Indigo and Amber were convicted of felony assault, attempted extortion, and financial fraud, and received substantial prison terms and total forfeiture of their assets.

The hidden luxury SUV and the oceanfront condo were seized by federal asset-recovery officers.

And my grandmother’s three point eight million dollars remained completely, perfectly untouched.

I never signed a single paper.

I never transferred a single cent.

The money my grandmother had left me to save myself with had done exactly that, and more — it had never even had to be spent, because the receipts and the ledgers and the preserved laptop had been weapons enough.

There is a symmetry in that which I have savored quietly ever since.