Chapter 5: The Man Behind the Fire
The hardest truth to accept wasn’t that my life had been a lie.
It was realizing my mother had been carrying that lie alone.
For twenty-seven years, Renee Ellis woke up every morning knowing there was a man somewhere in this city who had tried to erase her existence. She raised me while looking over her shoulder. She worked until her feet hurt. She smiled through exhaustion.
And every time I asked about my father, she swallowed the truth.
Not because she didn’t trust me.
Because she loved me.
That was the part that hurt the most.
I sat in Malik’s SUV with the old photograph still in my hand.
My mother.
Derrick Vale.
A secret I never knew existed.
Malik sat beside me, staring out the window.
He hadn’t said much since we left the storage unit.
A man like him was used to controlling every room he entered.
But right now, he looked like someone who had lost control of his entire past.
“You really trusted him?”” I asked.
Malik didn’t answer right away.
“Derrick was my brother before he was my enemy.””
I looked at him.
“People say that when they don’t want to admit someone betrayed them.””
His eyes moved toward me.
The honesty in his expression surprised me.
“You’re right.””
I blinked.
He looked back outside.
“I spent years telling myself I should have seen it coming.””
The city passed outside the window.
“But sometimes the people closest to you know exactly where to stand so you never see the knife coming.””
I looked down at the photograph.
“Why would he do it?””
Malik’s jaw tightened.
“That’s what I need to find out.””
The SUV stopped in front of a large brick building downtown.
I looked up.
“What is this?””
“My old office.””
“You still work here?””
“No.””
He stepped out.
“This is where it started.””
Inside, the building looked nothing like the mansion.
No luxury.
No polished floors.
Just old photographs, awards, and memories.
Malik walked through the hallway like every picture was a ghost.
He stopped in front of one.
Three young men stood together.
One was Malik.
One was Derrick.
The third was someone I didn’t recognize.
“You were friends.””
Malik nodded.
“We were.””
I looked closer.
The three men were smiling.
Before money.
Before power.
Before betrayal.
“Who’s the other man?””
Malik’s expression changed.
“That’s Andre Cross.””
“What happened to him?””
“He disappeared.””
I frowned.
“Disappeared?””
“After the fire.””
The room became colder.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?””
Malik looked at me.
“Because back then, I was too busy trying to survive.””
That sentence stayed with me.
Because everyone saw Malik Drayton as untouchable.
Nobody saw the younger version of him.
The man who lost the woman he loved.
The child he never met.
The friends he trusted.
All in one night.
A door opened behind us.
A woman walked in carrying a folder.
She looked to be in her fifties, with silver streaks running through her braids and the kind of confidence that came from knowing exactly who she was.
“Malik.””
He turned.
“Simone.””
She looked at me.
Then smiled sadly.
“So this is her.””
I stiffened.
“Her?””
Simone walked closer.
“The little girl everyone thought was gone.””
My heart stopped.
“Everyone?””
She looked at Malik.
He didn’t answer.
That bothered me.
“Who are you?””
“Someone who loved your mother.””
That answer caught me off guard.
Simone sat the folder down.
“I was Renee’s best friend.””
I stared at her.
“My mother had friends who knew about all this?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t anyone tell me?””
Her expression softened.
“Because we promised Renee.””
The anger came fast.
“A promise to protect me turned into twenty-seven years of lies.””
Simone nodded.
“You have every right to feel that way.””
Nobody argued with me.
Nobody defended themselves.
And somehow that made it harder.
Because they all knew.
They all knew pieces of my life I never had.
Simone opened the folder.
“After the fire, Renee came to me.””
I looked at Malik.
“She was alive?””
“Yes.””
Malik closed his eyes.
The pain on his face was unbearable.
Simone continued.
“She was badly injured. She thought Malik was dead.””
“I wasn’t.””
“I know.””
Her eyes moved between us.
“That was the problem.””
I frowned.
“What do you mean?””
Simone took a deep breath.
“Renee found out the fire wasn’t random.””
She pulled out another photograph.
This one showed my mother outside a hospital.
Holding a baby.
Me.
“She realized someone wanted Nia gone.””
My throat tightened.
“Because I was Malik’s child?””
Simone nodded.
“And because of what Malik represented.””
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
Before Malik could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
“What?””
He listened.
Then stood up.
“Are you sure?””
A pause.
Then:
“Do not let him leave.””
My heart started pounding.
“What happened?””
Malik looked at me.
The fear in his eyes told me everything.
“Derrick Vale knows we found the files.””
I felt sick.
“How?””
Nobody answered.
Because there was only one possibility.
Someone close to us had told him.
May you like
And that meant the danger wasn’t somewhere outside.
It was already inside.
