“We have to act,” Ms. Sterling hissed. “Do you understand? Otherwise, we won’t get anything. She’s not stupid. Look how she twisted things. ‘Sell your condo,’ she says. Easy for her to say. She has everything.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
A pause.
Kiana held her breath.
“I was thinking maybe you can get the PIN for her card,” Ms. Sterling said. “You have access to her purse, right? Check it. The card is in there. Then I’ll withdraw the money quickly tonight before she even notices. And in the morning, we’ll say the card was stolen on the bus or at the grocery store, for example.”
Silence so thick that Kiana could hear her own heart beating.
“Are you serious?” Darius’s voice was tense, but not indignant—more like intrigued.
“Absolutely. Listen, she won’t even notice right away. It’s not like she keeps tabs on it. She’s got over a hundred and twenty thousand. What’s the big deal if we take some? We’ll split it later. Half for you, half for me. That’s fair, right?”
Another pause.
“I don’t know, Mom. That’s risky.”
“Risky? What risk? She won’t even figure it out. And if she does, so what? You’ll say you didn’t know anything. A hacker compromised the account. That happens all the time.”
“What if she calls the bank?”
“So what? The bank will shrug. Security failure. But the card was on her. No one but her knew the PIN. She’ll blame herself for not being careful. Trust me, it’ll be fine.”
Kiana slowly closed the door.
Everything inside had frozen solid.
She wasn’t surprised.
For some reason, she wasn’t surprised at all.
She knew Ms. Sterling was capable of a lot, but for Darius to support it—that was a punch.
Not a hard one, but precise.
She returned to the bed, sat down, and folded her hands in her lap.
She needed to think, weigh her options, decide what to do next.
But the decision had essentially been made already.
That morning, when she walked out of the bank, Kiana had smiled faintly, barely noticeably.
Let them try, she had thought.
About ten minutes later, she left the bedroom.
No one was in the kitchen.
Ms. Sterling was in the entryway putting on her jacket.
Darius was helping her zip it up.
“You’re leaving already, Ms. Sterling?” Kiana asked, leaning against the doorway.
Her mother‑in‑law turned around.
Her face was tight, unwelcoming.
“Yes, I have things to do. Thanks for the tea.”
“Thank you for the cream puffs,” Kiana replied politely.
Ms. Sterling nodded, adjusted her jacket, and headed for the door.
Right at the exit, she turned around.
“Kiki, think about what I said. Family is important. We have to help each other.”
Kiana looked her straight in the eye.
“Of course. I’ll be sure to think about it.”
The door closed.
Darius went back to the living room, turned on the TV, and sat on the couch.
Kiana followed him, picked up the dirty mugs from the coffee table, and carried them to the sink.
“Listen,” Darius started without turning his head, “Mom is really in a difficult spot. Maybe we should help her out after all. Just a little, like five thousand.”
Kiana washed the mug and placed it on the drying rack.
“Why does she need five thousand?”
He shrugged.
