Chapter 5
I stared at the phone.
"What do you mean the money was supposed to come back?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
I could hear traffic behind him.
A car horn.
Someone shouting.
Then he whispered, "Mom said it was temporary."
I felt sick.
"Temporary?"
"She needed money for a business investment."
I closed my eyes.
"And she used charity donations?"
"Nia, please listen."
"No. You listen."
My voice shook.
"People donated money to help sick babies."
"I know."
"Families trusted that charity."
"I know!"
His sudden shout startled me.
Ava stirred against my chest.
I lowered my voice.
"Then why did you help her?"
Ethan began crying.
For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him.
Then I remembered the slap.
The documents.
The way he had asked what I did to provoke his mother.
My sympathy disappeared.
"Tell me the truth."
He took a breath.
"Mom invested some of the money in a property development."
My stomach tightened.
"What property?"
"A commercial building outside Atlanta."
"How much money?"
He hesitated.
"Ethan."
"About four hundred thousand."
I stopped breathing.
Four hundred thousand dollars.
Money donated to help vulnerable families.
I looked at Dad.
He immediately noticed my expression.
I held up four fingers.
Then I mouthed the word hundred.
His jaw tightened.
"Was the investment successful?" I asked.
Ethan began crying harder.
"No."
I closed my eyes.
"How much was lost?"
"Most of it."
I felt physically sick.
"And you knew?"
"Not at first."
"But you knew before tonight?"
He didn't answer.
I swallowed.
"Did you help her hide it?"
Silence.
Then he whispered, "Yes."
My heart broke.
Not all at once.
Slowly.
Like glass cracking under pressure.
I looked at my daughter.
The child we had created together.
The little girl who would someday ask me what her father was like.
I wondered how I would explain that he had chosen his mother's reputation over the truth.
"Ethan," I whispered, "I need you to stop lying."
He sobbed.
"I'm sorry."
"Then tell investigators everything."
His breathing changed.
"Mom says your father is going to ruin us."
I looked toward Dad.
"No, Ethan. Your choices created this."
He went silent.
I continued.
"I'm not protecting you from what you've done."
He began crying again.
"Nia, please don't leave me."
My eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know how to stay married to someone who watched his mother hurt me and blamed me for it."
He didn't answer.
I ended the call.
Dad approached immediately.
"What did he say?"
I told him.
Every word.
By the time I finished, his expression had become frighteningly calm.
He looked toward Valerie.
"We need to preserve this information and notify the appropriate investigators."
She nodded.
"Agreed."
I sat down.
My entire body felt exhausted.
Dad placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Sweetheart, you don't have to carry this."
I looked up.
"But I need to do something."
"You already have."
I shook my head.
"No. Those families..."
My throat closed.
I thought about the spreadsheet.
The names.
The medical conditions.
The promises Diane had made.
Somewhere, parents were waiting for assistance that might never arrive.
I couldn't ignore that.
Dad sat beside me.
"What do you want to do?"
I took a breath.
"I want to help make sure they receive the support they were promised."
He studied me.
Then he nodded.
"We'll find a responsible way."
Over the following days, the charity's records underwent an independent review.
Valerie coordinated with investigators and legal counsel.
Dad temporarily suspended the hotel's future business arrangements with Diane's organization pending the outcome.
The hotel preserved relevant records.
Diane's event accounts were examined.
And I remained with Ava in a private residence my father maintained near the hospital where I used to work.
It was quiet.
Comfortable.
Safe.
But every night, I struggled to sleep.
I replayed the slap.
Ethan's silence.
Diane's hatred.
The possibility that vulnerable families had been cheated.
Then I would look at Ava sleeping beside me and remind myself why I couldn't return to the life I'd known.
Three days later, Diane called.
I almost ignored it.
Then I decided to answer.
"Nia."
Her voice sounded different.
Less arrogant.
More careful.
"Hello, Diane."
"I think we've both had time to calm down."
I stared at the wall.
"Calm down?"
She sighed.
"There's no reason to continue this unpleasantness."
I couldn't believe her.
"You hit me."
She paused.
"I lost my temper."
"While I was holding my newborn."
"I never touched the baby."
I closed my eyes.
"That doesn't make what you did acceptable."
She sounded irritated.
"Nia, I'm trying to move forward."
"So am I."
"Then withdraw the complaint."
My stomach tightened.
There it was.
The real reason for the call.
"Diane, I'm not withdrawing anything simply because you ask."
Her voice hardened.
"Do you understand what this could do to my reputation?"
I stared at the phone.
"Do you understand what you did to me?"
She ignored the question.
"People are saying terrible things."
I felt anger rising.
"Then perhaps you should have considered that before slapping me."
She inhaled sharply.
"You ungrateful little girl."
My chest tightened.
For a moment, the old fear returned.
The fear of upsetting her.
The fear of creating conflict.
The fear that Ethan would blame me.
Then I looked at Ava.
And the fear disappeared.
"Diane, I won't allow you to speak to me that way again."
Silence.
I continued.
"If you want to communicate with me, do it through my attorney."
She laughed bitterly.
"You think your father's money makes you untouchable?"
I took a slow breath.
"No. I think being a human being makes me deserving of respect."
Then I ended the call.
My hands shook.
But I felt something I hadn't felt in years.
Pride.
I had finally defended myself.
Without shouting.
Without apologizing.
Without asking anyone's permission.
That evening, Ethan arrived at the residence.
Dad's security team notified me before allowing him near the entrance.
I agreed to speak with him in the sitting room while a family friend remained nearby.
Ethan looked exhausted.
His eyes were red.
His suit was wrinkled.
When he saw Ava, he began crying.
"She's gotten bigger."
I felt my chest tighten.
"She's growing every day."
He approached slowly.
"Can I hold her?"
I hesitated.
Then I nodded.
I carefully transferred Ava into his arms while remaining beside him.
He held her gently.
For a moment, I saw the man I'd once loved.
The man who cried when we heard Ava's heartbeat for the first time.
The man who painted her nursery.
The man who promised we would always protect her.
Then he looked at me.
"Nia, I'm sorry."
I swallowed.
"I know."
"Mom manipulated me."
I stared at him.
"She may have pressured you. But you made your own choices."
He nodded through tears.
"You're right."
I felt surprised.
For once, he wasn't making excuses.
He continued.
"I've spoken with an attorney. I'm going to cooperate with the investigation."
I nodded.
"That's the right thing."
He looked down at Ava.
"I don't want to lose my daughter."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Then become someone she can trust."
He began sobbing.
I reached for Ava.
He returned her carefully.
For a moment, we stood facing each other.
Then Ethan whispered something that made my blood run cold.
"Nia, there's one thing Mom doesn't know I kept."
I frowned.
"What?"
He reached into his jacket.
Then he pulled out a small flash drive.
"I copied the charity's original records before she changed them."
My heart began pounding.
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because I was afraid she'd make me take the blame."
May you like
I stared at the flash drive.
And suddenly, I realized the evidence that could expose Diane's entire operation had been sitting in my husband's pocket all along.
