Chapter 4
I didn't open the door.
Marcus knocked again.
"Nia, I know you're inside."
My mother stepped beside me.
"Let me handle this."
I shook my head.
"No, Mama."
I was tired of hiding behind other people.
Tired of making excuses.
Tired of letting Marcus decide what happened next.
I moved toward the door but kept the chain fastened.
"What do you want?"
Marcus stood on the porch.
His cream polo shirt was wrinkled.
His eyes were red.
For the first time in years, he looked frightened.
"I need to talk to you."
"You had your chance."
"Nia, please."
I glanced toward his empty hands.
"Where's your bag?"
His face changed.
"What bag?"
I almost laughed.
"The blue duffel bag you carried off the ship."
He looked toward the driveway.
"I left it somewhere."
"Where?"
"With a friend."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Who?"
He stepped closer.
"Nia, this isn't about the bag."
"Then why did your company call asking about it?"
His expression collapsed.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, "They called you?"
I nodded.
"They said you're involved in a fraud investigation."
Marcus gripped the doorframe.
"Nia, listen to me carefully."
I stepped back.
"Don't tell me what to do."
His voice shook.
"Some people are trying to blame me for something I didn't do."
"Who?"
He glanced behind him.
"I can't explain everything right now."
I felt anger rise.
"That's all you ever say."
"Nia—"
"No."
I looked directly into his eyes.
"You lied about where you worked. You lied about your marriage. You told another woman I was dead."
Tears burned my face.
"And now you're standing on my mother's porch asking me to trust you again."
Marcus lowered his head.
"I know I hurt you."
I laughed bitterly.
"Hurt me?"
I pointed toward the living room.
"Our daughters are sleeping inside. They don't even recognize your voice."
His eyes filled with tears.
That seemed to affect him.
But it was too late.
He reached toward the door.
"Can I see them?"
I shook my head.
"Not tonight."
"Nia, I'm their father."
"Then start acting like one."
He stepped back.
My mother appeared beside me.
"Marcus, go home."
He looked at her.
"Mrs. Carter, please."
She raised her hand.
"Don't."
Her voice was quiet.
But I had never heard it sound so final.
"You made your choices. Now let my daughter make hers."
Marcus looked toward me one last time.
"I never wanted this."
I stared at him.
"Neither did I."
Then I closed the door.
I leaned against it and cried.
My mother wrapped her arms around me.
For several minutes, I couldn't stop shaking.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text message from Marcus.
NIA, PLEASE DON'T TALK TO ANY INVESTIGATORS UNTIL I EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
I stared at the screen.
My mother read it over my shoulder.
Her face hardened.
"That's not something an innocent man should be asking his wife."
I nodded slowly.
For the first time, I wondered whether Marcus had married Vanessa for something more than romance.
Maybe money.
Maybe access.
Maybe a lie so large it required another wife to keep it alive.
I called Rachel Greene back.
She answered immediately.
"Mrs. Williams?"
"I want to know what's happening."
Rachel paused.
"I understand."
"Then tell me."
She explained that Atlantic Meridian Logistics had discovered suspicious transactions linked to several employees.
Marcus's name appeared in the records.
The company had also discovered that he had been receiving payments connected to shipping contracts that didn't exist.
I stared at the wall.
"How much money?"
Rachel hesitated.
"Several hundred thousand dollars."
My knees weakened.
Several hundred thousand.
While I was buying diapers with coupons.
While I was choosing between groceries and electricity.
While I was borrowing money from my mother.
My husband might have been moving hundreds of thousands of dollars through secret accounts.
"Mrs. Williams?" Rachel asked.
"I'm here."
"Do you have access to any of his financial records?"
I shook my head.
"No."
"Any shared business accounts?"
"No."
Then I remembered something.
A month earlier, Marcus had asked me to sign a document.
He said it was paperwork for an insurance policy.
I had been feeding Mia when he emailed it.
I remembered clicking the signature box without reading every page.
My chest tightened.
"Actually," I whispered, "there may be something."
Rachel became serious.
"What is it?"
"My husband asked me to sign some paperwork."
"What paperwork?"
"He said it was insurance."
"Do you still have a copy?"
"I think so."
Rachel spoke carefully.
"Please preserve the original email and attachment. Don't alter anything."
I looked at my mother.
My hands began shaking again.
"What if I signed something dangerous?"
Rachel's voice softened.
"Mrs. Williams, I can't determine that over the phone. You should have an independent attorney review it."
I thanked her and ended the call.
Then I opened my email.
I searched Marcus's name.
Dozens of messages appeared.
Photographs.
Promises.
Apologies.
Love notes.
Then I found it.
Subject: FAMILY PROTECTION DOCUMENTS.
I opened the attachment.
There were twenty-seven pages.
I scrolled slowly.
Insurance terms.
Financial disclosures.
Business authorization language.
Then I reached page nineteen.
My signature appeared beneath a paragraph I didn't understand.
I read it twice.
My heart began pounding.
The document authorized a company called Harbor Crown Holdings to use certain jointly held assets as collateral.
I stared at the company name.
Harbor Crown Holdings.
I had never heard of it.
My mother leaned closer.
"Nia, what does that mean?"
I swallowed.
"I don't know."
Then I saw another name.
Vanessa Brooks.
Listed as a managing partner.
I stopped breathing.
Vanessa.
The woman my husband had kissed at the harbor.
The woman who believed he was her husband.
My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped the phone.
"Mama."
She looked at me.
"What?"
"I think Marcus used both of us."
My mother covered her mouth.
Then another email appeared.
It had been sent from an address I didn't recognize.
The subject line read:
YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Marcus stood beside Vanessa in front of a beautiful waterfront house.
He was holding a set of keys.
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
THE HOUSE WAS PURCHASED USING YOUR NAME.
I stared at the screen.
Then I realized something terrifying.
May you like
My husband hadn't just been living two lives.
He had been building one life with another woman using the financial identity of the wife he abandoned.
