Chapter 3: The Money She Was Waiting For
My father read the message aloud three times.
“Once the money comes through, everything will be different.””
The words sounded worse each time.
Malik sat beside me on the couch, clutching a throw pillow against his chest. I could feel him trembling through the cushion between us.
“Dad,” he asked, “what money?””
Daniel didn't answer.
He was staring at the phone, scrolling through the forwarded messages with the concentration of someone trying to solve a problem before it exploded.
“I don't know,” he said finally.
“Is Vanessa stealing from us?”” Malik whispered.
“I don't know that either.””
I looked toward the stairs.
The bedroom door remained shut.
“Maybe we should call Grandma,” I said.
Daniel nodded, but before he could reach for his contacts, footsteps sounded overhead.
Vanessa appeared at the top of the staircase carrying a large suitcase.
She had changed out of her loose maternity dress and into jeans and a fitted sweater. Without the fake belly, she looked noticeably slimmer.
It was the first time in months I'd seen her wearing something that didn't accommodate her supposed pregnancy.
She noticed me looking.
Her hand went instinctively to her stomach.
Then she dropped it.
“I'm going to my sister's,” she announced.
Daniel placed his phone on the coffee table.
“Before you leave, we need to talk about those messages.””
Vanessa stopped on the last step.
“What messages?””
“The ones you sent Rochelle.””
Her expression flickered.
It lasted less than a second, but I saw it.
“Why are you reading my private conversations?””
“Why are you pretending to be pregnant?””
She set the suitcase down with a sharp thud.
“I already explained that.””
“No. You gave me excuses. I want answers.””
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Fine. I was scared. I wanted a family with you. I thought you would leave me if I couldn't have another child.””
“You could have told me that.””
“And what would you have done? Told me we could adopt? Told me it didn't matter?”” She laughed bitterly.
“You have two children already, Daniel. You don't know what it feels like to be the woman who married into a family and still feels like an outsider.””
I stared at her.
“You made me feel like an outsider in my own home.””
She looked at me with open contempt.
“Because you never gave me a chance.””
“I was thirteen.””
“And you acted like I was trying to steal your mother.””
My father rose from the chair.
“Enough. We are not doing this again.””
Vanessa's face tightened.
“You're choosing them.””
“I'm choosing the truth.””
She laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“You think you're being noble? You have no idea what you're throwing away.””
“Then tell me about the money.””
Her smile vanished.
I watched her eyes move toward the coffee table.
Toward the phone.
Toward the message Daniel had been reading.
For the first time, she looked less like an angry wife and more like someone calculating how quickly she could escape a room.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” she said.
Daniel picked up his phone.
“Then you won't mind explaining why you were discussing money with Rochelle.””
“She's my sister. We discuss all kinds of things.””
“Like getting Ariana out of the house?””
Vanessa's gaze snapped toward me.
“She's the reason this family has been miserable for months!””
Malik stood.
“Stop blaming her!””
Vanessa pointed at him.
“You should be grateful I put up with your behavior. Your father barely has time for you as it is.””
Daniel's face hardened.
“Don't speak to my son like that.””
“Then stop treating me like a criminal!””
“Tell me about the money.””
She grabbed the suitcase handle.
“I'm leaving.””
Daniel moved aside, but his voice followed her.
“If you walk out without answering, I'm calling a lawyer.””
Vanessa froze.
Then she slowly turned around.
“You wouldn't.””
“I don't know who you are anymore.””
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Vanessa looked directly at me.
“You think you've won, don't you?””
I stood up.
“No. I think I finally know why you hated me.””
Her nostrils flared.
“You know nothing.””
“Then explain it.””
She looked at my father.
He waited.
She looked at Malik.
He didn't move.
Finally, her eyes returned to me.
“You've always been the favorite,” she said.
“Even after your mother died, everything in this house revolved around you. Your photographs. Your mother's belongings.
Your little memories. Daniel couldn't make a decision without asking whether it would upset you.””
My throat tightened.
“You threw away my mother's recipe cards.””
“They were old pieces of paper!””
“They were hers.””
“And there it is!”” Vanessa shouted.
“Everything comes back to your mother! You think you own this family because you were here first!””
My father stepped between us.
“Stop.””
Vanessa laughed sharply.
“No, Daniel. You want the truth? Here's the truth.
I got tired of being second. I got tired of feeling like the temporary woman in a house that belonged to someone else.””
“You weren't second,” he said quietly.
She stared at him.
“You gave me a wedding ring,” she whispered.
“You gave me your name. But every time Ariana looked sad, you ran to her. Every time she mentioned her mother, you forgot I existed.””
“That doesn't justify what you've done.””
“No,” she said.
“I suppose it doesn't.””
For one strange second, she looked defeated.
Then her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and declined the call.
A moment later, it rang again.
Daniel watched her.
“Who is it?””
“Rochelle.””
“Put it on speaker.””
“No.””
“Then answer one question. What money were you waiting for?””
Vanessa's grip tightened around the suitcase handle.
“It's none of your business.””
“I'm your husband.””
“Not for much longer, apparently.””
She answered the call and turned away.
“Rochelle, I can't talk right now.””
A woman's voice came through loudly enough for us to hear.
“Did you get it? Did Daniel sign the papers?””
Vanessa went rigid.
Daniel's head lifted.
“What papers?”” he asked.
Vanessa ended the call.
Too late.
My father stared at her.
“What papers?””
She shoved the phone into her pocket.
“It's not what you think.””
“Then tell me what it is!””
She looked at the front door.
Daniel walked over and opened it himself.
“I'm not going to stop you from leaving. But you are not taking anything that belongs to this family, and you are not coming back here until we know what's happening.””
Vanessa's face twisted.
“You're throwing me out?””
“You said you were leaving.””
“Because you humiliated me!””
“You lied about carrying my child!””
She flinched.
For the first time, she had no immediate answer.
She picked up her suitcase and marched toward the door.
At the threshold, she stopped beside me.
“You have no idea what you've done,” she whispered.
I looked straight at her.
“Maybe not. But I know what you did.””
Her lips tightened.
Then she walked out.
My father closed the door.
The lock clicked.
Malik let out a breath so shaky it sounded like a sob.
“Is she gone?””
“For now,” Daniel said.
He leaned against the door, rubbing his face with both hands.
I watched him and felt a strange mixture of relief and anger. The house was quiet, but it wasn't peaceful. Too many questions remained unanswered.
Why had Vanessa needed me out of the house?
What money was she expecting?
And what papers had she wanted my father to sign?
Daniel retrieved his phone.
“I'm calling a lawyer,” he said.
“Then I'm going to contact the bank.””
“Why the bank?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Because Vanessa has had access to some of our accounts since we got married. If she was planning something, I need to know whether she moved money.””
Malik's face went pale.
“Could she take our college money?””
My father knelt in front of him.
“I won't let that happen.””
But I noticed he didn't say she hadn't.
He made the call.
For the next twenty minutes, he answered questions, provided account information, and asked the same thing repeatedly.
“Are you sure?””
Finally, he ended the call.
His expression was unreadable.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He looked from me to Malik.
“There's been a withdrawal.””
“How much?”” Malik whispered.
Daniel swallowed.
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.””
I felt the room tilt.
“From where?””
“Our savings account.””
“Dad, that's the money for the house repairs,” I said.
“And the money Grandma gave you for our education.””
“I know.””
“Can you get it back?””
He looked down at his phone.
“The bank says the transfer was authorized through an online request. I need to investigate before they can tell me more.””
“Who authorized it?””
He didn't answer.
Then his phone buzzed again.
This time, the message came from his bank.
*Your recent account activity has triggered a security review. A second transfer request for $75,000 has been submitted and is pending verification.*
My father stared at the screen.
A second transfer.
Seventy-five thousand dollars.
I looked at him.
“Dad, what does that mean?””
He slowly shook his head.
“I don't know.””
But as he opened the account details, his face drained of color.
The pending transfer wasn't coming from our savings account.
It was coming from the account where he kept the money he'd inherited from my mother.
The money she had left for Malik and me.
And beneath the transfer request was a name neither of us expected to see.
*Ariana Brooks — Authorized Recipient.*
I stared at the screen.
“Dad, I didn't do that.””
He looked at me.
For one terrible second, I saw suspicion in his eyes.
Then he shook his head, as if trying to force the thought away.
“I know.””
But the bank's final notification appeared before either of us could speak.
*Additional verification required: Please confirm the identity of the person who submitted this request.*
Daniel opened the attached verification record.
The request had been submitted using my full name, my date of birth, and a photograph of my signature.
I had never seen the document before.
Neither had my father.
But at the bottom, beneath the forged signature, was a line of text that made my blood run cold.
*Account access granted by legal guardian: Daniel Brooks.*
My father stared at his own name.
May you like
Then he whispered, “I never signed this.””
And somewhere outside our house, Vanessa was still holding the secret that could explain how someone had used both our identities to steal my mother's money.
