Little White Lies

Chapter 7

"This way," the man said and led them towards the back of the office. Candice took a seat opposite him and suck in a deep breath. She had to be intimidating enough to throttle the information out of him.

"What can you tell me about my mother's account here?" Candice started and cut straight to the chase. Her mother wouldn't open up any old account, so whatever she had saved here must amount to something.

"Miss White, I understand your situation but as you know, we are not at liberty o discuss our client's assets," the manager said. He was twisting his hands in front of him, and Candice wondered if it was really true.

"I'm the sole surviving heir of my parents. I'm simply taking inventory of my parent's assets. I don't have plans to move them, but of course, that depends on the circumstances..." Candice trailed off. There was nothing more these banks love than money. And the best way to threaten them was to take the money away.

"Well, Mrs White is a valued customer. That's all that I can tell you, Miss White," the manager answered. These were all information that her mother could have easily told her, but Candice knew that this was as much as she could get. But she was always one to push the boundaries.

"Is there anything more you can tell us?" Candice asked innocently. The manager's face adopted a difficult expression. He wrung his hands harder but said nothing still. He was an old fox, and he certainly wasn't going to crack easily beyond the basic information.

But he was also reluctant to get on her bad side.

"I understand. We can sort that out later once I get the paperwork from my lawyer. On a slightly different note, me and my—my finance would like to manage our asset in a more centralized way, and I thought your bank could be a great choice," Candice said, earning a shocked look from Eric but a delighted one from the manager. "Maybe you can tell us a bit about the plan that my mother uses so we can consider it, too."

The manager's face lit up and he started reciting a sales pitch about their bank's services. Candice wanted to yawn, and she tried her best to stifle it. She stole a glance at Eric, who was leaning forward and listening attentively. Well, at least one of them were.

"...most secured safety deposit box facilities all over America. We have safety deposit box services all over the country. We charge a yearly subscription depending on the size of the box." Candice caught the tail end of his speech. A safety deposit box. Could that be the reason her mom had opened an account here?

"Thanks for your time, we still need to run a few more wedding errands, but we will take this into serious consideration." Candice rose up and looped her arm through Eric's. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Eric gave a tentative smile and felt his arm stiffened. An unexpected bonus of their charade.

"I will see you soon," the manager walked them out of the bank and waved them off. Candice pulled Eric down the street and waited until they turned the corner before releasing his arm.

"Now we know my mom has a safety deposit box and account there. Let's get to the lawyer," Candice said, putting her hands on her hips. Eric had a pained expression on his face as he pulled up the map on his phone and Candice wondered whether he was a little mad at her. Surely not?

"Hey, you know that was just a ruse to get the bank manager to talk, right?" Candice said and stepped closer to Eric as they walked the one block distance. Eric had his eyes alternating between his phone and the pavement in front of them, and that made Candice nervous.

"Yeah," Eric finally replied and gave her a smile. Candice relaxed, but her nervous came flooding back when they stepped into the lift on their way up to the law firm. She had been here countless times before, accompanying her parents, and it felt weird to be here with someone else.