Have you worked on Tesni's card?"
Erwin did not look up from his phone. "Yes sir."
Ravi allowed himself a small, private smile. "Let us see how the game plays out now."
The bank was cool and unhurried, the kind of place that moved at its own pace regardless of what was happening in the world outside its glass doors. Tesni stood at the counter with her card on the surface between them and watched the banker's expression settle into something apologetic and immovable.
"I am sorry, ma'am. We are unable to process withdrawals above one hundred US dollars on this account."
Tesni stared at him. "I am using my own card."
"Yes ma'am. However a password restriction has been placed on the account by your father. No withdrawals exceeding one hundred dollars per month can be processed without his authorisation."
She pulled her phone out before he finished the sentence.
Dad." Her voice was controlled but only just. "When did you put a password restriction on my card?"
"I did not do any such thing," Mendoza said immediately.
"I tried to withdraw one million dollars for Aine. They are telling me your password is blocking them."
A pause. "I am coming there myself."
Mendoza arrived within the hour and handed his card across the counter without a word. The banker took it, ran it through and looked up with the same apologetic expression.
"Sir, I am afraid your card has been blocked entirely. There is nothing I am able to do from our end."
Mendoza took the card back. "Thank you."
The walk back to where Tesni stood felt longer than it should have.
She looked at him for a moment and when she spoke her voice had shed whatever was left of its patience. "This is your fault. All of it. If you did not want to use your own money you could have at least spoken to me first. I would have moved mine."
"I am sorry, Tesni."
"Only God knows what she is going through right now." Her voice broke on the last word but she did not let it go any further than that.
Mendoza's phone rang.
He answered it and said nothing, waiting.
"Old man." Ravi's voice came through warm and almost conversational. "I hope you are struggling for the money."
"So it is you."
"I thought I would give you a little delay. A gift, of sorts."
"How dare you—"
"Watch your mouth." The warmth left instantly. "I still have your daughter."
Tesni crossed the space between them in two steps and pulled the phone from her father's hand before he could say anything else that would make things worse.
"Sir."
A pause on the other end. Then, almost pleasantly, "Yes, Tesni."
She steadied herself. "I will raise forty million US dollars. Give me one week."
"One week," he repeated, as though tasting the shape of it. "And what exactly do you want from me in return?"
"Do not hurt my sister."
Silence.
"I cannot wait a week," he said finally.
"Then when?" Her voice was stripped of everything except the question.
"Three days."
The word landed in her chest like something physical. "Three days?"
"Yes. Three days. And if the money is not there—" He paused, letting the space fill itself. "Your sister's life will become meaningless. That I can promise you." Another pause, quieter this time. "And I cannot guarantee her sanity either."
"Sir." The tears came before she could stop them, pressing hot against the back of her eyes. "Please—"
"I am sorry." His voice did not change. "But the damage has already been caused."
The line went dead.
The bank hummed quietly around them. Mendoza reached for his daughter's shoulder.
"Tesni, dear—"
She stepped back from his hand.
"Do not." She looked at him with red rimmed eyes and a jaw set like stone. "Do not dear me." She pocketed the phone and straightened herself to her full height. "If I have to walk into the lion's den myself to raise that money, then so be it."
She turned and walked toward the door without waiting for his answer.
The knock came sharp and deliberate against his door.
Silas crossed the room and pulled it open and the words he had been preparing to say to whoever was on the other side dissolved completely. He stood in the doorway and stared.
Tesni looked back at him with the particular expression of someone who had rehearsed this moment several times on the way over and was already tired of it.
"Are you going to just stare?"
He stepped aside. "Come inside already."
She walked in and took in the room around her the way she took in everything, quickly and without making it obvious. He closed the door and turned to face her, folding his arms across his chest.
"What brought you here, Tesni Mendoza?" The question was casual but his eyes were not.
"I am in need of help."
Something shifted in his expression. Not surprise exactly. More like the particular satisfaction of a moment a person had imagined arriving and then stopped believing in. "I thought you would never ask for help from me." He tilted his head. "Seeing as you told me exactly that. To my face."
"I remember saying that," Tesni said evenly. "I was leaving for the States with my mum. Things were different."
"Were they?" He moved further into the room, keeping the distance between them deliberate. "Or did your stepfather's business finally fall apart and bring you back to my door?"
"Not exactly."
"I told you, Tesni." There was no smugness in it, which somehow made it worse. "I told you I would be rich. You did not believe me."
"That is not why I am here."
"Is it not?" He looked at her for a long moment. "You have no shame, baby. After everything."
The word landed between them and neither of them moved to pick it up. Tesni held his gaze without flinching.
"I did not end anything between us," she said quietly. "Everything just fell into a very deep hole. That is different."
Silas was quiet for a moment. Then he exhaled slowly, the sharpness in his posture easing by a fraction. "What do you need?"
Tesni did not hesitate. "Forty million US dollars."
The room went very still.
"Forty—" He stopped. Looked at her. Started again. "Forty what?"
"I know," she said before he could finish the thought. "I know exactly how it sounds. But I need it urgently. Please."