Emhara giggled.“That’s it.”When Emhara looked at her, she saw light and numbers and words and thousands of other things.
She smiled.“I don’t blame you.It was the catalyst for me getting out, and now I am here.So, what can you do for me?”
Meritha smiled.“Ah, well, if you sign this paperwork, we can set up an account, and then you would be astonished at what I can do for you.”
Meritha turned a very nice clipboard around with a thick and expensive pen.“Read it.Ask me questions.”
“What is this?”She pointed to one of the clauses.“I don’t understand.”
“That one allows us to act on behalf of your account with extreme prejudice.No fraud goes unpunished, and your balance is insured.Once it is under my care, no one fucks with it without your permission.”
“And the collection protocol?”
“Allows me to seek out anything in your name or bequeathed to you and gather it here to sit on it like it’s my egg until it is ready to hatch.”She sighed.“Pardon the bird references.Nature documentaries as you are falling asleep reprogram you.”
Emhara smiled.“So, you are going to guard my money rabidly unless I want to use it.”
“Correct.No numbers escape my domain.We use biometrics, excellently trained staff who are paid well, and imaging on their screens that confirms who they are speaking to.We also have twenty-four-hour access to client specialists and offer savings accounts with obscene interest.I am very proud of this bank and its client list, of which you are now one.”
Emhara smiled.“Growth accounts?”
“If you wish to invest a certain amount that will not financially cripple you, we can coax it into growth.We are audited voluntarily every quarter.Business done with us is done legally.We have connections to work with law enforcement to reclaim diverted funds.When you bank with us, your money is safe, and so are you.”
Emhara blinked.“What?”
“Retrieval protocol.Read it.”
“Oh.Wow.That’s...really?”
Meritha smiled.“Really.If they take you, we come get you.No one hides from me, or if they do, it isn’t for long.I have rescued three heiresses and a drunk prince, who was being pressured into marriage, in the last sixty days.Welcome to the roster under my protection.”
“I like the idea of having you at my back.”Emhara smiled and signed the client agreement.
Meritha stretched her hand out and flexed her fingers.“Gimme.”
Emhara grinned.
Meritha looked at Echel.“Send me the report for the funds removed from the trust.”
She pushed a button under the table, and a screen rose majestically.“Now, watch how fast I go.”
A keyboard was set on the table, and Meritha’s hands moved fast.They blurred, and Meritha spoke as she worked.“I have shifted the trust to this institution and am now creating a holding account for all the funds removed from the trust without your authorization.The funds will remain there until the court frivolities are over.This is the fun part.I am pulling them from the same place they went, so there are a few accounts that are going to be feeling it in the morning.A comment on the transfer indicating the court filing and that the funds are in dispute is being placed on each transaction.”
Meritha worked, and Echel leaned over.“I have never seen this done before.It’s rather hot.”
Meritha muttered, “I heard that.”
He jolted.Emhara giggled.
She kept going, and the number in the holding account kept climbing until Meritha sat back and flexed her hands.“There we go.One million, eight hundred, ninety-three thousand and change.”
Emhara blinked.“Wow.”
Meritha tapped her keyboard and smiled.“This is your current balance.Nine million, eighty-nine thousand, and additional change.Your grandmother’s trust is fifty million.”
Emhara whispered, “I can’t use all that.”
“We can help you find a charity to help or start one of your own.But don’t make any decisions now.Soak in the actuality of being able to buy anything you need without begging or pain.Learn to live before you learn to spend, and we will be here to help you every step of the way.”
