Chapter 9: The Last Lie
The clicking of the locks echoed through the auditorium.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then silence.
Aaliyah looked toward the doors.
Nobody could get out.
Calvin immediately moved toward the nearest exit.
“Everyone stay calm.””
He pulled the handle.
Locked.
Derrick shouted toward the audience.
“Everyone stay where you are!””
Panic spread through the rows.
Children cried.
Parents stood.
Graduates shouted questions.
Aaliyah looked at Monique.
“What did Nia mean?””
Monique didn't answer.
“Tell me.””
Monique's lips trembled.
“I wanted to tell you myself.””
“Tell me what?””
“That I wasn't the woman who gave birth to you.””
Aaliyah stopped.
The words she'd heard before suddenly carried a different weight.
“What?””
Monique looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn lowered her head.
Marcus whispered,
“Mom…”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“I was nineteen.””
Aaliyah stared.
“When?””
“Before Marcus was born.””
Derrick frowned.
“What are you saying?””
Evelyn looked at Aaliyah.
“I had a daughter.””
Aaliyah's throat tightened.
“Who?””
Evelyn pointed toward Monique.
“Her.””
Monique began crying.
Derrick stared.
“Monique?””
“She was my daughter,” Evelyn said.
“And when she grew up, she had twins.””
Aaliyah's entire body went cold.
“Twins?””
Evelyn nodded.
“Two girls.””
Aaliyah looked toward Monique.
“You gave birth to us?””
Monique nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why did Nia say you're not my mother?””
Monique looked terrified.
“Because she doesn't know the truth.””
Aaliyah's voice rose.
“Then tell me!””
Monique stepped closer.
“I was your biological mother.””
“Was?””
Monique closed her eyes.
“I was.””
Aaliyah stared.
The auditorium seemed to disappear around her.
Derrick looked confused.
“What does that mean?””
Monique looked at him.
“It means I died twenty-two years ago.””
Aaliyah shook her head.
“No.””
Monique pointed toward the evidence folder.
“The woman standing here is not Monique Carter.””
Aaliyah stared.
“What?””
The woman in front of her reached slowly toward her own face.
She removed a small adhesive patch from beneath her jaw.
Then another from behind her ear.
Aaliyah stepped back.
The woman's appearance didn't change dramatically.
But something subtle did.
The scar above her eyebrow was gone.
The silver pendant was different.
And the shape of her face seemed slightly wrong.
Derrick whispered,
“Who are you?””
The woman began crying.
“My name is Simone Carter.””
Aaliyah stared.
“Simone?””
She nodded.
“I was Monique's identical twin.””
Marcus stumbled backward.
“No.””
Simone looked at him.
“Monique died the night of the crash.””
Aaliyah couldn't speak.
“You're saying my mother…”
“She died protecting you.””
Derrick's face crumpled.
“Then who raised you?””
Simone looked toward Renee.
“She did.””
Renee shook her head.
“I didn't know.””
“You knew enough.””
Aaliyah turned toward Renee.
“You knew she was dead?””
Renee nodded.
“I found out afterward.””
“Then why did you let me believe she was alive?””
“Because I couldn't tell you.””
“Why?””
Renee pointed toward the locked doors.
“Because the people who killed Monique were still looking for the twins.””
Aaliyah's heart pounded.
“Why would anyone want two babies?””
Simone whispered,
“Because of what their father discovered.””
Marcus looked at Derrick.
Derrick's face changed.
“What did I discover?””
Simone looked at him.
“You found the accounts.””
Derrick stared.
“The stolen money.””
“Yes.””
“That's why Renee was stealing from me?””
Simone nodded.
“She wasn't stealing for herself.””
Aaliyah looked at Renee.
“Then who was she stealing for?””
Renee's shoulders began shaking.
“No.””
Simone stepped closer.
“Tell her.””
Renee looked at Aaliyah.
“I was trying to buy time.””
“For who?””
Renee whispered,
“For you.””
Aaliyah stared.
“What?””
“They knew where you were.””
“Who?””
Renee looked toward Calvin.
“His people.””
Calvin's face hardened.
“My people?””
Renee nodded.
“The agency.””
Calvin's expression changed.
“What agency?””
Renee reached into her handbag.
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed a young Derrick standing beside a group of men.
One face had been circled in red.
Calvin stared at it.
“That's impossible.””
Derrick looked over his shoulder.
“Who is that?””
Calvin took the photograph.
His hands began shaking.
“That man died in 2005.””
Renee whispered,
“He didn't.””
The auditorium fell silent.
Aaliyah looked at the photograph.
The circled man was standing beside Derrick.
And beside him was a woman.
Monique.
Alive.
Aaliyah's voice barely came out.
“That's my mother.””
Simone shook her head.
“No.””
Aaliyah looked at her.
“Then who is she?””
Simone stared at the photograph.
“That isn't Monique.””
Derrick stepped closer.
“Then who is it?””
Simone whispered,
“Her twin.””
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
“But you said—”
“I said there were two babies.””
She looked toward Evelyn.
“There were three.””
Nobody moved.
Evelyn began crying.
Marcus whispered,
“Mom, no.””
Simone's voice broke.
“Monique had three daughters.””
Aaliyah stared.
“Three?””
Simone nodded.
“One was you.””
She looked at the photograph.
“One was Nia.””
Then she looked toward Renee.
“And the third was taken before anyone knew she existed.””
Aaliyah's blood ran cold.
“Where is she?””
Renee's face collapsed.
“I don't know.””
Simone stepped toward her.
“You've always known.””
“I don't.””
“You signed the transfer.””
Derrick stared at Renee.
“What transfer?””
Renee began shaking her head.
“No.””
Simone pulled a document from the evidence folder.
Aaliyah saw the signature immediately.
*Renee Carter.*
Beside it was a child's name.
The same birth date as Aaliyah.
But the child's first name had been blacked out.
Aaliyah reached for the paper.
“Who is this?””
Renee whispered,
“Your sister.””
Aaliyah looked at the blacked-out name.
“Why hide it?””
Renee's tears fell.
“Because that child was never supposed to survive.””
Aaliyah looked up.
“Who tried to kill her?””
Renee stared at her.
Then at Derrick.
Then at Simone.
Finally, she whispered,
“Your father.””
Derrick recoiled.
“What?””
Renee shook her head.
“Not you.””
Aaliyah's heart stopped.
“Then who?””
Renee pointed toward the auditorium entrance.
Aaliyah turned.
The doors had unlocked.
A man stood there.
Marcus.
No.
A different man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Wearing the same dark suit as the man in the photograph.
He looked directly at Derrick.
Then at Aaliyah.
May you like
And smiled.
“I think it's time you met your real father.””
