Chapter 1: The Recording
“Play the recording.””
Maya’s voice cracked across the kitchen like a gunshot.
She shoved Vanessa’s smartphone across the marble island. It spun once, the black screen flashing beneath the bright pendant lights before stopping directly in front of Marcus.
For one frozen second, nobody moved.
Marcus stood at the other side of the island, broad shoulders rigid beneath his black polo. His cornrows were pulled neatly back, but his expression had already changed. The protective father who had spent years reading every shift in Maya’s face was staring at her like he knew something was terribly wrong.
Vanessa moved first.
She reached for the phone.
Marcus caught her wrist.
“Don’t.””
Vanessa’s eyes snapped toward him.
“Marcus, you need to let me explain.””
“Explain what?””
Maya laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Play it.””
Vanessa pulled against his grip.
“Maya, you have no idea what you’re doing.””
“I know exactly what I’m doing.””
Marcus released Vanessa and picked up the phone.
He looked at Maya.
“Where did you get this?””
“Her purse.””
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Marcus stared at her.
“You recorded yourself?””
“I didn’t—”
He tapped the screen.
The kitchen filled with Vanessa’s voice.
“Once Maya is gone, he’ll sign everything.””
Silence.
Even the refrigerator seemed too loud.
Marcus slowly lowered the phone.
His eyes moved from the screen to Vanessa.
Then to Maya.
“Gone where?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“Maya, that recording was taken out of context.””
Maya’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Then what context makes that okay?””
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You don't understand the conversation.””
“Then make me understand.””
“Maya—”
“No.””
Maya wiped beneath one eye with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
“You've been telling Dad I'm difficult. You’ve been telling him I’m unstable. You’ve been telling everyone I’m obsessed with finding my mother.””
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
Marcus looked sharply at her.
“What does Sarah have to do with this?””
Vanessa looked at him.
For the first time, something flickered across her face.
Fear.
It disappeared almost instantly.
Almost.
Maya saw it.
“So you do know something.””
“I know that your mother left,” Vanessa said carefully.
“My mother never left.””
“She disappeared.””
“She was seventeen years ago,” Maya whispered.
“She was seventeen years ago, and you expect me to believe nobody knows where she went?””
Marcus stepped toward Maya.
“Maya, your mother walked out when you were an infant. That’s what I was told.””
“By who?””
Marcus stopped.
Maya pointed at Vanessa.
“Her?””
Vanessa folded her arms.
“By the circumstances.””
“What does that even mean?””
“Maya, you were a baby.””
“And that means you get to rewrite my life?””
Marcus slammed his palm against the counter.
“Enough!””
The sound echoed through the kitchen.
Maya flinched.
Marcus immediately softened.
“I'm not yelling at you.””
“You're yelling because she won't answer.””
“I’m trying to understand.””
“Then look at her.””
Marcus did.
Vanessa held his stare for several seconds.
Then her phone vibrated.
All three looked down.
A notification appeared.
Vanessa lunged.
Maya was faster.
She grabbed the phone.
Vanessa’s face went pale.
“Maya, give me that.””
Maya stepped backward.
“No.””
“That is private.””
“Then why are you scared?””
Marcus moved around the island.
“Vanessa, what’s on that phone?””
“Nothing.””
Maya looked at him.
“She said that before.””
Marcus extended his hand.
“Maya.””
She hesitated.
Then placed the phone in his palm.
Marcus unlocked it.
He scrolled.
One message.
Then another.
His eyebrows pulled together.
“What am I looking at?””
Maya moved beside him.
Vanessa whispered, “Marcus, stop.””
He looked up.
“Why?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Marcus turned the screen toward Maya.
An unread message sat at the bottom of the conversation.
*Her mother never abandoned her. Keep Maya from finding out.*
Marcus stopped breathing.
Maya stared at the words.
Her lips parted.
“No.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Maya looked at her.
“My mother is alive?””
Vanessa said nothing.
Then the phone began to ring.
The name on the screen made Marcus’s face collapse.
*SARAH — MAYA’S MOM*
Maya slowly reached toward it.
Vanessa whispered,
May you like
“Don’t answer it.””
And Maya’s finger hovered one inch above the screen.
