Chapter 2
My mother lunged for the USB drive.
Arthur moved his hand away just before her fingers reached it.
"Diane, sit down."
"You're not playing that recording!"
Her voice echoed through the ballroom.
Several guests stood.
My aunt Vanessa hurried toward us.
"Diane, what's happening?"
"Arthur is trying to destroy this family!"
I stared at my mother.
She looked nothing like the woman who had raised me.
Her perfect makeup was streaked with sweat.
Her hands shook.
And she kept looking toward the exit.
Arthur turned to me.
"Malik, your father gave me strict instructions. The recording belongs to you."
I swallowed.
"Then I want to hear it."
My mother grabbed my jacket.
"Baby, please."
I pulled away.
"Whatever Dad said, I deserve to know."
Nia touched my arm.
"Malik, you don't have to do this in front of everyone."
I looked around.
People were watching us like we were strangers.
Some looked curious.
Others looked uncomfortable.
I suddenly understood how much my mother's accusations had hurt Nia.
She had invited these people to celebrate me.
Then she'd publicly attacked the person I loved.
I faced the guests.
"I'm sorry, everyone. The celebration is over."
Whispers filled the room.
My mother stared at me.
"You can't dismiss my guests!"
"They're my guests too."
I turned to the event coordinator.
"Please help everyone leave."
Within twenty minutes, the ballroom was nearly empty.
Only Arthur, Nia, my mother, Aunt Vanessa, and my father's younger brother, Uncle James, remained.
I asked the hotel staff to connect Arthur's laptop to the ballroom screen.
My mother sat motionless.
Arthur inserted the USB drive.
A video file appeared.
The date was six months earlier.
Three days before my father's death.
Arthur pressed play.
My father appeared on the screen.
He was sitting in his office.
His face looked tired.
His normally neat tie hung loose.
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
"Dad," I whispered.
Nia squeezed my hand.
On the recording, my father leaned toward the camera.
"Malik, if you're watching this, I'm sorry."
Tears immediately filled my eyes.
"I wanted to tell you these things myself."
He paused.
"But I have reason to believe someone close to me is hiding important financial records."
My mother covered her mouth.
Dad continued.
"Twenty-one years ago, I started Carter Development with a woman named Evelyn Williams."
Nia suddenly stiffened.
"My mother?"
I turned toward her.
"What?"
Her eyes widened.
"Evelyn Williams was my mother."
My father's voice continued.
"Evelyn wasn't just an employee. She was my first business partner."
I stared at the screen.
I'd never heard that name before.
Dad took a slow breath.
"She provided the first investment that allowed me to purchase our original property."
My heart pounded.
"Without Evelyn, there would be no Carter Development."
Nia started crying.
Her mother had died when she was seven.
She'd been raised by her grandmother.
She'd spent years believing her mother had worked as an administrative assistant.
And now my father was saying she had helped build his company.
On the screen, Dad lowered his eyes.
"When Evelyn died, her ownership interest should have passed into a trust for her daughter."
I looked at Nia.
She looked stunned.
"But that trust was never properly funded."
My mother whispered, "Richard..."
Dad continued.
"For years, I believed everything had been handled."
He looked directly into the camera.
"Recently, I discovered documents suggesting the records were altered."
Arthur paused the video.
My mother jumped to her feet.
"That's enough!"
I stared at her.
"No."
She looked toward Uncle James.
"Tell him this is ridiculous!"
James folded his arms.
"Let the boy hear his father."
My mother looked betrayed.
Arthur pressed play again.
Dad's voice returned.
"I have instructed Arthur Bennett to investigate the missing ownership records and protect Evelyn's daughter's rightful interest."
He paused.
"I have also changed my will to ensure Malik cannot be pressured into surrendering what belongs to him."
My chest tightened.
Why would Dad think I needed protection?
Then he said something that made the room go silent.
"Diane, if you're watching this, I know about the transfer from the Williams account."
My mother stumbled backward.
Aunt Vanessa caught her.
Dad continued.
"I know you authorized payments to your brother's company."
I looked toward my mother.
"My uncle Robert?"
Her lips trembled.
Robert was my mother's older brother.
He had always driven expensive cars.
He claimed to own several successful businesses.
Dad's voice became harder.
"I also know that the documents bearing Evelyn's signature were created after her death."
Nia gasped.
I felt physically sick.
Someone had forged her dead mother's signature.
Dad looked exhausted.
"I don't know how much Diane knew when the scheme began. But I know she concealed information after I confronted her."
He leaned closer.
"Malik, I need you to understand something."
I stared at his face.
"Money can be replaced. Trust cannot."
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
"If your mother tells you that protecting the family means hiding the truth, don't believe her."
The recording ended.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I could hear Nia crying beside me.
I turned toward my mother.
"Is it true?"
She shook her head.
"Your father didn't understand."
"Did you take money from Nia's trust?"
"It wasn't like that!"
I stepped closer.
"Then explain it!"
Her voice broke.
"Robert needed help!"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Help?"
"He was going to repay everything!"
Nia suddenly stood.
"How much?"
My mother looked at her.
Nia's voice trembled.
"How much money did you take from my mother's account?"
Diane lowered her head.
Arthur answered quietly.
"The transactions we've identified total approximately two million dollars."
Nia covered her mouth.
I felt rage rise inside me.
Two million dollars.
While Nia had struggled to pay for college.
While her grandmother worked extra shifts at a hospital.
While my family lived in a mansion.
My mother began crying.
"I never meant for this to happen."
I stared at her.
"You watched Nia struggle."
She looked up.
"You don't understand."
"You called her a gold digger!"
My voice cracked.
"And her mother helped build everything we own!"
Diane reached for me.
I stepped away.
For the first time, I couldn't bear her touch.
Arthur closed his laptop.
"There's one more issue."
I looked at him.
He hesitated.
"The missing money may not be the only reason Richard changed his estate documents."
My heart tightened.
"What do you mean?"
Arthur opened another folder.
"Your father requested a private medical review shortly before his death."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
Arthur looked toward my mother.
"Because he suspected someone had been interfering with his medication."
My blood turned cold.
I slowly turned toward Diane.
May you like
She was staring at the floor.
And suddenly, my father's death no longer felt like something I understood.
