Chapter 2
“Isaiah Cole’s son, she’ll start asking questions.”
The recording continued.
Tiana’s voice sounded faint.
“What questions, Marcus?”
Dad answered without hesitation.
“Questions about the company. About the accounts. About why Isaiah took the fall.”
I stared at him.
Someone behind me set a glass down so hard it knocked against a plate.
On the recording, Tiana asked, “Are you saying he didn’t take that money?”
Then there was a scraping sound, followed by Dad’s voice closer to the microphone.
“I’m saying leave it alone. Isaiah signed what he signed. He made his choice.”
Tiana stopped the playback.
My ears rang.
Dad looked around the room. For the first time, he seemed aware that there were witnesses.
“That conversation was taken out of context.”
Mom didn’t blink.
“Then give us the context.”
“It’s business.”
“You used our daughter’s name.”
He turned toward me.
“Maya, listen to me.”
I looked at Jayden instead.
“Who is Isaiah?”
“My father,” he said.
“Where is he?”
Jayden swallowed.
“In prison.”
I felt the answer move through the room.
Dad’s company, Grant Development, built apartments, shopping centers, and warehouses. His success paid for this house, my tuition, and the party decorations above us.
I knew there had been a financial scandal years earlier.
I remembered Dad being on television. I remembered him saying an employee had betrayed the company.
I had never learned that employee’s name.
“How long has he been there?” I asked.
“Eight years.”
Jayden was thirteen when his father went away.
I thought of the way he always checked whether he could pick up extra hours during college breaks. I thought of his mother’s careful grocery lists and the worn couch where she welcomed me.
Dad stepped forward.
“His father admitted what he did.”
“Under a deal your lawyer arranged,” Jayden said.
“My lawyer didn’t represent him.”
“No. Your lawyer threatened him.”
Dad’s face darkened.
“You’d better be careful.”
Mom raised her hand.
“Enough.”
She turned toward the guests.
“I’m sorry. We need to end the party.”
Nobody argued.
My aunt began gathering coats. Tiana’s husband guided people toward the foyer. The room emptied slowly, with everyone avoiding my eyes.
I stood beside my untouched cake.
Dad reached for my shoulder.
I stepped back.
“How much do you know?” I asked Mom.
“About the case? What your father told me at the time.”
“And what was that?”
“That Isaiah stole company funds and hid the transfers.”
She looked at Dad.
“He told me the money had been recovered.”
Jayden shook his head.
“My mother lost our house.”
I could hear someone crying in the hallway. It might have been an aunt. It might have been me, though my face felt dry.
After the last guests left, Dad closed the front door.
“We will discuss this without an audience.”
“We already did,” Tiana said. “You just didn’t know you had one.”
He turned on her.
“Delete that recording.”
“No.”
“This is my home.”
“And that is my phone.”
Mom moved closer to Tiana.
“Nobody is deleting anything.”
I looked at Dad. He had taught me that honesty mattered most when it cost something.
Now he wanted the evidence erased.
“Tell me what happened,” I said.
“Isaiah handled payroll and project accounts,” Dad replied. “Money went missing. He accepted responsibility.”
“That isn’t what you said in the recording.”
“I was angry. Tiana came here making accusations.”
“Why did you say he took the fall?”
Dad looked away.
That silence terrified me more than the argument.
Jayden spoke carefully.
“Tiana found old documents in her father’s papers. Her father served on the company board. She contacted my mother last week.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew for a week?”
“Yes.”
“And you came tonight without telling me?”
“I planned to talk to you after your birthday.”
Dad gave a bitter laugh.
“Convenient.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t get to use his silence to excuse yours.”
Then I turned back to Jayden.
“But you should have told me.”
“I know.”
I couldn’t stand there another minute.
I went upstairs, closed my bedroom door, and sat on the floor in the dress I had been so excited to wear.
A knock came.
Mom entered when I told her she could.
She sat beside me without asking me to stop crying.
“Was everything we had bought with stolen money?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“I don’t want you to say it’s okay.”
“I won’t.”
She took my hand.
“We’re going to find out what happened.”
Downstairs, Dad’s voice rose again. Tiana answered him calmly.
Mom listened, then stood.
“I’m not leaving you here with this tonight. Pack a bag.”
I stared at her.
“Where are we going?”
“Tiana’s. If she’ll have us.”
She would.
As I changed clothes, I looked around my room. Dad had paid for the desk, the bed, the laptop, and the university sweatshirt hanging over my chair.
For the first time, none of it felt secure.
At the front door, Dad blocked us again.
This time, Mom was the one holding my hand.
“You’re not taking Maya anywhere.”
“She’s twenty,” Mom said. “You can ask her to stay. You cannot order her.”
He looked at me.
“If you walk out tonight, don’t expect me to keep paying for everything.”
I felt Mom’s fingers tighten.
“Then stop,” I said.
His expression changed.
I was frightened of what those words would cost. I walked through the doorway anyway.
Outside, Jayden stood beside his car.
I stopped several feet away.
“I need space,” I told him.
He nodded.
“Can I send you what Tiana gave us?”
May you like
“Yes. Send the truth.”
I left with Mom before he could say anything else.
