The File My Daughter Found Changed Everything

Those files gave investigators something far more useful than my suspicions. My bank placed an emergency fraud hold on what remained of the transfer, while federal investigators traced the rest through accounts connected to Reggie. Shantelle had believed the money became untouchable the moment she crossed the border. Instead, authorities had already contacted financial institutions abroad before she reached the airport.

Over the following weeks, most of the money was recovered or frozen while the investigation continued. My parents suddenly stopped telling me to “protect the family” when they learned how much documentation existed. Dad eventually called and asked whether I could keep Shantelle out of serious trouble. I told him that decision no longer belonged to me. She had made choices involving my daughter’s future, and now professionals would decide the consequences.

The first thing I did after the bank restored the recovered funds was move Imani’s college savings into an account nobody else could access. Then I changed every password and removed every secondary user from my finances. That night, Imani sat beside me eating cereal and asked whether she had really helped. I hugged her and told her she had done something more important: she had noticed what every adult around us had ignored.