Chapter 2
My fiancé looked as though someone had punched him.
"What loan?"
I stared at him.
"Don't."
Marcus swallowed.
"Nia, I don't know what you're talking about."
I looked toward Vanessa.
She had stopped clutching her hair.
Her eyes were fixed on the envelope in my hand.
That told me everything.
Three days earlier, I had received an unexpected call from a woman named Rebecca Lawson.
She was an attorney who represented the credit union where my mother had banked for twenty years.
Rebecca told me someone had submitted a loan application using my mother's name.
The application requested one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
The collateral was the small house my mother had spent most of her life paying off.
I initially assumed there had been a mistake.
Then Rebecca emailed me a copy of the application.
The signature looked like Evelyn Carter's.
But it wasn't hers.
My mother always added a small loop beneath the final letter of her surname.
The signature on the application didn't have it.
Then I saw the contact information.
The emergency contact was Marcus Brooks.
And the requested disbursement account belonged to a company called Brooks Family Events.
Vanessa's company.
I had spent three days searching for an innocent explanation.
Standing in that ballroom, watching Marcus defend Vanessa after she humiliated my mother, I finally stopped searching.
"Tell everyone," I said.
Marcus glanced at the surrounding guests.
"Nia, this is private."
"You made my mother's humiliation public."
He stepped closer.
"Please."
I moved away.
"Then answer the question."
His father, Leonard Brooks, rose from the front table.
Leonard was a wealthy real estate developer whose name appeared on several buildings around Atlanta.
He was tall, silver-haired, and accustomed to being obeyed.
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
I turned toward him.
"Your son and daughter are connected to an application for a loan against my mother's house."
Leonard frowned.
"That's ridiculous."
"Then perhaps you should ask Vanessa why the funds were supposed to go to her company."
Vanessa's face reddened.
"You're lying!"
I removed a copy of the loan application from the envelope.
I held it up.
"Am I?"
Marcus reached toward the paper.
I pulled it away.
"Don't touch it."
The ballroom was silent.
Several guests had their phones out.
I hated that.
I hated that my mother's pain had become a spectacle.
But I couldn't pretend the documents didn't exist.
Leonard stepped forward.
"Nia, this is an inappropriate place to discuss financial matters."
I looked at him.
"Then why did nobody think this was an inappropriate place to cut my mother's hair?"
He stopped.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty on his face.
Evelyn gently touched my arm.
"Baby, let's go."
I turned toward her.
Her voice was fragile.
Her eyes were red.
One side of her hair hung unevenly.
And despite everything, she was still trying to protect me.
I put my arm around her.
"Yes, Mom."
Marcus blocked our path.
"You can't just walk out."
I stared at him.
"Watch me."
He lowered his voice.
"We've already spent so much on this wedding."
I almost laughed.
"That's what you're worried about?"
"Nia, hundreds of people came here."
"And hundreds of people watched your sister humiliate my mother."
He looked away.
I stepped closer.
"You had one opportunity to show me who mattered to you."
His expression tightened.
"You're being dramatic."
I shook my head.
"No. I'm finally paying attention."
Then I walked past him.
Tasha Monroe, my maid of honor and best friend since college, hurried toward us.
She had been standing near the entrance when the confrontation began.
"I have the car ready."
I nearly cried.
"Thank you."
She took my bouquet.
Then she looked at Vanessa.
Her expression hardened.
"Don't come near them."
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Tasha raised one hand.
"Not another word."
We left through a side entrance.
Behind us, I heard Marcus shouting my name.
I didn't turn around.
Outside, the afternoon sunlight was almost painfully bright.
My mother sat in the back seat of Tasha's car.
She stared at her reflection in the window.
Then she touched the uneven hair near her ear.
A sob escaped her.
I climbed beside her.
"Mom."
She shook her head.
"I'm sorry."
I stared at her.
"For what?"
"For ruining your wedding."
My heart shattered.
I took both her hands.
"You didn't ruin anything."
She began crying harder.
"Marcus will never forgive me."
I pulled her into my arms.
"Then he doesn't deserve a place in our lives."
She held me tightly.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, "Nia, why would someone borrow money against my house?"
I closed my eyes.
"That's what we're going to find out."
We drove to Tasha's townhouse.
Her husband, Andre, met us at the door.
He was a paramedic and one of the gentlest men I knew.
The moment he saw my mother, his expression changed.
"What happened?"
Tasha shook her head.
"Not now. Please get some water."
Andre nodded.
He returned with cold water and a clean towel.
My mother sat on the sofa.
I helped her remove the hairpins that Vanessa had disturbed.
Every time I touched the damaged section, guilt twisted inside me.
I had known Vanessa was cruel.
I had known Marcus excused her behavior.
I should have protected my mother sooner.
Tasha sat beside me.
"Stop blaming yourself."
I looked at her.
"How did you know?"
"Because I know your face."
My tears began falling.
"I was supposed to get married today."
She wrapped her arm around me.
"I know."
I looked down at my empty ring finger.
For two years, that ring had represented a future.
Now it represented a warning I had almost ignored.
My phone began vibrating.
Marcus.
Again.
And again.
Then Vanessa.
Then Leonard.
I ignored them.
Tasha took my phone gently.
"Let me help you preserve the messages."
I nodded.
I was too exhausted to think clearly.
Then an unfamiliar number appeared.
I almost declined it.
But the caller left a voicemail.
I played it.
A woman's voice spoke quietly.
"Ms. Carter, my name is Danielle Price. I used to work for Vanessa Brooks."
I sat upright.
The message continued.
"I heard what happened at the wedding. I think you need to know the loan application isn't the only document they prepared."
My stomach tightened.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
"They've been planning to take your mother's house for months."
I stared at Tasha.
"What?"
The recording continued.
"Vanessa told Marcus the house was the only thing standing between them and a two-million-dollar deal."
My hands began shaking.
Danielle took a breath.
"And Ms. Carter, there's something else."
I held the phone closer.
"Your fiancé wasn't planning to marry you for love."
The voicemail ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Tasha looked at me.
"Nia, we need to call that woman back."
I stared at the screen.
Marcus had betrayed me.
Vanessa had humiliated my mother.
May you like
But now I understood something terrifying.
My wedding might have been part of a plan to steal everything my mother owned.
