Chapter 2
Marcus silenced his phone.
Too quickly.
That was what caught my attention.
He did not even glance at the caller long enough to decide whether to answer.
His thumb hit the button immediately.
Then he shoved the phone into his pocket.
“Open the envelope,” I said.
Marcus looked at me.
“You don’t get to order me around.”
I almost laughed.
Ten minutes earlier, he had been screaming that he carried this family.
Now he was standing in my kitchen afraid to open a piece of paper.
Evelyn pulled out a chair.
“Nia, everyone is upset.”
“No.”
She blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Marcus is upset because he just learned I’m not financially dependent on him.”
I looked at her.
“And you’re upset because you just learned the woman you’ve insulted for years has been paying your bills.”
Her cheeks reddened.
“I never asked you to.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I asked my son.”
“And he asked me.”
Marcus stepped between us.
“Leave my mother out of this.”
I stared at him.
“You brought her into our marriage years ago.”
His face tightened.
I pointed at the envelope.
“Open it.”
His phone rang again.
This time the sound seemed louder.
Marcus pulled it out.
I caught only a glimpse of the screen.
One word.
Darren.
Marcus rejected the call.
I knew Darren.
He worked with Marcus at the auto dealership.
Or at least he used to.
I had not heard Marcus mention him in months.
“Why is Darren calling you?”
Marcus slipped the phone away.
“None of your business.”
My stomach tightened.
That answer had become common over the last year.
Who called?
None of your business.
Why was the joint account short?
None of your business.
Why did you come home at two in the morning?
None of your business.
I had accepted those words for far too long.
Now they sounded different.
They sounded like a warning.
I reached for the envelope myself.
Marcus grabbed it first.
“Fine.”
He ripped it open.
Evelyn leaned toward him.
I watched him remove three pages.
The first was a formal notice prepared by my attorney.
It explained that I was ending our marriage.
The second explained the property arrangement.
The third informed Marcus that I had withdrawn permission for Evelyn to reside in the house and required her to remove her belongings.
Marcus read the first page twice.
Then he tore it in half.
Evelyn cried out.
I did not move.
“There,” Marcus said.
Pieces of paper fell onto the floor.
“Problem solved.”
“No.”
I opened the folder and removed another copy.
“I printed six.”
His expression changed.
I had never seen him look at me that way before.
Not like a husband.
Like an enemy.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
Evelyn stood.
“This is what women do now?”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Destroy homes.”
That hurt.
Not because I believed her.
Because once, I would have.
I would have spent the entire night wondering whether protecting myself made me selfish.
Not anymore.
“Your son destroyed this home one insult at a time.”
Marcus slammed his palm on the table.
“I never hit you.”
The room went silent.
He seemed surprised by his own words.
So was I.
I stared at him.
“I didn’t say you did.”
Marcus looked away.
Evelyn quickly stepped closer.
“He means he’s never abused you. He’s a good husband.”
A strange calm settled over me.
“Do good husbands scream inches from their wives’ faces?”
Marcus said nothing.
“Do good husbands punch holes in bedroom doors?”
Evelyn opened her mouth.
“Do good husbands hide money?”
Marcus’s eyes snapped back to me.
“What money?”
There it was.
Not denial.
Alarm.
I had guessed correctly.
I slowly sat down.
Two weeks earlier, I had found a withdrawal from our small joint savings account.
Seven thousand dollars.
Marcus told me it had paid an old tax bill.
I believed him for about an hour.
Then I checked our tax account.
Nothing was owed.
When I confronted him, he said he had mixed up the accounts and promised to show me the paperwork later.
He never did.
“Where is the seven thousand dollars?”
Marcus folded his arms.
“I told you.”
“You lied.”
“Watch how you talk to me.”
“No.”
The word came easier now.
His phone rang a third time.
Darren again.
This time I moved faster.
Before Marcus could reject it, I reached across the table and grabbed the phone.
Marcus lunged.
“Nia!”
I stepped back and answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man’s frightened voice.
“Marcus?”
“It’s Nia.”
Another pause.
“Oh.”
Marcus reached for the phone.
I moved away.
“What do you want, Darren?”
“Nia, I really need to speak to Marcus.”
“About what?”
“Nia, give me the phone.”
Marcus sounded different now.
Desperate.
Darren exhaled.
“Did he tell you?”
My heart began pounding.
“Tell me what?”
Marcus grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
I looked down at his fingers.
Then at him.
“Let go.”
For one terrifying second, he did not.
Evelyn whispered, “Marcus.”
He released me.
I stepped back.
Darren was still talking.
“Nia?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
Those words chilled me.
“What happened?”
“There’s been an investigation at the dealership.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
My stomach dropped.
“What investigation?”
“Money is missing.”
I stared at my husband.
“How much?”
Darren hesitated.
“More than sixty thousand.”
The kitchen tilted around me.
I gripped the edge of the counter.
Marcus shook his head.
“He doesn’t know anything.”
Darren continued.
“They found transfers connected to Marcus.”
Evelyn made a choking sound.
I could barely breathe.
Marcus approached me.
“Nia, hang up.”
I backed away.
Darren lowered his voice.
“The owner knows. The police may be involved by tomorrow.”
I stared at Marcus.
My husband.
The man who had spent years calling me careless with money.
The man who had accused me of living off him.
“How much did you take?” I asked.
Marcus said nothing.
“How much?”
“It’s complicated.”
My chest tightened.
“Did you steal it?”
“I borrowed money.”
“From your employer?”
“I was going to put it back.”
Evelyn rushed toward him.
“You told me that investment money came from your bonus.”
Marcus snapped, “Mom, stop.”
Investment?
I looked between them.
“What investment?”
Neither answered.
I turned to Evelyn.
“What investment?”
Her eyes dropped.
I suddenly remembered the seven thousand dollars.
Then her constant requests for help.
Then Marcus’s late nights.
Pieces began connecting.
“Nia,” Darren said through the phone, “there’s more.”
Marcus moved toward me again.
I held up one hand.
He stopped.
“What else?”
Darren hesitated.
“The transfers weren’t going only to Marcus.”
My mouth went dry.
“Where were they going?”
Another long pause.
Then Darren gave me a name.
A name I recognized immediately.
Evelyn Carter.
Marcus’s mother.
I slowly turned toward her.
May you like
She had stopped crying.
Now she simply looked terrified.
