Chapter 5: The Account Nobody Mentioned
I didn't leave.
I stood just inside the gate, my hand wrapped around the metal latch, while my father hurried toward me.
“Nia, you misunderstood what you heard.””
I looked past him at Vanessa.
She was still holding her phone. Her bright-red dress stood out against the pale stone driveway, and her expression had hardened into the kind of cold anger that usually made everyone around her apologize.
I wasn't going to apologize.
“What other account?”” I asked.
Darius stopped a few feet away.
“It's not what you think.””
“You don't know what I think.””
“Please, sweetheart. Let me explain.””
“Then explain.””
He opened his mouth.
Vanessa cut him off.
“There is no reason for you to be involved in every private matter between your father and me.””
I turned toward her.
“You just told somebody I don't know about another account. If it has nothing to do with me, why did you say I don't know about it?””
She gripped her phone tighter.
“Because I was talking about a personal financial matter.””
“Then why did Dad look terrified when you mentioned it?””
Darius rubbed the back of his neck.
“Vanessa, we need to talk inside.””
“No,” I said.
“We're talking right here.””
A breeze lifted the edge of the bank statement in my pocket. I pressed my hand against it, reminding myself that I needed to keep the evidence safe.
My aunt Rochelle approached us from the patio.
“Darius, I'm taking Nia home if she needs a ride.””
“I can drive myself,” I said.
Rochelle looked at me carefully.
“Are you sure?””
I nodded.
She turned to my father.
“You need to fix this. Whatever happened, that girl worked hard for her money.””
Darius's shoulders dropped.
“I know.””
“Then stop telling her to calm down and start telling her the truth.””
Rochelle walked back toward the house to collect her purse.
Vanessa watched her leave with obvious irritation.
“This is exactly why I wanted everyone to go home,” she muttered.
“People hear half a conversation and suddenly think they understand our finances.””
I pulled out my phone.
“Tell me the name of the account.””
My father shook his head.
“Not here.””
“Then tell me whether it's connected to my college fund.””
He hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Dad.””
His eyes met mine.
“Yes,” he admitted.
I felt the driveway tilt beneath my feet.
“How?””
He looked down.
“Some of the money from your account passed through another account before the final transfers were made.””
“Whose account?””
He didn't answer.
I turned toward Vanessa.
“Yours?””
She laughed once, sharply.
“You have a real talent for making accusations.””
“Is it yours?””
“I'm not discussing this.””
I looked at my father again.
“Is it hers?””
His silence told me more than I wanted to know.
I stepped backward.
“How long?””
“Nia—”
“How long has my money been moving through accounts I don't know about?””
“Not long.””
“Define 'not long.''”
He pressed his lips together.
“Several months.””
Several months.
I thought about the account statements I'd checked earlier that year. At the time, the balance had looked normal enough. I'd been working extra shifts, saving for my next semester, and trusting the system Dad had helped me establish when I was a teenager.
I hadn't checked every transaction because I believed the money was safe.
I had trusted him.
Now that trust felt like another thing he had spent without asking.
“Was the other account opened in my name?”” I asked.
“No.””
“Did you use my Social Security number?””
“No.””
“Then what does it have to do with my money?””
He looked helplessly at Vanessa.
She finally lowered her phone.
“Your father made transfers to help manage household obligations,” she said.
“That doesn't mean anything improper happened.””
“Household obligations?””
“Yes.””
“Like Marcus's car?””
She didn't respond.
“Like the sixty-three thousand dollars you received?””
Her jaw tightened.
“Not everything is about you, Nia.””
I stared at her.
“My savings account seems to be about me.””
Darius stepped between us.
“That's enough.””
I looked at him.
“Why are you protecting her?””
“I'm not protecting anyone.””
“Then why won't you answer a single question without looking at her first?””
His face crumpled for a second.
“I made mistakes.””
The admission caught me off guard.
He continued before I could speak.
“I thought I could move money temporarily and put it back before you needed it. I believed I could handle everything without upsetting you.””
“Without upsetting me?”” I repeated.
“You think losing my education money is less upsetting if I don't know about it?””
“I was going to fix it.””
“When?””
He stared at the ground.
“When were you going to tell me?””
He didn't answer.
I looked at Vanessa.
“And you? Were you going to return the sixty-three thousand dollars?””
She folded her arms.
“Your father is the one who authorized the transfer. If you're looking for someone to blame, start with him.””
My father flinched.
For the first time, I saw anger replace his shame.
“Vanessa, that's enough.””
She turned on him.
“Don't you dare put this on me now. You were there when we discussed the transfers. You knew what had to happen.””
My heart hammered.
“What had to happen?””
Both of them stopped.
Vanessa's eyes widened slightly, as though she had said something she hadn't meant to reveal.
I raised my phone and opened the notes app.
“I'm writing this down. On what date did you transfer the money?””
“Nia, don't be ridiculous,” she said.
“On what date?””
She turned away.
I opened the banking app again and scrolled through the records. There were dates, reference numbers, and partial descriptions. I took screenshots of everything I could access.
My father watched me with growing panic.
“Please don't send those records to anyone yet.””
I looked up.
“Why?””
“Because I need a chance to put this right.””
“You've had months.””
“I know.””
“Then what are you asking me to wait for?””
He swallowed.
“Just until I can get the money back.””
I stared at him.
“Can you?””
He didn't answer quickly enough.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Dad, can you actually get it back?””
His eyes shifted toward Vanessa.
She turned away, pressing her phone to her chest.
And then my father said the words that changed everything.
“The money isn't all in her account anymore.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
He dragged a hand across his face.
“It means some of it was transferred somewhere else.””
“Where?””
“I don't know exactly where it is now.””
“You transferred my money and you don't know where it went?””
“I thought Vanessa was handling it!””
She spun around.
“You agreed to the transfers!””
“And you told me it was temporary!””
Their voices rose over each other.
I stood motionless while the two people responsible for protecting me argued over which of them had been foolish enough to trust the other.
Then Vanessa said something that silenced us all.
“If you tell her about the agreement, Darius, you'll lose more than the money.””
My father went pale.
I looked from her to him.
“What agreement?””
Neither answered.
I stepped toward my father.
“What agreement are you talking about?””
He stared at me, his lips moving without sound.
Then he whispered, “It was supposed to protect the house.””
“What house?””
He looked up.
“Our house, Nia.””
The house where I had grown up.
The house my mother had helped pay for before she died.
The house my father had always promised would remain in the family.
I gripped my phone until my fingers hurt.
“What did you do to our house?””
My father closed his eyes.
Vanessa's phone vibrated in her hand.
She glanced at the screen, and all the blood seemed to drain from her face.
Then she whispered, almost to herself, “They weren't supposed to contact us until next week.””
I took one step closer.
“Who wasn't?””
She looked at my father.
May you like
He didn't move.
And for the first time, I wondered whether the missing money had been used to buy Marcus a car at all—or whether the car was simply the most visible part of a much larger disaster.
