Chapter 3
I had never seen Marcus look at our son that way.
Not angry.
Broken.
"Your name?"
Jayden shook his head.
"It's not what you think."
Marcus held up the phone.
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"You can."
"No, Dad. I literally can't."
I stepped between them.
"Everyone sit down."
Neither moved.
"Now."
Something in my voice finally reached them.
Marcus sat at the island.
Jayden stayed standing.
I sat across from him.
"Start with Kiara."
Jayden looked toward the window.
"We've been together almost a year."
"A year?"
I tried not to let the hurt show.
"You've been dating someone for a year and never told us?"
"You would've judged her."
"We didn't even know she existed."
"You would've found something wrong."
Marcus slammed his palm against the counter.
"Enough with blaming everybody else."
Jayden flinched.
Marcus immediately lowered his voice.
"Explain the account."
Jayden swallowed.
"Kiara needed help."
"With what?"
"Her mother was behind on rent."
"So you stole from your grandmother?"
"I didn't steal anything!"
His voice cracked.
He dropped his backpack onto the floor.
"Grandma gave me access."
Marcus stared.
"What?"
"Last year. She couldn't figure out her online banking. She asked me to help."
I remembered Evelyn complaining about passwords.
That part was possible.
Jayden continued.
"I set up the app. She told me to keep the login in case she needed help again."
"And you used it."
"Not at first."
My stomach tightened.
"Then when?"
He looked at me.
"Kiara needed fifteen hundred dollars."
Marcus closed his eyes.
Jayden continued quickly.
"I was going to pay it back."
"You took fifteen hundred dollars from your grandmother."
"Yes."
The word came out barely audible.
"And then?"
"Kiara said we could move some money around and make it back."
Marcus opened his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"She knew somebody doing online investments."
I almost laughed from disbelief.
"You gave stolen money to some stranger?"
"I didn't know him."
"That makes it worse."
Jayden rubbed both hands over his face.
"The first transfer came back bigger."
"How much?"
"I sent fifteen hundred. We got twenty-one hundred back."
"And that convinced you."
"I thought I could replace Grandma's money and keep the extra."
Marcus looked sick.
"But you didn't stop."
Jayden shook his head.
"No."
"How much did you personally transfer?"
Silence.
"Jayden."
"Twenty-eight thousand."
I stopped breathing.
Marcus stared at him.
"Twenty-eight?"
Jayden nodded.
"Then who took the rest?"
"Kiara."
Marcus stood.
Jayden stepped backward.
"She said Grandma wouldn't notice."
I grabbed Marcus's wrist.
He was trembling.
"Sit down."
He didn't.
"That woman stole fifty thousand dollars from my mother?"
Jayden's face crumpled.
"I didn't know she was taking that much."
"How could you not know?"
"Because she had the login!"
The truth came out in one desperate shout.
Silence followed.
Jayden sank into a chair.
"I gave it to her."
I stared at my son.
"You gave your girlfriend your grandmother's banking password?"
He covered his face.
"Yes."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I looked at the boy I had raised.
He wasn't a boy anymore.
That was the problem.
For years, every mistake had been something Marcus and I could help fix.
Missed homework.
A broken window.
A fight at school.
This wasn't childhood.
This was theft.
Fraud.
Betrayal.
"Why did you throw water at me?" I asked.
His hands dropped.
"What?"
"This morning."
He stared at the floor.
"Because you thought I knew?"
He nodded.
"You saw the transfer from Terrence."
"Yes."
"And you thought we were moving money somewhere."
"I thought Uncle Terrence found everything."
"So you attacked me because you were afraid."
"I didn't attack you."
I stood.
His eyes lifted.
"Do not minimize what you did."
"It's water."
"Stop saying that."
My voice shook now.
"You humiliated me in front of your sister because you were scared of being exposed."
His face twisted.
"I know."
"No. You don't."
I pointed upstairs.
"Lily watched her brother throw something in her mother's face because he was angry."
He said nothing.
"Do you understand what she learned in that moment?"
His eyes filled.
"Mom—"
"She learned that somebody you love can become cruel when they don't get their way."
A tear slipped down his cheek.
I didn't stop.
"And now you are going to teach her something else."
"What?"
"That actions have consequences."
Marcus finally sat.
Jayden stared at me.
"Are you kicking me out?"
My chest hurt.
"I don't know yet."
His face hardened again.
"There it is."
"Don't."
"You always wanted me gone."
"That is a lie."
"Then say I can stay."
"I can't."
He stood.
"Fine."
He grabbed his backpack.
Marcus said, "Your grandmother deserves to hear this from you."
Jayden froze.
"No."
"Yes."
"I can't face her."
"You took her money."
"I know!"
"Then face her."
Jayden's phone buzzed on the counter.
All of us looked at it.
A message from Kiara.
YOU TOLD THEM?
Jayden reached for it.
I got there first.
Another message appeared.
ANSWER ME.
Then another.
IF THEY CALL THE POLICE, YOU'RE GOING DOWN TOO.
Jayden's face collapsed.
Marcus read the message over my shoulder.
"She's threatening you."
Jayden whispered, "You don't understand."
"Then help us understand."
He shook his head.
"Kiara isn't the one I'm scared of."
A cold sensation moved through me.
"Who are you scared of?"
Jayden stared at his phone.
"The man behind the investment account."
Marcus leaned forward.
"Who is he?"
Jayden hesitated.
Then he said the name.
"Darius Cole."
Marcus went completely still.
I looked at him.
"You know him?"
Marcus didn't answer.
"Marcus."
He finally looked at me.
And I saw fear.
Real fear.
"Darius isn't an investor."
"What is he?"
Marcus swallowed.
"He used to work for my company."
"Used to?"
"I fired him three years ago."
Jayden whispered, "Why?"
May you like
Marcus stared at our son.
"Because he stole money from us."
