Chapter 10: The Truth Buried Before Marcus
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Maya.
Not Marcus.
The ballroom that had once been filled with music and celebration now felt like a courtroom.
Every person standing there was waiting for someone to confess.
And somehow, I was the only person who had never been given the evidence.
I held the phone tighter.
“Mom…”
My voice broke.
“What do you mean Dad didn’t die the way you told us?””
The line went quiet.
Then my mother whispered:
“I was trying to protect you.””
I closed my eyes.
That sentence again.
Everyone kept using it.
Marcus.
My mother.
Everyone who had taken pieces of my life and hidden them behind the same excuse.
Protecting me.
But nobody ever asked what it felt like to be the only person left in the dark.
“Protect me from what?””
My mother didn’t answer immediately.
Maya stepped closer.
Her face was filled with confusion.
“You knew?””
My mother sighed.
“Yes.””
“You knew Dad was alive?””
Another silence.
Then:
“Yes.””
The word felt impossible.
My father.
A man I had buried.
A man whose photographs sat in boxes in my childhood home.
A man whose voice I barely remembered.
Alive.
Ethan looked at me.
“Mom…”
I turned toward him.
I wanted to tell him everything was okay.
But I couldn’t.
Because for the first time in my life, I didn’t know if anything had ever been okay.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Nia, listen to me.””
I looked at him.
“No.””
His expression changed.
“I know what this looks like.””
“You have no idea what this looks like.””
My voice was calm.
That scared him more than anger.
“You stood beside me for years.””
I pointed at the phone.
“You knew my mother was alive.””
Then at Maya.
“You knew my sister was alive.””
Then at myself.
“And you watched me believe I lost both of them.””
Marcus looked down.
“I didn’t know your mother was alive.””
My mother answered through the phone.
“He’s lying.””
The room froze.
Marcus looked at the phone.
“Nobody asked you.””
My mother’s voice became stronger.
“I should have told my daughter the truth years ago.””
Maya looked at Marcus.
“You knew about her.””
Marcus didn’t respond.
And that was enough.
I felt something inside me break.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
The kind of breaking that happens when you finally accept that the person you trusted most was never who you believed.
“Why?””
I looked at Marcus.
“Why did you marry me?””
He stared at me.
The question seemed to hurt him.
“Nia…”
“Answer me.””
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Then Maya spoke.
“Because of Dad’s company.””
I turned.
“What?””
Maya looked at Marcus.
“He needed access.””
Marcus immediately shook his head.
“That’s not true.””
Maya laughed sadly.
“You really think she won’t believe me after everything?””
I looked at my husband.
“Is it true?””
His silence was unbearable.
“Nia, it wasn’t like that.””
“That isn’t an answer.””
He rubbed his forehead.
“I loved you.””
The words should have meant something.
They didn’t.
“Did you?””
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.””
“Then why did you need my family’s company?””
He looked away.
That was the answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Mom…”
I touched his shoulder.
“I’m okay.””
But I wasn’t.
Not anymore.
My mother’s voice interrupted.
“Nia, there is more.””
I almost laughed.
More.
There was always more.
“What now?””
A pause.
Then:
“Your father didn’t disappear because of Marcus.””
I looked at Maya.
“What does that mean?””
Maya shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
My mother continued.
“He disappeared because he found out what Marcus’s father had done.””
Marcus froze.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
The color drained from his face.
For the first time, he looked genuinely confused.
“What are you talking about?””
My mother said:
“Your father’s company wasn’t built honestly.””
Marcus took a step back.
“That’s impossible.””
Maya looked at him.
“Now you know how it feels.””
The words cut through him.
My mother continued.
“Your father uncovered financial crimes connected to Marcus’s family.””
I looked at Marcus.
“So your father knew mine?””
“Yes.””
“And Maya found out?””
“Yes.””
I felt dizzy.
All these years.
All these people.
All these secrets.
Connected.
My mother whispered:
“Nia, the night Maya disappeared, she wasn’t running away.””
I looked at my sister.
“Then what happened?””
Maya’s eyes filled.
“I was trying to find Dad.””
The answer shocked me.
“What?””
She nodded.
“I found evidence that he was alive.””
Marcus looked toward her.
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Maya stared at him.
“Because I realized you already knew.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Marcus’s phone buzzed.
Everyone looked.
Another message.
He opened it.
And his face changed.
I watched him read the screen.
Then I asked:
“What did it say?””
He didn’t answer.
Maya looked at him.
“What happened?””
Marcus slowly lifted his eyes.
May you like
And for the first time that night, his voice sounded afraid.
“He found us.””
