Others listed expenses from years before the trust existed.
One line claimed $18,000 had been spent on Harper’s university tuition.
Harper had paid her tuition through scholarships, part-time work, and student loans.
She still had the loan statements.
Another entry claimed $9,500 for Harper’s first car.
The car had cost $4,200, and Harper had bought it from a coworker’s uncle with her own savings.
The accounting was not merely incomplete.
Parts of it were false.
Mara filed a petition requesting a court-supervised accounting and temporary restrictions on the remaining trust assets.
That was when Riley called Harper for the first time without Vivian present.
Harper nearly ignored the call, but Dylan suggested she record it and listen.
Riley did not apologize.
She began with an accusation.
“You are destroying Mom over paperwork Grandma probably forgot to update.”
“The trust was updated six months before Grandma died.”
Silence.
Then Riley said, “Mom used some money, but it stayed in the family.”
