Chapter 6
I turned toward Marcus so quickly that my graduation cap slipped sideways.
“What does he mean?”
Marcus looked at Arthur with open disgust.
“He's trying to frighten you.”
“Then explain it.”
My stepfather's shoulders dropped.
For the first time that afternoon, he looked less like the strong man I had always known and more like someone exhausted from carrying a burden alone.
“Arthur threatened my family,” he said. “Not just your mother. My younger sister, Renee, worked at the company. She discovered the transfers that proved where the money was going.”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“Your sister signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“She signed because you threatened to have her charged with theft.”
I stared at him.
“Did she know about all this?”
“Yes,” Marcus answered. “She kept copies of the records before she left the company.”
Arthur's face lost color.
I noticed it immediately.
“What records?”
Marcus looked at me.
“The originals.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Those documents were stolen.”
“Renee preserved them,” Marcus replied. “She gave them to an attorney before leaving the state.”
I looked at Arthur.
“Then why did you say they didn't exist?”
He ignored me.
“Where is Renee?”
Marcus shook his head.
“You don't get to question her.”
I had barely heard the answer before my phone vibrated in my pocket.
A message from an unfamiliar number appeared.
Malik, this is Renee. Your father told me you might finally be ready to hear the truth. Please don't let Arthur convince you that Marcus betrayed you.
Attached was a photograph of a thick folder containing bank statements and signed letters.
Another message followed.
I have the original records. I can prove who moved the money, who threatened your mother, and why Arthur disappeared.
My heart began racing.
I showed Marcus the screen.
He stared at it.
“She's coming?”
“She says she has the originals.”
Arthur suddenly reached toward my phone.
I pulled it away.
“Don't touch me!”
The people nearest us reacted immediately. The principal stepped between Arthur and me.
Arthur's face twisted with anger.
“You have no idea what you're involving yourself in.”
I looked him straight in the eyes.
“I'm involving myself in my own life.”
He pointed at Marcus.
“That man has manipulated you from the day you were born.”
Marcus didn't move.
“Then let the evidence prove it.”
Arthur's hand fell to his side.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that the room was no longer on his side.
The principal arranged for the documents to be handed to the school's security officer. My mother sat down, shaking so badly that Marcus had to help her.
I approached them.
“Mom, why didn't you tell me about Renee?”
She wiped her face.
“Because she was afraid. After the company investigation, she received threats. She left town to protect herself and her children.”
“And you never contacted her?”
“I did, secretly. She sent us updates through our lawyer, but she asked us not to reveal her location.”
Marcus sat beside her.
“We were trying to keep you out of a fight that wasn't yours.”
I looked at him.
“But it was my future. My inheritance. My family.”
He nodded.
“You're right.”
Those two words caught me off guard.
He didn't defend himself.
He didn't tell me I was too young.
He simply admitted that I had been hurt.
“I should have trusted you with more of the truth,” he said.
My eyes burned.
“I don't want you to protect me by lying to me again.”
“I won't.”
I wanted to believe him immediately.
But trust, I was learning, wasn't something that could be demanded. It had to be rebuilt.
A few minutes later, the auditorium doors opened again.
A Black woman in her forties hurried down the aisle, carrying a brown leather folder.
She had Marcus's eyes and the same determined set to her jaw.
Renee.
She stopped when she saw Arthur.
“You actually came here,” she said.
Arthur's face turned rigid.
“You have no right to interfere.”
Renee held up the folder.
“I have every right. I kept the records you thought would disappear.”
She placed it on the table beside the podium.
Then she looked at me.
“Malik, before anyone else tells you what happened, I want you to see the document Arthur never wanted you to find.”
She opened the folder.
Inside was a signed confession.
May you like
Arthur's signature was at the bottom.
And the date was eighteen years earlier.
