Chapter 5
I returned to the table with one question burning inside me.
Had Nia ever loved me?
Or had I simply been another opportunity?
Daniel was still sitting beside the folded custody document.
He looked up.
“You okay?”
I shook my head.
“Not really.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
I placed my phone on the table.
Then looked toward the family waiting area.
Nia was sitting beside Amara.
The little girl had fallen asleep against her shoulder.
For a moment, the scene looked painfully beautiful.
A mother holding her daughter.
A family.
Something I had wanted for years.
But I no longer trusted what I saw.
I turned toward Daniel.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you think Nia loves Amara?”
His expression softened.
“Yes.”
I looked surprised.
He continued.
“I think she loves our daughter. I just don't think she's always understood how to put Amara's needs before her own.”
I sat quietly.
That answer mattered.
Because it would have been easy for Daniel to call Nia a monster.
To blame her for everything.
Instead, he was trying to explain something complicated.
Love could exist alongside selfishness.
But love didn't excuse harm.
I looked at him.
“Would you ever consider changing custody?”
He nodded slowly.
“If it was genuinely in Amara's best interests and supported by a proper evaluation.”
I felt relieved.
“Good.”
“But not because Nia wants to impress another man.”
I nodded.
“Of course.”
Then I took a deep breath.
“I think she's been asking questions about my inheritance.”
Daniel's face changed.
“What kind of questions?”
I explained Tasha's phone call.
The attorney.
The requests for trust documents.
The questions about spousal beneficiaries.
Daniel listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he looked devastated.
“Marcus.”
I swallowed.
“Yeah?”
“I think we need to stop this before Amara gets pulled further into it.”
I nodded.
We agreed to speak with Nia calmly.
Not in front of Amara.
Not as an ambush.
But as two men who deserved truthful answers and wanted to protect a child.
Jordan helped arrange a quiet room near the back of the restaurant.
Daniel asked a trusted relative to collect Amara, explaining that the adults needed to discuss something privately.
His sister, Rochelle, arrived twenty minutes later.
She hugged Amara warmly.
The little girl waved at us before leaving.
I felt a strange sadness watching her go.
She had done nothing wrong.
Yet her entire life was being discussed by people who had spent too much time keeping secrets.
When the door closed, Nia looked at us.
“What's going on?”
Daniel folded his arms.
“We need the truth.”
Her face tightened.
“About what?”
I stared at her.
“Everything.”
She looked away.
I took a breath.
“Did you contact my father's attorney?”
Nia froze.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
She looked down.
“I was curious.”
I almost laughed.
“Curious?”
She nodded.
“About how your family handles property.”
I shook my head.
“You pretended to be my fiancée.”
Her eyes filled.
“I thought we were going to get married.”
“You thought?”
She stared at me.
I continued.
“I was going to propose tonight.”
Her face changed.
“Marcus...”
I reached into my pocket.
Then placed the ring box on the table.
She covered her mouth.
I opened it.
The diamond caught the warm light.
For one moment, she looked genuinely heartbroken.
Then she began crying.
“Oh my God.”
I stared at her.
“Three years, Nia.”
She wiped her cheeks.
“I know.”
“Three years, and you never told me about Amara.”
Her shoulders shook.
“I was afraid.”
I shook my head.
“Fear might explain why you hesitated at the beginning.”
My voice cracked.
“But it doesn't explain three years of lies.”
She covered her face.
Daniel leaned forward.
“And it doesn't explain why you told me Marcus wanted custody changed.”
Nia went silent.
He continued.
“You told me he wanted Amara in his family trust.”
She began shaking her head.
“Daniel—”
“Did he say that?”
She looked at me.
Then whispered, “No.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I felt my stomach sink.
I asked the question I had been avoiding.
“Nia, are you in financial trouble?”
Her eyes widened.
She shook her head.
“No.”
I stared at her.
“Please don't lie again.”
She began crying harder.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
My throat tightened.
“How much?”
She looked down.
“It's complicated.”
“How much?”
Her voice became barely audible.
“Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
Daniel looked stunned.
“What?”
Nia covered her mouth.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared at her.
“Who do you owe?”
She hesitated.
“Several lenders.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of lenders?”
“Business loans. Credit lines. Private investors.”
I felt sick.
I remembered Nia talking about restarting her beauty company.
She said she'd been saving money.
She said she had everything under control.
Now I understood.
She hadn't been saving.
She had been borrowing.
And hiding it.
I stared at her.
“Were you planning to use my money to pay your debts?”
She began sobbing.
“No.”
I waited.
Then she whispered, “Not exactly.”
My heart sank.
Daniel looked away.
I took a slow breath.
“What does that mean?”
Nia stared at the ring.
Her voice trembled.
“I thought if we got married, everything would become easier.”
I felt the room spinning.
Easier.
Such a small word.
Such a terrible meaning.
I looked at her.
“Did you love me, Nia?”
She lifted her eyes.
“Yes.”
I swallowed.
“Then why did you make me feel like a financial plan?”
May you like
Her face collapsed.
And for the first time, she had no answer.
