“Transferred your little business to my name,” my sister smirked. “It’s in better hands now.” Everyone nodded approvingly. I checked my watch as the SEC director’s call came right on time, and her smile vanished as the agents entered.

“I’ve had three years to think it through. Every possible outcome. Every complication. Every legal angle. This wasn’t an impulse, Jennifer. This was strategy.”

My phone rang again.

Derek, this time.

I answered on speaker.

“What?”

“Emily,” he said, “Mom’s a mess. Dad’s not much better. You need to come back and talk to us.”

“About what?”

“About fixing this.”

“There’s nothing to fix.”

“Victoria made a mistake,” Derek said, his voice tight. “But she doesn’t deserve federal charges. She’s family.”

“Family who committed fraud,” I said.

“The first time, you had no proof.”

“The first time, I had a written statement from the client describing Victoria’s attempt to redirect payments,” I said. “I didn’t use it three years ago because I was trying to preserve family relationships. But I kept it. The SEC has it now.”

Derek was silent for a moment.

“You’ve been planning this since the beginning.”

“I’ve been documenting misconduct since the beginning,” I corrected. “Victoria chose to commit it. I just chose to record it.”

“She’s your sister,” Derek said, his voice breaking. “How can you do this to her?”

“How could she do it to me?” I countered. “That’s the question you should be asking. How could Victoria try to take from her own sister? How could she spend three years undermining me, sabotaging me, positioning herself to benefit from my work? Why am I the villain for stopping her?”

“Because you trapped her.”

“I created a situation that revealed her willingness to do what she had already tried once before. Victoria could have said no. She could have been honest. She could have actually helped me instead of trying to take control from me. She made her choices. I documented them.”

“We’re your family,” Derek said. “That has to count for something.”