Chapter 6: The Woman Behind the Warning
I couldn’t speak.
The phone pressed against my ear.
The entire ballroom disappeared.
All I heard was that voice.
The voice of someone I trusted.
Someone who had been standing beside me moments before.
“Who is this?”” I asked.
My mother stepped closer.
Her face changed when she saw my expression.
She knew.
She knew who was calling.
The woman on the phone breathed heavily.
“Darius, listen carefully.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who are you?””
A pause.
Then:
“It’s your aunt, Renee.””
My stomach dropped.
My father’s sister.
The woman who had helped raise me after he died.
The woman who brought food to my house every Sunday.
The woman who hugged me and told me she was proud of me before the wedding started.
I looked at my mother.
She looked away.
That hurt more than the call.
“Aunt Renee,” I said slowly.
“What are you talking about?””
Her voice trembled.
“I tried to stop this before today.””
My eyes moved toward Simone.
“Stop what?””
“Your marriage.””
The words echoed.
I looked at Simone.
She looked like she had expected this moment.
“You knew about her?””
Renee answered before Simone could.
“Yes.””
My heart raced.
“How?””
“Because I was the one who found the documents.””
My mother stepped forward.
“Darius, hang up.””
I turned.
The anger inside me finally broke through.
“No.””
My mother stopped.
I held the phone tighter.
“No more secrets.””
Renee continued.
“Darius, your father left something behind.””
“I know about the trust.””
“No.””
Her voice became urgent.
“You don’t.””
The room went silent.
I looked at the paper in my hand.
“What don’t I know?””
Renee took a shaky breath.
“Your father didn’t create the trust to protect you.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“It was created to expose someone.””
My eyes moved toward my mother.
Then Simone.
Then the paper.
“Who?””
Nobody answered.
Then Renee said:
“Your father believed someone close to him was stealing from the company.””
My mother whispered, “Stop.””
I looked at her.
“Mom?””
She looked devastated.
“Darius, this is not how you should find out.””
I almost smiled.
“How should I find out?””
No one answered.
Because there was no good answer.
I turned back to the phone.
“Who did my father suspect?””
Renee went quiet.
Too quiet.
“Aunt Renee.””
Her voice lowered.
“Your father suspected Loretta.””
The room stopped.
My mother closed her eyes.
Simone covered her mouth.
I felt like the floor had disappeared.
“No.””
The word came out automatically.
I didn’t believe it.
I couldn’t.
My mother was the person who stayed after everyone else left.
The person who sat beside my father’s hospital bed.
The person who taught me how to be strong.
But the paper in my hand.
The call.
The recording.
Everything was suddenly pointing in one direction.
I looked at her.
“Mom?””
She looked at me.
And the expression on her face terrified me.
Not guilt.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Pain.
“Darius…”
Her voice broke.
“There is something your father never told you.””
Simone stepped closer.
“Darius, listen to her.””
I turned toward her.
“You knew?””
She shook her head quickly.
“Not everything.””
“But enough.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
Again.
The room seemed to shrink around us.
I looked at the phone.
“Aunt Renee, why are you telling me this now?””
Her answer came immediately.
“Because the person who set this entire thing in motion knows I found out.””
“Who?””
A pause.
Then:
“Someone is coming for that contract.””
I looked around.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then the ballroom doors slowly opened.
Every person turned.
A figure stood in the doorway.
Holding the missing envelope.
The envelope Marcus had taken.
My breath stopped.
Because it wasn’t Marcus.
It wasn’t a stranger.
It was someone wearing a smile I had known my entire life.
And the first words out of their mouth were:
“Darius, before you accuse anyone else…”
May you like
The person lifted the envelope.
“…you should know what Simone was really planning to do after you signed those papers.””
