Chapter 4

My voice stayed calm the whole time, as if I were telling someone else's story.

After I finished, the office went quiet for a few seconds. Car horns drifted up from the street below, and construction hammering echoed in the distance. A food cart vendor's call rose from the sidewalk. These everyday sounds felt unusually sharp right now.

Michael put his glasses back on and opened the folder I'd brought. He started with the photocopies from the blue notebook and went through them slowly, page by page.

Then he moved to the bank statements. Those two hundred seventy-three pages took him nearly half an hour to skim through.

He looked up. "These transfers—you made them willingly?"

"Willingly," I said. "But the situation was, if I didn't send the money, she couldn't continue her studies. Every time she said it was the last time. Every time there was a new reason."

Michael nodded and tapped his fingers on the desk. He'd had that habit since high school, when he was thinking something through.

He spoke slowly, "Legally speaking, your sister has some grounds for her claim. Your parents' inheritance belonged to both of you.

"You used the entire inheritance for her study abroad expenses on your own, and even though your purpose was to 'support' her, you did dispose of her share of the estate. She can argue that you violated her inheritance rights."

My heart sank.

Michael flipped through the papers and nodded. "But here's the thing," he said, picking up the bank statements.

"The key issue is that you used way more than just the inheritance. The entire 290 thousand dollars from the inheritance went to her study abroad expenses, but you also transferred an additional."

He calculated quickly. "An additional 222 thousand dollars. That came from your personal assets, and legally, that counts as a gift."

"A gift?" I repeated the word.

Michael nodded. "Yes, a gift. If she wants to claim that money back, she needs to meet specific conditions.

"For example, the gift had to come with obligations she didn't fulfill, or you need evidence that she used fraud or coercion to get the money. Otherwise, once a gift is given, it's extremely difficult to reclaim."

He paused and looked me in the eye. "Grace, I'm going to be blunt with you. If this case is only about the inheritance portion, your sister has the law on her side.

"But if we look at all these transfers together, the situation changes completely. Over six years, you not only spent your parents' entire inheritance on her, but you also gave her most of your own savings.

"She comes back after finishing her degree, and the first thing she does isn't thank you—it's sue you for the inheritance. That puts her in an incredibly bad position morally."

"What good does morality do in court?" I asked.

Michael's expression turned serious. "It matters. Judges are human beings. Especially in family disputes like this, judges have significant discretion. If we can prove your sister's behavior seriously violates basic decency, the court might rule in your favor when dividing the inheritance."

He flipped through the lawsuit and pointed to one page. "Look at this. She's claiming you 'maliciously misappropriated' the funds. That's a serious accusation.

"If that accusation fails, and we prove she filed this lawsuit knowing full well how much you sacrificed for her, the judge's opinion of her will tank."

I stayed quiet for a moment. "What do I need to do?"

Michael leaned forward. "First, compile all the evidence. You already have the transfer records, and that's the most important thing.

"But we need supporting documentation to prove this money actually went to her study abroad expenses. Tuition receipts, housing contracts, living expense records—everything."

"I don't have those."

"Then find a way to get them," Michael said. "Second, find witnesses. Does anyone else know you've been supporting her for the past six years? Any relatives or friends?"

I thought about it. "The relatives all know. When our parents first died, a few aunts and uncles actually warned me about it. They said I didn't need to spend everything on her."

"Contact them and see if they're willing to testify," Michael said. "Third, and this is the most important part—communication records. WhatsApp conversations, text messages, emails. Every record of her asking you for money, and every record of you promising to send it."

I handed him my phone and opened the screenshots of our WhatsApp conversation.

Michael scrolled through the messages for about five minutes and sighed. "These are useful, especially the part where she promises to pay you back after returning home. But we need more direct evidence that proves she was exaggerating or lying when she asked for the money."

I hesitated for a moment, then pulled out my old phone and opened an audio file.

Emily's voice filled the quiet office. "Grace, I can't do this anymore. My advisor says I have to attend a conference overseas for my dissertation or I won't graduate. The flights and hotel cost over three thousand dollars and I have no way to pay for it.

"Grace, please, this is the last time, I swear. Once I graduate and get a job, I'll pay back everything I've borrowed over the years. I promise."

The recording ended.

Michael stared at the old phone in my hands. "How many recordings like this do you have?"

I answered, "Hundreds. I started recording in her second year abroad. Every time she asked for money, I recorded it. At first, I was afraid I'd forget how much I agreed to send, but later—I don't know why, it just became a habit."

Michael's expression shifted, and I could see both sympathy and admiration in his eyes. "Grace, you're more careful than I thought."

I said quietly, "It wasn't about being careful. It was about being scared. I was afraid that one day she'd deny everything, and I'd have nothing left and no proof to show for it."

The office fell silent again. Michael stood up and walked to the window, and he stood with his back to me for a moment. Outside, the city lights began flickering on as dusk settled over everything.

He turned around and walked back to his desk. "I'll take your case. But I have one condition. You can't hide anything from me, no matter how embarrassing or private it is.

"And you need to prepare yourself mentally, because once this lawsuit starts, your relationship with your sister will probably be destroyed forever."

I said, "It was already destroyed the moment she sent me those court papers."

Michael nodded. "Good. Let's figure out our strategy. Your sister's lawyer is Henry. I've heard of him. He's one of those elite lawyers from the capital who specializes in family property disputes, and his style is aggressive.

"He's definitely prepared a complete chain of evidence and a full litigation strategy, and he'll use your sister's position as a vulnerable party returning from overseas to his advantage."

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "Vulnerable? A Cambridge PhD with an elite lawyer fiancé is suing a woman who runs a clothing store in a wholesale market. Who's the vulnerable one here?"