Chapter 5: The Woman Who Signed Twice
Renee reached the side stairs before Derrick caught up with her.
“Renee!””
She spun around.
“Get away from me!””
“You're not going anywhere.””
Derrick grabbed the railing.
“You're going to explain everything.””
“I don't owe you anything.””
“You owe Aaliyah.””
Renee looked past him.
Aaliyah stood onstage beside Monique.
Their eyes met.
Renee's expression changed.
For a moment, she looked less like a villain and more like a woman watching her entire life collapse.
Then she whispered,
“You don't know what your mother did.””
Aaliyah stepped toward the stairs.
“Then tell me.””
Renee laughed bitterly.
“She lied to you.””
Monique shook her head.
“No.””
“She lied about Marcus.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Careful.””
Renee looked at him.
“You were obsessed with her.””
“I loved her.””
“You threatened Derrick.””
“Because he was going to abandon her.””
Derrick turned.
“What?””
Marcus's voice broke.
“Monique told me you were leaving.””
Derrick looked at Monique.
“I never left you.””
“You did,” Monique whispered.
Derrick stared at her.
“When?””
“Every time you believed Renee instead of me.””
The words landed harder than a shout.
Aaliyah looked between them.
“Stop.””
Everyone fell silent.
She walked down the stairs.
“I don't care who loved who twenty years ago.””
Her eyes fixed on Renee.
“I want to know what happened to my mother.””
Renee's mouth tightened.
“You really want the truth?””
“Yes.””
“Then ask her what happened the night she disappeared.””
Monique's face went rigid.
Aaliyah turned.
“Mom?””
Monique looked at Marcus.
He gave the smallest shake of his head.
“Tell her,” Marcus said.
Monique swallowed.
“I went to Renee's house.””
Derrick frowned.
“Why?””
“I had the bank records.””
Renee laughed.
“You had more than bank records.””
Monique looked at her.
“You knew I had proof.””
“I knew you had copies.””
“What copies?”” Derrick asked.
Monique reached into the folder.
“There were recordings.””
Derrick stared.
“Of what?””
“Renee discussing the money.””
Renee shook her head.
“Those recordings were destroyed.””
Marcus said, “You thought they were.””
Aaliyah's eyes narrowed.
“You have them?””
Marcus nodded.
“Not all of them.””
He pulled out his phone.
“I recovered one.””
Renee's face drained of color.
“No.””
Marcus pressed play.
Static filled the auditorium.
Then a woman's voice came through.
Young.
Controlled.
Familiar.
Renee.
> “If she tells Derrick, we're finished.””
Another voice answered.
Monique.
> “You stole from him.””
Renee's recording continued.
> “I protected this family.””
> “You protected yourself.””
> “Then maybe you should have thought about that before you started digging.””
Aaliyah's hand flew to her mouth.
The recording stopped.
Derrick stared at Renee.
“You said those things?””
Renee shook her head.
“It was manipulated.””
Calvin interrupted.
“We authenticated it six years ago.””
Renee looked at him.
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't you arrest me?””
“Because the recording wasn't enough.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Until now.””
Renee looked toward the evidence folder.
“What did you find?””
Monique answered.
“The transfer records.””
Renee's eyes widened.
Derrick whispered, “You stole millions?””
Renee didn't respond.
Derrick's voice rose.
“How much?””
Still nothing.
Marcus said,
“Enough to make killing someone look cheaper than returning it.””
Aaliyah stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus hesitated.
“Renee hired someone.””
The auditorium erupted with whispers.
Renee's face twisted.
“I never hired anyone.””
Monique closed her eyes.
“You gave him my address.””
Renee shouted, “I didn't know what he would do!””
Derrick went still.
“Who?””
Renee looked at him.
“I thought he would scare her.””
Aaliyah's voice was barely audible.
“Who?””
Renee didn't answer.
Monique did.
“Leon Carter.””
Aaliyah frowned.
“Carter?””
Derrick looked confused.
“Who is Leon Carter?””
Monique's eyes filled with tears.
“My brother.””
Aaliyah looked at the photograph again.
The hospital bracelet.
The date.
The blacked-out name.
Her fingers began shaking.
“Leon…”
Marcus nodded.
“Your uncle.””
Renee suddenly sat down.
Aaliyah stared at her.
“You said you didn't know who was wearing that bracelet.””
Renee looked away.
Aaliyah held up the photograph.
“You knew.””
Renee covered her face.
“I didn't know he would die.””
The auditorium went silent again.
Derrick whispered,
“What did you just say?””
Renee lowered her hands.
“He was supposed to make her disappear.””
Monique's voice cracked.
“He took my brother instead.””
Aaliyah looked at the hospital bracelet.
Everything clicked.
The accident.
The missing body.
The death certificate.
The story she had heard since childhood.
It wasn't her mother who had died.
It was someone else.
Someone Renee had used to manufacture a death.
Aaliyah turned toward Calvin.
“Then how did my mother survive?””
Calvin looked at Monique.
Monique answered.
“Someone found me before he could finish.””
Marcus nodded.
“I did.””
Aaliyah looked at him.
“You saved her?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't you bring her home?””
Marcus's eyes filled with pain.
“Because I was arrested two days later.””
Derrick whispered,
“For her murder.””
Marcus nodded.
“Renee planted my fingerprints in the car.””
Renee stood abruptly.
“You were driving!””
“I was trying to get Monique away!””
“You caused the crash!””
“I wasn't the one who pushed her car!””
Derrick looked at Renee.
“Who did?””
Renee's face went blank.
She didn't answer.
Calvin's phone rang again.
He answered.
“Calvin Brooks.””
He listened.
Then his eyes moved toward Monique.
“What?””
Monique's face tightened.
“What happened?””
Calvin lowered the phone.
“The second vault was opened.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Who accessed it?””
Calvin looked at Aaliyah.
“Your mother.””
Aaliyah frowned.
“My mother is standing right here.””
Calvin shook his head.
“That's the problem.””
He showed them the screen.
The access record displayed a name.
*MONIQUE CARTER.*
Aaliyah looked at her mother.
Monique stared at the phone in disbelief.
“I didn't open anything.””
Renee suddenly began laughing.
Everyone turned toward her.
She wiped tears from her face.
“You really thought I was the only one hiding something?””
Aaliyah's blood ran cold.
Renee pointed at Monique.
“Ask your mother why she was using a second identity.””
Monique went completely still.
Derrick stared at her.
“Monique?””
Aaliyah whispered,
“What identity?””
May you like
Monique looked at her daughter.
And this time, she had no answer.
