Chapter 4
I took the second envelope from Arthur.
Marcus didn't try to stop me.
That frightened me more than anything else.
The documents inside were copies of legal filings, old company records, and a letter bearing the signature of a judge.
I scanned the first page.
It accused Marcus of fraud, theft, and deliberately concealing company funds.
The final page contained a handwritten statement claiming that Marcus had accepted money in exchange for keeping Arthur's involvement secret.
I looked at him.
“Is this your signature?”
Marcus studied the page.
“Yes.”
A murmur spread through the auditorium.
I felt my face burn.
“Then what am I supposed to believe?”
“That I signed a statement,” he replied. “Not that the statement was true.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“He admitted his involvement.”
“I admitted that I received money,” Marcus said. “I never admitted stealing it.”
“Convenient distinction.”
Marcus ignored him.
“Malik, I received money from the company to cover operating expenses. Arthur was the one who ordered the transfers. When the business came under investigation, he blamed me.”
Arthur laughed.
“You expect everyone to believe that?”
“I have the original records.”
“Then why didn't you use them?”
Marcus's expression hardened.
“Because you threatened Nia.”
My mother suddenly went pale.
I turned toward her.
“What?”
Arthur's face changed.
“Marcus, don't.”
“You told me that if I exposed the company records, you'd make sure Nia lost custody of Malik. You had lawyers ready to challenge her stability, her finances, everything.”
My mother began crying.
“I was twenty years old,” she whispered. “I had a newborn baby. Arthur told me he could take Malik away from me.”
I felt sick.
Arthur raised his hands.
“I never wanted to take the child. I wanted to protect my interests.”
“By threatening his mother?” Marcus demanded.
“By preventing a scandal that would destroy all of us!”
I stared at Arthur.
“You didn't want to protect us. You wanted to protect yourself.”
For the first time, he looked genuinely offended.
“I am your biological father.”
“And you think that makes everything acceptable?”
He fell silent.
I looked at Marcus again.
“Why did you agree to raise me?”
He took a long breath.
“Because your mother was terrified. Because Arthur had money, lawyers, and influence. Because I knew what it felt like to grow up without someone who would stand between you and the world.”
His voice broke.
“I couldn't let that happen to you.”
My anger didn't disappear, but it changed shape.
I remembered being nine years old, sitting outside the emergency room after my mother suffered a severe asthma attack. Marcus had stayed awake all night, holding my hand and promising she would be okay.
I remembered him selling his favorite car to pay for my school trip.
I remembered the night he sat beside me after my first heartbreak and told me that losing someone didn't mean I had lost my worth.
Those memories were real.
But so were the secrets.
“You could have told me,” I whispered.
“I wanted to.”
“When?”
“When you were old enough to understand.”
“I'm eighteen now!”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
My mother stepped closer.
“We were trying to protect you.”
I looked at her through tears.
“You both decided I couldn't handle the truth. You made that decision for me every day.”
She reached for me, then stopped when I moved away.
Arthur watched us with an expression that looked almost satisfied.
That made my stomach turn.
He wanted me angry at Marcus.
He wanted the family that had survived his absence to collapse under the weight of his return.
I turned toward him.
“You said you brought proof. But all you've shown me are accusations.”
Arthur's smile faded.
I lifted the company documents.
“Where are the original records?”
He hesitated.
“Those records are no longer relevant.”
“Then why are you here?”
His eyes narrowed.
“To reclaim what belongs to me.”
“What belongs to you?”
He glanced toward Marcus.
“The company.”
I stared at him.
“You haven't owned that company for eighteen years.”
Arthur's expression froze.
Marcus looked up sharply.
My mother stopped crying.
I unfolded the final document from the first envelope.
It was an ownership agreement.
The original transfer had been signed the week Arthur disappeared.
At the bottom was a name I recognized.
Marcus.
But beside his signature was another name.
Nia.
My mother's signature.
And beneath both names was a clause that had been carefully underlined.
Arthur had transferred his controlling interest in the company to a trust established for my future.
I looked up.
“Why would you give away your company?”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“Because I had no choice.”
May you like
Then he turned toward Marcus.
“And because he promised he would never use it against me.”
