Chapter 6 - THE TWO MILLION DOLLARS THAT DISAPPEARED.
Elena entered the showroom under federal protection and admitted accepting the money.
Eleanor had threatened to deport Maya’s grandmother and remove Maya unless Elena testified.
“I used the money to keep us hidden,” Elena said.
Maya looked at her worn coat.
“Then where did two million dollars go?”
Elena said she placed it in a legal-defense fund for apprentices, but Judge Malcolm Pierce froze the fund after declaring the claims fraudulent.
Pierce was Claire’s uncle and a Bellamy investor.
Claire accused Elena of inventing excuses.
Ruth placed court records on the counter. The fund had paid filing fees for ninety workers before Pierce seized it.
Eleanor arrived with attorneys and called the dispute an attack on a respected American business.
Maya answered, “Respectability is not evidence. It is camouflage purchased after theft.”
Agents froze Bellamy accounts.
Then Elena played a recording of Eleanor instructing Claire to plant the replica.
Claire asked, “What if Maya proves it is fake?”
Eleanor replied, “David will switch the real necklace before anyone checks.”
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Everyone turned toward David.
The black box in his hand was empty.
