Chapter 6
I showed Nia the photograph.
Her face went completely blank.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Caught.
"What box?"
I asked.
She looked around the evidence room.
"Not here."
I laughed once.
"That's becoming everyone's favorite sentence."
"Michael."
"What box?"
She lowered her voice.
"A safe-deposit box."
My heart sank.
"At the bank?"
"Yes."
"Three days ago?"
She nodded.
"What did you put in it?"
Nia started crying again.
Arthur stepped away.
My mother watched silently.
Detective Hollis waited.
Nia looked at him.
"Do I need an attorney?"
That question hit harder than anything.
"Do you?"
I asked.
She flinched.
"I'm trying to do the right thing."
"Start by telling the truth."
She wiped her face.
"My father gave me documents."
"What documents?"
"He said they were copies of the trust amendment."
Arthur turned.
"Which amendment?"
"The one naming him alternate trustee."
Arthur's face hardened.
"Why did he give them to you?"
"Because he was afraid Evelyn would challenge them."
Mom stared.
"So you hid evidence?"
Nia shook her head quickly.
"I didn't know they were fraudulent."
"But you knew he didn't want anyone to find them."
"Yes."
I stepped back.
My wife had become a stranger one confession at a time.
"Why the safe-deposit box?"
"He told me to keep them until after the wedding."
"Then what?"
"Destroy them."
Arthur cursed under his breath.
Detective Hollis asked, "Did you?"
"No."
"When your father told you to destroy legal documents, did you question why?"
"Of course."
"What did he say?"
"That Richard wanted the original arrangement protected."
I stared at her.
"And that made sense to you?"
"No."
Her voice broke.
"That's why I didn't destroy them."
She looked at me.
"I put them somewhere Dad couldn't reach."
A small piece of my anger shifted.
Not disappeared.
Shifted.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I knew how it looked."
"It looks worse now."
"I know."
"Why was Tasha with you?"
"She drove me."
"Does she know what's inside?"
"She knew Dad gave me paperwork."
Detective Hollis asked for the bank information.
Nia gave it immediately.
That mattered.
Within two hours, a warrant secured the box.
Inside were six folders.
The forged trust amendment.
Emails between Charles and Richard.
Property schedules.
Copies of financial transfers.
And a handwritten note from my father.
Arthur read it.
Then looked at Mom.
"This proves Richard knew Charles changed the trust."
My mother's face hardened.
"So Richard allowed it."
"At first."
"What does that mean?"
Arthur handed her the note.
Richard had written:
Charles insists alternate control is necessary to keep Evelyn from reversing everything. I agreed years ago because I feared exposure. I no longer believe Charles intends to protect Michael.
My father eventually understood.
Too late.
But he understood.
Another email showed Charles pushing Richard to arrange a marriage between his family and mine.
Not explicitly.
Not like some medieval contract.
But close enough.
Nia and I had first met at a fundraiser hosted by our fathers.
I remembered Charles deliberately seating us beside each other.
At the time, it felt charming.
Now it felt engineered.
I looked at Nia.
"Did your father push you toward me?"
She cried quietly.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"But I fell in love with you on my own."
"How do I know?"
She had no answer.
That was the cruelty of manipulation.
Once enough lies existed, even true feelings became questionable.
My mother touched my arm.
"Michael."
I looked at her.
"Go home."
"What?"
"You haven't slept."
"Neither have you."
"I'm not the one whose marriage is collapsing."
Nia closed her eyes.
Mom looked toward her.
Then back to me.
"You don't have to decide today."
I knew she was right.
So I went home.
Alone.
Nia stayed at a hotel.
Her choice.
I didn't stop her.
The house looked exactly as we had left it before the wedding.
Two champagne glasses near the kitchen sink.
A congratulations card from our neighbors.
Her overnight bag by the stairs.
A framed engagement photo on the console table.
I stared at it for a long time.
We looked happy.
Maybe we were.
That was what hurt.
I slept three hours.
When I woke, forty-seven messages waited.
Reporters had learned Charles was arrested during his daughter's wedding.
Social media was exploding.
Wedding guests had posted videos.
My mother entering.
Arthur raising the envelope.
Police.
Everything.
I turned my phone off.
At noon, someone knocked.
Arthur.
He carried coffee.
"You look terrible."
"Thanks."
He sat at my kitchen table.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, "Did David know Richard?"
"Very well."
"Were they friends?"
"Brothers in everything but blood."
"Then how did Richard become that man?"
Arthur sighed.
"Slowly."
I stared into my coffee.
"That's what scares me."
"What?"
"Nobody wakes up and decides to become someone who manipulates everyone."
"No."
"It happens through little choices."
Arthur nodded.
"Usually choices they can justify."
I thought about Nia.
One lie.
Then another.
Each explained as protection.
I understood why she had done some of it.
That didn't make it safe.
Arthur placed a folder on the table.
"There's something else."
I laughed tiredly.
"Of course."
"It's about Tasha."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Police found her."
"Where?"
"At Charles's townhouse."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"She's been staying there."
"Nia's cousin?"
"Apparently she's also been working for him."
My chest tightened.
"Doing what?"
"Personal financial tasks."
Arthur opened the folder.
"Tasha received seventy-five thousand dollars from Brooks Capital last month."
"For what?"
"We don't know."
"Does Nia?"
Arthur looked at me.
"That's what you need to ask."
I turned my phone back on.
I called Nia.
She answered immediately.
"Michael."
"Did you know Tasha worked for your father?"
A pause.
"Sometimes."
"Did you know he paid her seventy-five thousand dollars?"
Silence.
"Nia."
"No."
"Did she ever talk about my mother?"
"She hated her."
I froze.
"Why?"
"Because my father said Evelyn was trying to keep money away from me."
"Did you believe that?"
"At first."
My jaw tightened.
"What exactly did Tasha do during the wedding planning?"
Nia took a breath.
"She handled guest confirmations."
"Schedules?"
"Yes."
"Security access?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
My stomach dropped.
"She knew Mom's arrival time."
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
Arthur watched me.
"Anything else?"
I asked.
Nia whispered, "There is one thing."
"What?"
"Two weeks ago, Tasha asked if your mother always traveled alone."
My eyes opened.
"And you didn't think that was strange?"
"I thought she was asking about transportation."
I gripped the phone.
"Nia."
"I know."
"You keep knowing after the damage is done."
She started crying.
"I'm sorry."
I wanted to hang up.
Instead, I asked the question I had been avoiding.
"Did you know your father planned to frighten my mother into staying away?"
"No."
"Did you suspect?"
Silence.
That silence answered.
"Did you suspect?"
I repeated.
Her voice was barely audible.
"Maybe."
My heart cracked.
Not broke.
Cracked.
Because some part of me still loved her.
"If you suspected, why didn't you stop him?"
She sobbed.
"Because I was afraid if I challenged him, he'd tell you everything and you'd leave me."
I closed my eyes.
"You were so afraid I'd leave that you became someone I couldn't stay with."
She cried harder.
I almost comforted her.
Habit.
Love.
Whatever remained.
But I didn't.
"I need time."
"I understand."
I ended the call.
Arthur said nothing.
Then my doorbell rang again.
Detective Hollis stood outside.
His expression told me this wasn't a social visit.
"We arrested Tasha."
"For the kidnapping?"
"Conspiracy."
My stomach tightened.
"Did she confess?"
"Partially."
"To what?"
"Providing Charles with Evelyn's schedule."
I closed my eyes.
"And?"
"She claims she didn't know the men would force Evelyn into a vehicle."
Another person claiming they expected intimidation without consequences.
"What else?"
Hollis looked uncomfortable.
"Tasha says Charles didn't plan this because of the trust alone."
I stared at him.
"What else was there?"
"Apparently Charles believed Evelyn had evidence connecting him to Richard's death."
My entire body went cold.
"My father's cancer killed him."
Hollis didn't answer.
"He had pancreatic cancer."
"Yes."
"Then what are you saying?"
"I'm saying Tasha claims Charles was afraid Evelyn possessed evidence related to medication Richard received during his final months."
Arthur stood.
"What medication?"
Hollis looked between us.
"That's what we're investigating."
I couldn't breathe.
My wedding had already revealed that my father wasn't my biological father.
Now someone was suggesting his death might not have been entirely natural.
Hollis continued.
"We need to speak with Evelyn immediately."
I grabbed my keys.
Arthur stopped me.
"Michael."
"What?"
His face was pale.
"Your father called me three days before he died."
I stared.
"You never told me."
"He was confused. Weak."
"What did he say?"
Arthur swallowed.
"He said, 'Charles is rushing me.'"
My heart stopped.
"What did you think he meant?"
"Business."
Arthur looked sick.
"I thought he meant business."
My phone rang.
Mom.
I answered immediately.
"Mom?"
Her voice trembled.
"Michael, someone was inside my house."
My chest tightened.
"Are you there now?"
"Yes."
"Get out."
"Police are here."
"What did they take?"
She was silent.
"Mom?"
"The medicine box."
I stopped breathing.
"What medicine box?"
"The one I kept after Richard died."
Every person in my kitchen froze.
Mom whispered.
"I never knew why I kept it."
May you like
Then her voice broke.
"But someone just risked breaking into my house to steal it."
