The silence that settled over the bank felt heavier than stone.

Melissa Carter stared at the screen.

Then she stared again.

The numbers refused to change.

Her pulse hammered in her ears.

“Sir...” she whispered.

The elderly man simply waited.

Behind him, Richard Harlan folded his arms with growing impatience.

“Well?” he asked loudly. “Did his retirement check bounce?”

A nervous laugh escaped one of his companions.

Nobody else joined in.

Melissa swallowed.

The account balance displayed before her was unlike anything she had ever seen.

Not because it contained millions.

Not because it contained hundreds of millions.

The figure stretched so far across the screen that her eyes struggled to follow it.

She blinked repeatedly.

Then she carefully stood from her chair.

“Sir,” she said softly to the elderly customer, “would you mind waiting just a moment?”

The old man nodded.

“Of course.”

Melissa hurried toward the manager’s office.

Within seconds, whispers spread through the lobby.

Customers exchanged glances.

Tellers looked at one another.

Something unusual was happening.

Richard noticed it immediately.

The confidence on his face began to crack.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

Nobody answered.

A minute later the branch manager emerged.

His name was Daniel Foster.

For fifteen years he had managed one of the most prestigious banking branches in the city.

In all that time, very little surprised him.

Yet the moment he saw the passbook, his face went completely pale.

He looked at the elderly man.

Then at the account.

Then back again.

And suddenly he straightened as though standing before royalty.

“Mr. Whitaker?”

The old man smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

The manager inhaled sharply.

Several employees gasped.

Richard frowned.

“Who?”

Daniel ignored him completely.

“Mr. Whitaker,” he said carefully, “if I had known you were coming today, I would have prepared the executive office.”

The old man chuckled.

“That seems unnecessary.”

“Sir, it absolutely is not.”

Now the entire lobby was staring.

Richard’s face twisted with confusion.

“Wait,” he interrupted. “What exactly is happening?”

Daniel finally looked at him.

The irritation in the manager’s eyes was impossible to miss.

“You should remain quiet.”