Chapter 5
I called the police before I did anything else.
The photograph had been taken only hours earlier.
Someone knew where my mother had gone.
Someone knew about the bank.
And someone wanted us frightened enough to stop investigating.
I refused.
The officer who responded examined the photograph and recorded our statements.
I provided the suspicious messages and explained the financial investigation.
Claire advised us to preserve everything and avoid confronting anyone ourselves.
I agreed.
Then I asked Andre to remain with Mom.
He didn't hesitate.
“I'll stay as long as she needs.”
Mom protested.
“You boys have your own lives.”
Andre smiled sadly.
“Aunt Evelyn, you spent half my childhood feeding me. Let me return the favor.”
Her eyes filled.
She hugged him.
Watching them made something loosen inside my chest.
For eight months, my mother had been alone.
Now she had family around her again.
I intended to keep it that way.
The next morning, Claire called an emergency board meeting.
Victor did not attend.
His attorney sent a letter saying he was unavailable for medical reasons.
I stared at the message.
“Convenient.”
Claire raised her hand.
“We'll document his absence. Let the evidence speak.”
The board reviewed the suspicious contracts.
The transfers to Sterling Meridian Holdings.
The attempted deletion of company records.
And the unresolved questions surrounding the development land.
After several hours, the board voted to suspend Victor's authority pending investigation.
His access to company accounts and systems was revoked.
An independent forensic accounting team was hired.
I felt a brief wave of relief.
Then Claire leaned toward me.
“Marcus, there's another issue.”
“What?”
“Nia still has access to several properties and accounts connected to the wedding arrangements.”
My stomach tightened.
The mansion.
The vehicles.
The expense accounts.
I had allowed her to manage many things.
I believed we were building a future together.
Now those arrangements felt dangerous.
We reviewed the relevant agreements and began separating what legally belonged to me, what belonged to her, and what required further investigation.
I didn't want revenge.
I wanted clarity.
That afternoon, Nia appeared at my office.
She wore a cream-colored suit.
Her hair was perfectly styled.
Her makeup was flawless.
For a moment, she looked like the woman I had fallen in love with.
Then she spoke.
“Marcus, this has gone far enough.”
I stared at her.
“You paid my mother to disappear.”
She crossed her arms.
“I tried to solve a problem.”
“My mother was homeless.”
“She made herself homeless by refusing help.”
I stood.
“Don't.”
Nia rolled her eyes.
“You're letting guilt control you.”
I couldn't believe how easily she dismissed what had happened.
For two years, she had told me she valued family.
She talked about compassion at charity events.
She raised money for struggling women.
She posted photographs of herself helping people in need.
And while she did those things, my own mother slept in shelters.
I looked at her.
“Did you know she was living outside?”
Nia hesitated.
Then she said, “I knew she was having difficulties.”
My chest tightened.
“And you didn't tell me.”
“She didn't want you involved.”
“Stop lying.”
Her face hardened.
“Fine. You want the truth?”
I remained silent.
“She was always going to come between us.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Every holiday. Every birthday. Every time we planned something, you worried about Evelyn.”
“She is my mother.”
“And I'm supposed to be your wife!”
Her voice rose.
“I was tired of competing with a woman who treated you like you belonged to her.”
I felt sick.
“My mother never asked me to choose.”
Nia looked away.
“She didn't have to.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked the question that had been haunting me.
“Did you ever love me?”
Her expression changed.
“Of course I did.”
“Or did you love what I could give you?”
She stared at me.
Then she began crying.
“Marcus, I wanted a future with you.”
I looked at her carefully.
“A future built on lies?”
She wiped her cheeks.
“I made mistakes.”
“You helped isolate my mother.”
“I didn't know it would get that bad.”
“You intercepted her letters.”
“I was trying to keep you focused.”
“You used my company's money.”
Her expression hardened.
“Victor handled the business side.”
There it was.
A small admission.
I took a slow breath.
“What business side?”
She realized too late what she had said.
“Nothing.”
“Nia.”
She grabbed her handbag.
“I need to speak to my attorney.”
I nodded.
“That's a good idea.”
She stared at me.
“You're really going to destroy us over this?”
I looked directly at her.
“You destroyed us when you decided my mother was disposable.”
She turned away.
At the door, she stopped.
“Marcus, there's something you don't know about Victor.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“What?”
She looked back.
“He didn't start this because of me.”
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
She lowered her voice.
“He's been looking for those land documents since before we met.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Nia hesitated.
Then she whispered, “His father believed your father cheated him.”
I froze.
The notebook.
Harold Hayes.
The old land agreements.
Suddenly, everything connected.
“Victor wanted revenge?”
Nia's expression turned frightened.
“He said the land should have belonged to his family.”
I stepped forward.
“And you helped him?”
She began crying again.
“He promised we'd make enough money to leave the whole situation behind.”
I stared at her.
“You were planning to leave me?”
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The silence told me everything.
Then she rushed out.
I stood alone in my office.
My engagement was over.
My mother had been mistreated.
My company was under investigation.
And the man I trusted with my finances appeared to be carrying an old family grievance I knew nothing about.
I called Claire.
“We need to look into Harold Hayes.”
She agreed.
An hour later, she sent me a scanned court record from twenty-six years earlier.
My father's name appeared beside Harold's.
The case concerned a failed land partnership.
I opened the document.
And one sentence immediately caught my attention.
“Harold Hayes's claim was dismissed following evidence of fraudulent representations.”
I stared at the screen.
Victor had told Nia my father cheated his father.
But the old records suggested something very different.
Then my phone rang.
Mom.
Her voice was trembling.
“Marcus, someone called me.”
I stood immediately.
“Who?”
“She said she knew what happened to your father.”
My blood turned cold.
“What did she say?”
May you like
Mom began crying.
“She said his death wasn't the accident we were told it was.”
