Chapter 4
I didn't drive to the mansion.
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
I wanted to stand in front of that enormous house and demand to know why Marcus thought he deserved another family while mine was falling apart.
But Patricia stopped me.
"Nia, don't confront him there."
I looked at her.
"He's buying a house with my money."
"That's one of the issues we're investigating."
I shook my head.
"He humiliated me in front of hundreds of people."
"I know."
"He made our children cry."
"I know."
"And now he's using the company we built to buy a mansion for Vanessa?"
Patricia leaned forward.
"Then we handle it through evidence and the court."
I took a slow breath.
She was right.
A confrontation would give Marcus another opportunity to call me unstable.
He'd already used that word in several messages.
"You're being emotional."
"You're trying to punish me."
"You're making things worse for the children."
I was beginning to understand the pattern.
Whenever Marcus did something cruel, he blamed my reaction.
Whenever I asked questions, he accused me of causing problems.
And whenever I tried to protect myself, he called it revenge.
I wasn't going to give him another excuse.
Instead, I opened a notebook.
At the top, I wrote three words.
PROTECT MY CHILDREN.
Everything else came after that.
That afternoon, Patricia and I met with the forensic accountant.
Daniel had reviewed additional transactions.
He showed us a timeline.
Eighteen months earlier, the payments to V Holdings began.
Small amounts at first.
Five thousand.
Eight thousand.
Twelve thousand.
Then the transfers increased.
As Vanessa's pregnancy became known to Marcus, the payments grew dramatically.
I stared at the chart.
"She's been receiving money the entire time."
Daniel nodded.
"That's what the records indicate."
He continued.
"There's another issue."
I looked up.
"What?"
"Several payments were coded as expenses associated with the Riverside Project."
My stomach tightened.
The Riverside Project was one of Bennett Construction Group's largest contracts.
We were building affordable townhomes for working families.
The project had received financing tied to specific construction milestones.
I knew those funds were supposed to support legitimate expenses.
"Are you saying Marcus charged Vanessa's company to Riverside?"
Daniel nodded carefully.
"The records show that some payments were allocated to that project."
I felt sick.
"Did V Holdings provide any actual services?"
"That's what we need to verify."
I stared at the invoices.
If Marcus had falsely charged the project, the problem wasn't only marital.
It could affect lenders.
Investors.
Contractors.
Families waiting for homes.
My anger turned into something colder.
I looked at Patricia.
"We need to protect the project."
She nodded.
"Agreed."
Over the following days, the investigation expanded.
The company's independent board members were informed of the concerns.
Patricia coordinated with corporate counsel.
Daniel preserved the relevant financial records.
And I continued gathering information through lawful channels.
Marcus became increasingly furious.
He sent messages every day.
Some were angry.
Some were pleading.
Others sounded almost affectionate.
"Nia, remember our first apartment?"
"We were happy once."
"Don't throw away nine years."
I read every message.
Then placed my phone down.
Because I wasn't the one who'd thrown away our marriage.
He was.
One evening, my mother came over.
Her name was Evelyn.
She'd been staying with us more often since the ballroom incident.
At sixty-eight, she still had a way of making everything feel calmer simply by walking into a room.
She found me sitting at the kitchen table.
I was staring at the wedding photograph hanging near the hallway.
"Nia?"
I turned.
"Hi, Mom."
She sat beside me.
"Have you eaten?"
I shook my head.
She sighed.
"Of course you haven't."
I gave a weak smile.
She went to the refrigerator and began preparing dinner.
I watched her.
Then suddenly, I started crying.
She turned immediately.
"Oh, baby."
I covered my face.
"I don't understand."
She came closer.
"What don't you understand?"
"How he could stop loving us."
Mom sat beside me.
She took my hands.
"Nia, listen carefully."
I looked up.
"Marcus's choices do not mean you were unworthy of love."
I shook my head.
"But I gave him everything."
"I know."
"I helped build his business."
"I know."
"I gave him two beautiful children."
Her eyes filled.
"And those children are still beautiful."
I swallowed.
She continued.
"You didn't lose your value because a man failed to recognize it."
I began crying harder.
Mom pulled me into her arms.
For a long time, I let myself be her little girl again.
Eventually, she whispered, "Your father would be proud of you."
I looked up.
My father had died seven years earlier.
He'd loved Marcus.
He'd believed Marcus would protect me.
I wondered what he'd think now.
Mom smiled sadly.
"He always said you were stronger than you knew."
I wiped my eyes.
"I don't feel strong."
She squeezed my hand.
"Strength isn't never crying."
I looked at her.
"It's getting up when you have every reason to stay down."
I nodded slowly.
That night, after Mom went home, I checked my email.
There was a message from an unfamiliar address.
Subject:
YOU NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT VANESSA.
My stomach tightened.
I opened it.
The message contained only a few lines.
"Nia, I worked with Vanessa before she met Marcus."
I sat straighter.
"She's not who she says she is."
My heart began pounding.
The next line made my breath catch.
"She told people years ago that she wanted to marry a wealthy man and take everything she could."
I stared at the screen.
Then another email arrived.
This one contained photographs.
Vanessa standing beside a man I didn't recognize.
They were embracing outside a restaurant.
The timestamp was from four months earlier.
I looked closer.
Vanessa was wearing the same magenta-colored bracelet Marcus had given her.
Then I read the final message.
"The baby may not be Marcus's."
I froze.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Vanessa had stood in front of hundreds of people and declared she was carrying my husband's child.
Marcus had proudly placed his hand on her stomach.
He'd humiliated our family because he believed she was giving him something better.
And now someone was suggesting that the very child he'd used to justify destroying our marriage might not be his.
I stared at the photograph.
Then at the sender's name.
Tasha Williams.
I had no idea who she was.
But I knew one thing.
I wasn't going to make the same mistake Marcus had made.
I wasn't going to believe a claim simply because it hurt someone I was angry with.
May you like
I needed proof.
And I was about to discover that Vanessa had been keeping secrets from both of us.
