Chapter 3: What Was Taken From My Home
For a moment, nobody moved.
I stared at Daniel, waiting for him to explain what he meant.
“My house?”” I asked.
He pressed his lips together.
“What happened at my house?””
“Nothing happened.””
“Then why did you tell me to check it?””
“Because you need to calm down and listen.””
I laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“You just admitted you knew about a $310,000 loan in my name. You admitted you were going to tell me eventually. Now you're telling me to check my house, and you want me to calm down?””
Daniel glanced toward the doorway again.
Arthur took out his phone.
“Nia,” he said, “do you have access to your home security system?””
“Yes.””
“Check the account. Don't change anything yet.””
I opened the security app.
The familiar dashboard appeared, showing the front door, driveway, and living room cameras. The most recent thumbnails were ordinary: sunlight across my front steps, the empty driveway, the living room sofa beneath the windows.
I tapped the front-door camera.
The feed loaded.
A delivery driver stood on my porch, holding a package.
I checked the timestamp.
Yesterday afternoon.
I moved to the driveway camera.
Nothing unusual.
Then I opened the account settings.
My thumb stopped.
There was a list of users with access to the security system.
My name appeared first.
Below it was Daniel's.
I had added him months earlier because we had discussed spending more time at my house after the wedding. He had helped me install a new camera near the garage and had insisted that having shared access would make things easier.
I had thought it was practical.
Now I stared at his name as if I had never seen it before.
“Why are you still on my security account?”” I asked.
Daniel shifted his weight.
“You gave me access.””
“For emergencies.””
“Exactly.””
“Then explain why you told me to check my house.””
He rubbed his face.
“I didn't mean anything by it.””
My father spoke without raising his voice.
“You should stop talking until you can give a consistent answer.””
Daniel glared at him.
“You've always thought I wasn't good enough for her.””
Arthur's expression remained steady.
“This has nothing to do with whether I like you. It has to do with a loan bearing my daughter's signature that she says she never gave.””
Daniel opened his mouth, then looked away.
I returned to the security app.
There was another notification in the account history. An alert about a change to the system's access settings.
I tapped it.
The app showed that a user-access change had been made several days earlier.
My breathing became shallow.
“Dad.””
He moved beside me.
“What is it?””
I showed him the screen.
He read the notification twice.
“Save a screenshot,” he said.
I did.
Daniel took a step closer.
“Let me see that.””
“No.””
“Nia, I'm trying to help.””
“Then start by telling me the truth.””
He looked at the jeweler, who had discreetly moved to the far end of the counter. Vanessa was standing near the entrance now, her glamorous expression replaced by an anxious stare.
I turned to her.
“You said you knew nothing about the loan.””
“I don't.””
“Then why did you say he told you it was handled?””
“Because he told me the necklace was taken care of!””
“With my card.””
Vanessa's cheeks flushed.
“I didn't know it was going to become this.””
“Become what?””
She looked at Daniel.
He gave her a warning glance.
I caught it.
“Don't look at him,” I said.
“Look at me.””
Vanessa's lips tightened.
“I don't owe you an explanation.””
“You're wearing a necklace you were trying to make him buy with my money. You can start there.””
She glanced down at the jewelry box.
The jeweler had placed the necklace inside and closed the lid. The diamonds were no longer touching her skin, but she kept reaching toward her collarbone as if she could still feel their weight.
“I never asked him to take out a loan,” she said.
“Did you know he had?””
She hesitated.
That pause was brief.
It was also unmistakable.
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Vanessa, don't.””
She looked at him, startled by the sharpness in his voice.
I felt a new kind of coldness settle in my chest.
They were communicating without words, and neither of them seemed to realize how clearly I could see it.
I turned to Arthur.
“I'm going home.””
He nodded.
“I'll come with you.””
Daniel immediately moved into our path.
“No. You're not going anywhere until we talk.””
I stared at the arm he had extended across the space between us.
“Move.””
“Nia, please. If you go home right now, you're going to make this worse.””
“Worse for whom?””
He didn't answer.
My father stepped forward.
“Move away from her.””
Daniel lowered his arm, but his expression hardened.
“You don't understand what you're interfering with.””
Arthur looked directly at him.
“Then explain it.””
For the first time, Daniel had no immediate response.
I walked past him.
The jeweler moved aside to give me room. As I reached the boutique entrance, my phone vibrated again.
I stopped.
A security alert filled the screen.
*ACCOUNT ACCESS UPDATED.*
Beneath it was a second line identifying the change.
I opened the notification.
My stomach dropped.
Someone had modified the access settings on my home security account while I was standing in the boutique.
I turned around slowly.
Daniel was still beside the marble counter.
Vanessa stood several feet away from him.
Arthur watched me from the doorway.
“What's wrong?”” my father asked.
I held up the phone.
“Someone just changed my security settings.””
Daniel's face drained of color.
I looked straight at him.
“You said nothing happened at my house.””
He didn't answer.
I took a step toward him.
“Daniel, did you change my security settings?””
His eyes flickered toward the financial folder.
Then toward Vanessa.
Then back to me.
And in that moment, I realized something that frightened me more than the necklace, more than the loan, and more than the forged signature.
Daniel wasn't surprised that something had happened.
He was afraid I was about to find out what it was.
Arthur closed the folder and tucked it beneath his arm.
“Let's go,” he said quietly.
I followed him toward the door, clutching the loan document and my phone.
Behind us, Daniel finally spoke.
“Nia, if you go into that house without talking to me first, you're going to regret it.””
I stopped with my hand on the door.
Then I turned to face him one last time.
“You've already given me plenty to regret.””
I walked out beside my father.
The bright hotel corridor stretched ahead of us, and my phone remained clenched in my hand.
I had no idea what awaited me at home.
But as the elevator doors opened, a new notification appeared on my screen.
It wasn't from my bank.
It wasn't from the security system.
May you like
It was a message from an unknown number.
*“Before you get home, ask Daniel who else has a key.””*
