Chapter 3
"What did you just say?"
Dad was staring at Lily.
She stood beside the sofa, trembling.
Mom shook her head immediately.
"Marcus, she's confused."
Lily began crying.
"No, I'm not."
I couldn't move.
My mother had hidden money in my closet?
Why?
I looked at Dad.
Then at Mom.
Suddenly, the missing-money accusation made terrible sense.
She wasn't accusing me because something had disappeared.
She was preparing to make me look guilty.
Dad turned toward Lily.
"Sweetheart, tell me what you saw."
Lily swallowed.
"Last Thursday."
She looked toward the hallway.
"Mom went into Maya's room while Maya was at school."
My stomach tightened.
"I was home because of my dentist appointment," Lily continued.
Mom stepped forward.
"Lily, enough."
Dad raised his hand.
"Let her finish."
My sister looked at me.
"I saw Mom carrying a white envelope."
She wiped her cheeks.
"She opened Maya's closet and put it behind the shoe boxes."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Her face crumpled.
"Mom saw me."
The room became silent.
Lily continued.
"She said if I told anybody, she'd make sure I never danced again."
I felt sick.
Dad slowly looked toward Mom.
"Did you do that?"
Mom's eyes widened.
"Of course not!"
He stared at her.
"Then you won't mind if we check."
She hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
Dad turned toward me.
"Maya, are you comfortable with me looking in your closet with you?"
I nodded.
My hands were shaking.
We went upstairs together.
Lily followed.
Mom remained near the staircase.
I could feel her staring at us.
When we entered my bedroom, I suddenly felt exposed.
My room had always been my safe place.
Now I knew Mom had been entering it without permission.
Planning something.
Hiding something.
Dad opened my closet.
I pointed toward the shoe boxes.
"Those are mine."
He nodded.
"May I move them?"
I swallowed.
"Yes."
He lifted the first box.
Nothing.
The second.
Nothing.
Then he reached behind the third.
His hand stopped.
I held my breath.
Dad slowly pulled out a white envelope.
My knees weakened.
He opened it.
Inside was a thick stack of cash.
I stared.
"I've never seen that before."
Dad looked at me.
"I believe you."
Those words nearly broke me.
Not because they were complicated.
Because I'd needed to hear them for years.
Lily began crying.
"I told you."
Dad nodded.
"You did."
Then he turned toward the doorway.
Mom stood there.
Her face had gone pale.
"Denise."
She crossed her arms.
"What?"
"Explain this."
She looked at the envelope.
Then at me.
"Obviously, Maya hid it."
I shook my head.
"No!"
Dad's voice became cold.
"Lily watched you put it there."
Mom laughed nervously.
"You're going to believe a sixteen-year-old over your wife?"
Dad stared at her.
"I'm going to take both girls seriously."
Mom looked furious.
"This family has lost its mind."
Then she turned and walked away.
Dad didn't follow immediately.
Instead, he placed the envelope on my desk.
He photographed it and called our family attorney, Rebecca Shaw.
I sat on my bed.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Lily sat beside me.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, "I'm sorry."
I looked at her.
"For what?"
She began crying.
"For being scared."
My chest tightened.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Lily, you were trying to protect yourself."
She shook her head.
"But I should have told you."
I swallowed.
"Maybe. But Mom shouldn't have made you afraid."
She looked at me.
Then nodded slowly.
Dad returned after speaking with Rebecca.
His expression was serious.
"The money needs to stay exactly where it is until we document everything properly."
I nodded.
Then asked the question that had been growing inside me.
"Dad, why would Mom do this?"
He sat beside us.
"I don't know yet."
I stared at him.
"But we're going to find out."
That evening, Rebecca came to the house.
She reviewed the situation and advised Dad to preserve the evidence.
She also recommended that we speak with a qualified family counselor and consider appropriate protective arrangements.
Dad agreed.
Mom refused to participate.
She stayed in the master bedroom, calling relatives and telling them I had turned Dad against her.
I heard her through the hallway.
"Marcus has completely lost control of those girls."
My stomach twisted.
She wasn't worried about me.
She wasn't worried about Lily.
She was worried about losing control of the story.
Later, Dad asked to speak with me privately.
We sat in his study.
He looked exhausted.
"Maya, I need to apologize."
I stared at him.
"For what?"
He swallowed.
"For believing things about you without asking enough questions."
My eyes filled.
He continued.
"When Denise said you were becoming difficult, I assumed it was normal teenage behavior."
I looked down.
"I wasn't trying to be difficult."
"I know that now."
My throat tightened.
"She always told you I was lying."
Dad closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"And you believed her."
His face crumpled.
"Too often."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I whispered, "I stopped telling you things because I thought you didn't care."
Dad began crying.
He covered his face.
I had never seen him look so defeated.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
I wanted to comfort him.
But something inside me stopped.
For once, I needed him to understand my pain without making me responsible for his.
I sat quietly.
He lowered his hands.
Then nodded.
"You don't have to make me feel better."
My eyes filled.
"I just need you to believe me."
He moved closer.
"I do."
I swallowed.
"And I need you to protect Lily too."
"I will."
That night, I tried to sleep.
But every noise made me jump.
The hallway floorboards creaked.
A door closed downstairs.
Someone walked past my room.
I pulled my blanket tighter.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent me a message.
I opened it.
My stomach dropped.
It was a photograph.
Me.
Standing inside my bedroom.
Taken from an angle near my closet.
Below it were six words.
"Tell your father and you'll regret it."
I stared at the screen.
Then looked toward my closet.
May you like
Someone had been watching me.
And suddenly, I was more frightened than I'd ever been.
