousel while suitcases rolled past.
He had spent the previous two weeks surrounded by luxury, surrounded by people who smiled when he paid for things, surrounded by rooms where every inconvenience could be solved with money.
Now he was coming home to a mother who had hired a lawyer, a sister who knew the truth, a house he might lose his claim to, and a legal case that could follow him for years.
Amber pulled her suitcase from the carousel.
“We need to get to the house,” she said.
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because if your mother is there, we can talk to her before this gets worse.”
He remembered the last thing Sarah had told him.
Do not contact Mom without going through the legal representatives.
But Amber was already walking toward the exit.
“Come on,” she snapped.
Dominic followed.
He had no idea that his mother had spent the last several days arranging something in the living room.
May you like
Something that included a key, a letter, and a gift wrapped in dark blue paper.
Something that would force him to confront not only what he had done, but what he had become.
