Chapter 5
I kept Simone on the phone while my attorney quietly activated the call-recording procedure permitted by our counsel and the applicable rules.
“Why are you threatening me?” I asked.
Simone laughed softly.
“Threatening you? Marcus, you're being dramatic.”
“You just warned me about digging into the past.”
“I warned you not to make yourself miserable.”
I stared at the security footage paused on my computer.
Simone stood outside my mother's bedroom.
The key was still visible in her hand.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“At the foundation office.”
“Alone?”
“Why?”
“I'd like to see you.”
She hesitated.
Then her familiar sweetness returned.
“Of course, baby. Come by after lunch.”
I ended the call.
Olivia looked concerned.
“Don't go alone.”
“I won't.”
She folded her arms.
“And don't accuse her without law enforcement involvement.”
“I understand.”
I was angry enough to break something.
But I refused to give Simone an excuse to destroy evidence or portray me as unstable.
I wanted the truth.
Every piece of it.
Before lunch, I met with Vanessa again.
She sat in a small meeting room beside Nia.
Her makeup was gone.
Her elegant dress looked out of place against her exhausted expression.
When I entered, she stood immediately.
“Mr. Bennett—”
“Marcus is fine.”
She swallowed.
“I wanted to apologize.”
I pulled out a chair.
“For what?”
She looked confused.
“For what I said downstairs.”
I waited.
Vanessa stared at the table.
“I judged you because of your clothes. I humiliated you in front of strangers. I treated you like you were worth less than me.”
Her voice cracked.
“And I didn't even have the money to pay for my own room.”
Nia looked at her with tears in her eyes.
Vanessa continued.
“My mother raised us in a tiny apartment. She cleaned offices every night. She used to tell me that nobody was better than anybody else.”
She wiped her cheeks.
“I became the kind of person who would have looked down on her.”
I studied her.
Her apology sounded genuine.
But remorse didn't erase what she had done.
“You hurt people when you treat them that way,” I said.
“I know.”
“Not everyone has a manager who comes running to defend them.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
I leaned forward.
“Then remember how you felt when you thought you were about to lose everything.”
Vanessa began crying again.
“I will.”
I changed the subject.
“Tell me about Chloe.”
Her expression immediately tightened.
“She's hiding with our aunt.”
“Has she met her attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Marcus?”
I looked up.
“Why are you helping her?”
“Because if your sister reported financial wrongdoing and was framed for it, she deserves protection.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Even after what I did?”
“Your behavior and her rights are two different things.”
She started sobbing.
Nia reached for her hand.
I remembered my mother again.
She would have said exactly the same thing.
That afternoon, Daniel accompanied me to the foundation office.
Olivia had already arranged for investigators to receive copies of the financial records.
Simone greeted me with a smile.
“Baby!”
She moved to embrace me.
I stepped aside.
Her smile faltered.
“What's wrong?”
I sat down across from her.
“Tell me about Meridian Consulting.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“Meridian Consulting. One of the companies receiving foundation money.”
Simone crossed her legs.
“It's a legitimate vendor.”
“What services does it provide?”
“Marketing. Administrative support. Things like that.”
“Who owns it?”
“I don't handle those details.”
I placed a printed document on her desk.
Her name appeared beside the company registration.
She stared at it.
Then looked up.
“Marcus, what is this?”
“It's a simple question.”
She pushed the document away.
“Are you investigating me?”
“I want to understand where our charitable donations went.”
Her face hardened.
“You don't understand how complicated nonprofit operations are.”
“Then explain them.”
She stood.
“I'm not going to sit here and be interrogated by my own fiancé.”
I looked up at her.
“Did you lock my mother's bedroom door?”
The color left her face.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she laughed.
“That's ridiculous.”
“Did you?”
“Who told you that?”
I watched her carefully.
“You haven't answered.”
She slammed her palm against the desk.
“Your mother was impossible!”
The words exploded out of her.
I remained still.
Simone seemed shocked by her own outburst.
Then she tried to soften her voice.
“Marcus, I'm sorry.”
I stood.
“What made her impossible?”
“She was always suspicious. Always accusing people.”
“Of stealing?”
Simone looked toward Daniel.
“I want him out.”
I shook my head.
“He stays.”
Her expression twisted.
“You're choosing your security guard over me?”
“I'm choosing to ask questions.”
She laughed bitterly.
“After everything I've done for you?”
I stared at her.
“What exactly have you done for me?”
She went silent.
I picked up the document.
“I think we're finished.”
As I turned toward the door, she spoke.
“You'll regret humiliating me.”
I stopped.
“Maybe.”
I looked back.
“But I won't regret asking what happened to my mother.”
I left before she could answer.
That evening, Chloe arrived in Atlanta.
She was a young woman with nervous eyes and a quiet voice.
She carried a small laptop bag.
Vanessa rushed toward her and hugged her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Chloe stepped back.
“I brought everything.”
Olivia led us into a secure conference room.
Chloe opened her laptop.
She showed us refund records, vendor invoices, and internal approval logs.
Several companies had received repeated payments for services that didn't exist.
One company was connected to Richard.
Another to Simone.
A third appeared to belong to someone named Lawrence Pike.
I recognized the name immediately.
Lawrence had been the Bennett family's personal physician.
He signed my mother's death certificate.
My chest tightened.
“Why is my mother's doctor receiving payments from a hotel vendor?”
Chloe looked down.
“I don't know.”
She opened another file.
“This is what scared me.”
A spreadsheet appeared.
The title read:
ELEANOR BENNETT — CONTINGENCY RESOLUTION.
Beneath it were four entries.
Medical consultation.
Document processing.
Security adjustment.
Post-event settlement.
Each had a date.
Every date fell within seventy-two hours of my mother's death.
I could barely breathe.
Olivia leaned toward the screen.
“Chloe, where did you find this?”
“In a hidden archive connected to the vendor payment system.”
“Did anyone know you copied it?”
Chloe shook her head.
“I thought I was careful.”
Suddenly, her laptop made a notification sound.
A message appeared.
REMOTE ACCESS REQUEST APPROVED.
Chloe gasped.
“I didn't approve that!”
The cursor began moving by itself.
Folders disappeared from the screen.
“Disconnect it!” Daniel shouted.
Chloe slammed the laptop shut.
Olivia pulled the network cable from the docking station.
But the damage had already begun.
Chloe started crying.
“They found me.”
I put a hand on her shoulder.
“We have copies?”
She nodded shakily.
“On two encrypted drives.”
Olivia immediately secured them.
Then my phone rang.
It was Richard.
I stared at his name.
Answered.
And heard him chuckle.
“Marcus, son, you really should stop trusting strange women.”
I felt cold.
“Hello, Uncle.”
His voice became harder.
“I raised you better than this.”
I looked at Chloe.
Then at Vanessa.
Then at my mother's photograph on the wall.
“No,” I said.
“My parents raised me better than this.”
Richard stopped laughing.
I continued.
“And I'm beginning to think you were the one person they never should have trusted.”
There was a long silence.
Then he said five words.
“Your mother thought that too.”
May you like
The call ended.
And for the first time, I knew Richard was no longer pretending to be innocent.
