Page 31 of Til Death
Rio placed my blended shake on top of the island then went back to whatever he was doing before I walked in without a word.
My jaw clenched and my cheeks heated. One thing I hated was being treated like a child, especially in front of people. Yosiah didn’t even realize the stress I’d been under lately or the bad news I’d received. My life was getting more complicated by the day.
Yosiah didn’t wait for me to respond. He turned to leave the kitchen but paused just as he hit the entryway. “Don’t forget Saturday night I expect you to be home and ready for the award ceremony I’m being honored at.”
It amazed me how easily he could switch subjects without giving me a chance to even defend myself. With his phone in hand, he gave me one final onceover before connecting the call and walking out the kitchen.
Pushing out an annoyed breath, I rolled my eyes, stormed to the island, snatching my shake and leaving the kitchen. I woke up optimistic about my plan, but after that interaction, I knew it’d be more challenging than I thought.
“Wait, wait, wait. Repeat that!” I demanded in disbelief. I sat across from Rachel, the woman at the bank who handled my trust funds. Instead of calling her back, I’d dropped by to speak to her in person after hot yoga.
She cleared her throat and adjusted the rectangle frames on her face. Her eyes left her computer and focused on me.
“As I stated before, the trust fund set up by your father has currently been seized by the IRS and they’ve frozen all his accounts.”
It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. My grip on the chair’s arm tightened and I sat up straighter.
“What about the other one?” My voice strained through clenched teeth.
Her lips pressed together tightly before she spoke again. “Unfortunately it seems those funds are unavailable at the moment as well.”
“Unavailable!” I shrieked. My eyes bucked. “What the hell does that even mean!” My heart raced, pounding against my ribcage. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Nothing was making sense to me.
Rachel turned to her computer and clicked her keyboard a few times. “Well, Xylina, from the notes listed, it looks like your father did multiple large withdrawals recently and then?—”
“He did what!” I shot up from my seat. Rachel looked startled by my sudden movement. Her eyes darted to the closed door on the side of us.
My trust funds combined totaled over seven million dollars. There was no way all of it was gone and unattainable. The whole reason my dad set one up for me was for me to be set in the future. How the hell could he snatch it all back?
Bending over the desk, I slammed my hands down and glared at Rachel. “This is unacceptable! Someone needs to fix this now!”
“Xylina, as much as I would love to help, it’s out of our hands. We?—”
“I don’t care about any of that! Where’s the branch manager? Get them in here now! As much business as I’ve brought to this bank, I deserve better treatment than this!” She blinked a couple times before nodding and typing on her computer.
I had been dealing with Rachel for years. She was a middle aged, brown skinned woman who had been in charge of my personal assets for as long as I could remember. While being here I’d learned that not only were my trust funds having issues, but my bank accounts were too. Outside of the account I had alone, none of my money was accessible. Learning that more than just my credit cards were unavailable made me feel like I was in the middle of a horrible prank. It seemed that any accounts connected to my dad were all frozen. It didn’t make any sense and no one would give me answers. While I had my own bank account from money I’d gotten from life as an influencer and my modeling, it didn’t add up to the funds in my main accounts. I was trying not to freak out, but having unlimited funds at my disposal was something I was accustomed to and I refused to accept anything different.
“Excuse me for a second.” Rachel stood from her desk.
I bit the inside of my jaw and plopped back down in my chair. My leg bounced wildly as I pulled my phone out of my Hermes crossbody. I never bothered to check my bank accounts. Since the funds were endless and Daddy made sure it stayed that way, I never had a reason to. Before a few days ago, I’d never even bothered to use the money in my solo account because my other ones always held a larger balance. Learning all of this felt like someone had attached me to a machine and sent bolts of lightning through my body. I felt like I had multiple shots of espresso from how worked up I was.
“Where the hell is she?” I mumbled, glancing toward the entrance of the room in search of Rachel and her manager. I didn’t care who needed to be called, but someone was going to give me answers and fix whatever was wrong with my account before I left this bank or there would be hell to pay.
Ihad been in the same position on the couch in the main living room for hours since I’d arrived home. After being at the bank going back and forth with the branch manager for over an hour, I finally stormed out with angry tears pooling in my lids.
Broke.
That was what I was gathering by what I was told. The IRS had put holds on any accounts my dad was connected to. He had taken my trust fund and now he and my mom were out of reach, according to his assistant. I had gone by their house and it looked like no one had been there in weeks. How could all of this be going on and no one thought to reach out and tell me? The only funds I had access to were the ones I’d received from modeling and influencing over the years. That was a little over three hundred thousand. That wouldn’t even last a week. Sincethis was more of a hobby for me and I always loved showing my life off, I never took influencing seriously enough to go for the big deals. It felt too much like work and I wanted to keep things simple. Now I was regretting it.
“Princess, what are we going to do!” I cried when she pawed at me. I yanked the pillow off my face and turned on my side to look at her. I knew I had promised to give her attention when I got home, but the news I had received left me heavily depressed. “We can’t be broke! I don’t even know how to be that.” I sniffled and used the back of my hand to swipe a few leftover tears away. My eyes were sore from all the crying I had done since leaving the bank.
Princess released a bark before laying her head on the edge of the couch. She looked up at me with concerned eyes. “Are you worried about Mommy? Don’t worry, I refuse to let this matter go. I’m sure Daddy is somewhere taking care of things right now and that’s why he’s MIA. There’s no way he’ll allow his precious daughter to bepoor.” A low whine left her mouth when I stroked the top of her head. Princess always knew when there was something going on with me and it was clear she could feel the stress I was under.
Eventually the exhaustion from all the tears caught up to me and sleep found me.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but I was woken by Yosiah standing over me and shaking me awake.
“Xylina,” his voice rang out. I groaned and swiped his hand away. “Get up.”
