Chapter 4
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw coins rolling across the kitchen floor.
Then Maya’s handwriting.
I don’t need new things. I just need both of you.
At two in the morning, I found Marcus sitting at the kitchen table.
The folder was open in front of him.
He looked exhausted.
I made coffee without asking if he wanted any.
Then I sat across from him.
“I’m still angry.”
“I know.”
“I’m not saying that to start a fight.”
“I know.”
“I need you to understand that.”
Marcus nodded.
“I do.”
I pushed his mug toward him.
“You hid something huge from me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think our situation was worse because we had failed.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
“And I shoved you.”
Marcus met my eyes.
“That was wrong too.”
“I know.”
Neither of us tried to excuse ourselves.
That mattered.
“I don’t want Maya growing up thinking love looks like what she saw today,” I said.
Marcus swallowed.
“Neither do I.”
“We need help.”
“With money?”
“With everything.”
He nodded slowly.
“Counseling?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
I hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly.
That almost made me cry.
At nine the next morning, Darius met us outside a small law office downtown.
The attorney’s name was Renee Collins.
She listened without interrupting while Marcus explained the accident, the power of attorney, and the settlement.
Then she reviewed the documents.
Her expression became serious.
“Did you authorize your mother to transfer the settlement proceeds to herself?”
“No.”
“Did you sign any document gifting her that money?”
“No.”
“Did you verbally agree that she could use it?”
“No.”
Renee nodded.
“Then we may be dealing with conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and potentially fraud.”
Marcus shifted.
“Could she go to jail?”
Renee didn’t dramatize it.
“That depends on the evidence and whether law enforcement becomes involved.”
I watched Marcus carefully.
He looked sick.
No matter what Lorraine had done, she was still his mother.
Renee continued.
“My first concern is preserving evidence.”
She looked at Darius.
“You said these copies came from her office?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know if originals still exist?”
“I think so.”
“Do not go back and remove anything.”
Darius nodded.
“Understood.”
Renee turned to Marcus.
“I also recommend revoking any remaining authority your mother has immediately.”
Marcus signed the papers before we left.
For the first time in months, I felt like we had taken one real step forward.
Then my phone rang.
Lorraine.
I stared at the screen.
Marcus saw the name.
“Don’t answer.”
I let it ring.
Thirty seconds later, his phone rang.
Then Darius’s.
We looked at one another.
“How does she know?” I asked.
Darius frowned.
“I didn’t tell her.”
Marcus’s phone stopped.
Then a text arrived.
He read it.
His face changed.
“What?”
He handed me the phone.
I read the message.
I KNOW YOU WENT TO A LAWYER. AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE FOR YOU, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?
My skin prickled.
“How?”
Darius looked toward the parking lot.
“Maybe she followed us.”
Marcus shook his head.
“She doesn’t know where we are.”
Renee stepped outside after noticing us still standing near the entrance.
“What happened?”
I showed her the message.
She frowned.
“Do not respond emotionally.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be the family specialty.”
Renee handed the phone back.
“Save everything.”
On the drive home, I kept checking the mirrors.
Nobody followed us.
Still, I felt watched.
When we reached the house, Maya was with my mother after school.
That gave Marcus and me an hour alone.
We hadn’t even finished changing when someone pounded on the front door.
Marcus froze.
Another knock.
Then Lorraine’s voice.
“Marcus!”
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
“Don’t open it,” I whispered.
“Nia, she’ll keep going.”
“Let her.”
Lorraine knocked again.
“I know you’re home!”
Marcus walked toward the door.
I followed.
He opened it but kept the chain latched.
His mother stood outside in a cream suit, holding her purse tightly.
She looked less like a woman caught stealing and more like someone offended by bad service.
“What did you do?” she demanded.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“What did I do?”
“I got a call from the bank.”
“Good.”
Lorraine’s eyes flashed.
“You froze me out.”
“I revoked the power of attorney.”
“That was unnecessary.”
“You took seventeen thousand dollars.”
Her gaze shifted toward me.
I saw it immediately.
Blame.
“Nia put you up to this.”
“No.”
“She has always hated me.”
I almost responded.
Marcus lifted his hand.
“No.”
Lorraine blinked.
“This is between me and you.”
“Then open the door.”
“No.”
Her face hardened.
“I am your mother.”
“And you took money from my wife and daughter.”
“I took nothing from Maya.”
I stepped closer.
“She was selling books because we couldn’t pay bills.”
Lorraine looked at me.
“That was your responsibility.”
The cruelty of it left me speechless.
Marcus went still.
“You knew?”
Lorraine frowned.
“Knew what?”
“That we were behind.”
“Of course I knew.”
“And you still kept the money.”
Her mouth tightened.
“I told you I needed it.”
“For Calvin?”
She froze.
That was all the confirmation we needed.
Marcus’s voice dropped.
“You bought him a house.”
“I helped someone I love.”
“With our money.”
“I was going to repay you.”
“When?”
“When the property increased in value.”
Marcus laughed once.
“You gambled my family’s money on your boyfriend’s house.”
“Do not speak to me like I am some criminal.”
“You forged my authorization.”
Her eyes widened.
I watched her realize we knew more than she expected.
“I did no such thing.”
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“We have the transfer forms.”
For the first time, Lorraine looked afraid.
Then she recovered.
“You have no idea what your father left me with.”
“Dad has been dead six years.”
“You think debts disappear because someone dies?”
“No. But that house has nothing to do with Dad.”
Lorraine’s face twisted.
She pointed at me through the narrow opening.
“This woman has changed you.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
I expected him to defend me.
Instead, he said something better.
“No, Mom.”
He looked directly at her.
“My daughter changed me.”
Lorraine stopped.
“She thinks it’s her job to save our family.”
Marcus’s voice shook.
“That happened while you were sitting on money that belonged to us.”
“I didn’t know—”
“You didn’t ask.”
Silence.
Then Lorraine’s expression softened suddenly.
Too suddenly.
“Marcus.”
He stiffened.
She reached through the gap.
“My baby.”
He stepped back.
“I made a mistake.”
“A seventeen-thousand-dollar mistake?”
“I can fix it.”
“How?”
“I can get some of it back.”
“How much?”
Lorraine hesitated.
Marcus saw it.
“How much?”
“Three thousand.”
I felt sick.
“That’s all?” I asked.
She glared at me.
Marcus’s voice turned cold.
“Leave.”
Lorraine stared at him.
“You would choose her over your own mother?”
Marcus didn’t hesitate.
“I choose my family.”
Her face changed.
“You’ll regret this.”
Then she walked away.
Marcus shut the door.
We stood silently.
A car engine started outside.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
You should ask your husband what else his mother has been hiding.
Underneath was a photograph.
Marcus standing outside Calvin Reed’s house.
Taken three weeks earlier.
May you like
I turned the screen toward him.
His face drained of color.
