Chapter 2
The Camera Never Lies
I stared at Arthur's phone.
The video showed the rooftop terrace only minutes before Grandma nearly died.
There was no sound.
Just clear footage from the camera above the western railing.
Nia stood facing my grandmother.
Grandma appeared calm.
Then Nia looked directly toward the camera.
And smiled.
My stomach twisted.
"Keep playing," I whispered.
Arthur nodded.
The recording continued.
Nia stepped closer to Grandma.
Grandma raised one hand as though asking her to stop.
Then Nia grabbed her wrist.
I felt my jaw tighten.
The next moment happened so quickly that my mind struggled to accept it.
Nia shoved Grandma backward.
Both hands.
Straight toward the railing.
I watched my grandmother lose her balance.
I watched her tip over the edge.
Then Maya appeared.
Running.
Dropping her tray.
Throwing herself toward danger to save a woman she didn't know.
Arthur paused the video.
Nobody spoke.
The silence felt unbearable.
I slowly turned toward Nia.
She was shaking.
"Marcus..."
I stepped backward.
"Don't."
Her eyes filled.
"Baby, please."
"Don't call me that."
She flinched.
I pointed toward Arthur's phone.
"I saw you."
Nia shook her head.
"It's not what it looks like."
I almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the lie was so unbelievable.
"You pushed my grandmother over a rooftop railing."
Her expression crumpled.
"I didn't mean for her to fall!"
The words echoed across the terrace.
Several guests gasped.
Grandma closed her eyes.
Maya stared at Nia.
I felt something inside me break.
"You didn't mean for her to fall?"
Nia began crying harder.
"I just wanted her to stop!"
"Stop what?"
She looked toward Grandma.
Then away.
"Interfering."
I couldn't breathe.
"My grandmother almost died because you thought she was interfering?"
Nia reached for me.
I moved away.
"Don't touch me."
Her face twisted.
"Marcus, you're making this worse."
I stared at her.
"Making what worse?"
"Our wedding!"
The words struck me harder than anything else.
Our wedding.
That was what she was worried about.
Not Grandma's injuries.
Not Maya's bleeding hand.
Not the fact that she had almost killed someone.
Her wedding.
I looked toward Arthur.
"Call the police."
Nia froze.
"No."
Arthur nodded.
"Already done."
She spun toward him.
"You can't do this!"
Arthur didn't blink.
"I have footage of a serious assault."
Nia's face hardened.
"Do you know who my father is?"
I stared at her.
There it was.
The question she always asked when someone refused to give her what she wanted.
Her father, Leonard Carter, owned several commercial properties across Georgia.
He was wealthy.
Connected.
And accustomed to getting his way.
But none of that mattered now.
Arthur looked at her.
"Your father's name won't change what that camera recorded."
Nia's eyes flashed.
"You'll regret embarrassing me."
I stepped between them.
"Enough."
She turned toward me.
"Marcus, please. We can discuss this privately."
I looked at the woman I'd planned to marry.
The woman whose hand I'd held through family dinners.
The woman I'd trusted with my secrets.
And I realized I had no idea who she really was.
"There is no wedding."
Her face went blank.
"What?"
I swallowed.
"I'm not marrying you."
Nia stumbled backward.
"No."
I shook my head.
"It's over."
She began sobbing.
"Marcus, you can't do this to me!"
I looked at Grandma.
She was sitting in a chair now, wrapped in a blanket.
A hotel medic was checking her vital signs.
Maya remained beside her.
I pointed toward them.
"You did this to yourself."
Nia screamed.
Then she turned toward Maya.
"You!"
Maya looked up.
Nia pointed at her.
"This is your fault!"
Maya stood slowly.
Her injured hand was bandaged.
"My fault?"
"If you hadn't interfered—"
I stepped forward.
"Finish that sentence."
Nia froze.
I stared at her.
"If Maya hadn't interfered, my grandmother would be dead."
Her lips parted.
But no words came.
I turned toward Maya.
"Thank you."
She shook her head.
"I just did what anyone should have done."
"No."
My voice broke.
"Most people froze. You moved."
Her eyes filled.
I looked at Grandma.
She nodded.
"That girl saved my life."
Arthur approached.
"Marcus, officers are on their way. We need statements from everyone."
I nodded.
Then Grandma reached for my hand.
"Sweetheart."
I knelt beside her.
"Yes, Grandma?"
She studied my face.
"Don't blame yourself."
I began crying.
"I brought her into our family."
Grandma touched my cheek.
"You brought someone you loved."
I lowered my head.
"I should have listened to you."
She shook her head.
"Love isn't foolish."
Her voice trembled.
"But refusing to see the truth would be."
I held her hand.
Then I heard Nia speaking urgently into her phone.
"Daddy, you need to come here."
I looked up.
She stood near the entrance.
Her voice was shaking.
"Marcus called the police."
A pause.
Then she whispered something that made my stomach twist.
"They found the camera."
I stared at her.
They found the camera?
Why would she say that?
Not that Grandma had fallen.
Not that the wedding was canceled.
That they'd found the camera.
Arthur noticed my expression.
He stepped closer.
"What?"
I nodded toward Nia.
"Listen."
She turned away.
But I heard her next words.
"Daddy, the footage is still there."
My blood ran cold.
Arthur's expression changed.
Then Nia looked over her shoulder.
And I saw something in her eyes that frightened me more than her anger.
Calculation.
She wasn't simply afraid of being arrested.
She was afraid someone would discover what she'd been planning.
And suddenly, I remembered something Grandma had told me three days earlier.
"Marcus, if anything happens to me, look inside the blue folder in my bedroom."
At the time, I'd laughed.
Now I understood.
May you like
Grandma had known something terrible was coming.
And she had left evidence behind.
