Chapter 5: The Dinner She Brought
I called 911.
Mom protested.
I ignored her.
After everything I had learned in the previous hour, I wasn't taking chances with her health.
Not anymore.
Especially not around Nia.
The paramedics arrived quickly.
By then, most of the hotel staff had disappeared from the ballroom, leaving only the people who had become trapped inside this nightmare with me.
The paramedics checked Mom's blood pressure.
Her heart rate.
Her oxygen.
One of them asked what had happened.
Mom tried to say she was exhausted.
I told him she'd spent hours stranded beside a highway.
His expression changed.
“We'd like to take you in for evaluation.””
Mom sighed.
“I'm not having a heart attack.””
“That's good,” he said.
“Let's keep it that way.””
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then I noticed Nia near the exit.
She had her purse.
“Where are you going?””
She stopped.
“Home.””
“No.””
Her eyes widened.
“You don't get to tell me where I can go.””
“Maybe not.””
I stood.
“But the police might.””
Diane gasped.
Nia stared at me.
“You called the police?””
“My mother was deliberately stranded.””
“Derrick did that!””
“You hired Derrick.””
“To delay her!””
“You took her phone.””
“I didn't.””
“Your plan required somebody to take it.””
She shook her head.
“I never told him to steal anything.””
Robert spoke from behind her.
“Then stay and explain that.””
She looked at him.
“You're choosing them?””
Robert's face crumpled.
“I'm choosing the truth.””
“You're my father.””
“And you're my daughter.””
His voice broke.
“That's why this hurts.””
Nia looked toward Diane.
“Mom?””
Diane couldn't meet her eyes.
For the first time, Nia looked truly alone.
Part of me wanted to go to her.
That instinct terrified me.
After everything, some piece of my brain still recognized her tears and wanted to comfort her.
Five years didn't disappear in an hour.
Love didn't shut off because the truth arrived.
It just became painful.
The police arrived before the ambulance left.
Two officers entered.
One spoke with Mom.
The other asked me what happened.
I didn't know where to begin.
“My wife arranged for someone to pick up my mother under false pretenses.””
The officer looked toward Nia.
“Your wife?””
I stared at the wedding ring on my hand.
“Yes.””
Saying it made me feel sick.
Mom was taken to the hospital.
I went with her.
Daniel insisted on driving behind us.
Before leaving, I gave the officers copies of everything Mom had brought.
The emails.
The business card.
The photograph.
The documents.
Nia watched me hand them over.
She didn't say goodbye.
Neither did I.
At the hospital, doctors ran tests.
Dehydration.
Exhaustion.
Elevated blood pressure.
No heart attack.
No immediate crisis.
I sat beside Mom's bed after midnight.
Her torn dress had been replaced with a hospital gown.
Someone had cleaned the dirt from her face.
Without the wedding chaos around us, she suddenly looked small.
Old.
I hated myself for noticing.
“I'm sorry.””
She looked at me.
“For what?””
“For not believing you.””
“You didn't know.””
“I should have.””
“No.””
Her voice was firm.
“Don't make yourself responsible for someone else's deception.””
“I stopped calling.””
“So did I.””
“Because she told you I didn't want you around.””
Mom looked toward the window.
“For a while.””
“What changed?””
“I started noticing inconsistencies.””
She rubbed her hands together.
“You'd tell me you were sorry you missed dinner.””
I frowned.
“And?””
“I hadn't invited you.””
My stomach tightened.
“She told me you had.””
“I know.””
“Why didn't you say something?””
“I thought maybe I'd forgotten.””
She gave a sad laugh.
“Getting older makes you doubt yourself.””
I took her hand.
“What else?””
“She told me you were upset that I kept asking about grandchildren.””
I blinked.
“You never asked.””
“Exactly.””
“She told me you were pressuring her.””
Mom shook her head.
“I knew better than to get involved in that.””
I stared at the floor.
“She made us both think the other person was hurting us.””
“Yes.””
“For years.””
“Yes.””
The word barely came out.
Then I remembered.
“The dinner.””
Mom became still.
“What happened?””
She looked at me.
“Nia came over with chicken, vegetables, and some kind of rice dish.””
“When?””
“March seventeenth.””
I remembered that evening.
Nia came home around ten.
She said she'd been helping Diane.
Again.
“What happened after you ate?””
“I felt fine for about an hour.””
“And then?””
“Stomach pain.””
“How bad?””
Mom hesitated.
“Bad.””
“How bad?””
“I couldn't stand.””
My chest tightened.
“You never told me that.””
“I called you.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Twice.””
My phone.
Blocked number.
“When I couldn't reach you, I called an ambulance.””
“What did the doctors say?””
“They suspected food poisoning or a severe reaction.””
“To what?””
“They didn't know.””
“Did they test the food?””
“There wasn't any left.””
I frowned.
“You threw it away?””
“No.””
Mom looked directly at me.
“Nia came by the next morning.””
Cold moved through me.
“What?””
“She said you told her I was in the hospital.””
“I didn't even know.””
“I know that now.””
“What did she do?””
“She cleaned my kitchen.””
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“She took the leftovers.””
“Yes.””
“Did you ask why?””
“She said they might have caused the illness and she was throwing them away.””
“Mom.””
“I was sick, Michael.””
Her eyes filled.
“I wasn't thinking like this.””
I squeezed her hand.
“You shouldn't have needed to.””
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
“Hey.””
“Where are you?””
“With Mom.””
“She okay?””
“Physically, yes.””
He hesitated.
“What?””
“You need to come back to your house.””
I sat straighter.
“Why?””
“The police are here.””
“What happened?””
“Someone broke in.””
I looked at Mom.
“When?””
“They don't know.””
“Is Nia there?””
Another pause.
“Yes.””
Something in his voice bothered me.
“What aren't you saying?””
“Michael…”
“Say it.””
“They found your home office open.””
My stomach dropped.
“What was taken?””
“I don't know.””
“Daniel.””
He lowered his voice.
“The safe is empty.””
I stood.
Mom grabbed my wrist.
“What?””
“Our safe.””
She knew what was inside.
Passports.
Birth certificates.
Dad's old financial records.
A few pieces of jewelry.
And one thing Nia knew I kept there.
My father's handwritten journal.
After Dad died, Mom gave it to me.
I had never read all of it.
I couldn't.
His final months were inside those pages.
“What else?”” I asked.
Daniel exhaled.
“The police found Nia carrying a bag.””
I closed my eyes.
“What was in it?””
“Cash.””
“How much?””
“About thirty thousand.””
My chest tightened.
We didn't keep thirty thousand dollars at home.
“Where did it come from?””
“They don't know yet.””
Daniel paused.
“And there were two passports.””
“Whose?””
“Hers.””
I waited.
“And?””
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“Yours.””
I looked at my wedding ring.
Nia had been preparing to leave.
Maybe with me.
Maybe without me.
“I'm coming.””
Mom squeezed my hand.
“Michael.””
I looked at her.
“Stay here.””
“You shouldn't go alone.””
“Daniel's there.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“I mean emotionally.””
That almost broke me.
“I married her today.””
Mom's eyes softened.
“I know.””
“I stood in front of everyone and promised her my life.””
“I know.””
“What kind of idiot does that?””
“The kind who trusted someone he loved.””
I looked away.
“I don't know what's real anymore.””
Mom squeezed my hand again.
“I am.””
I looked at her.
“I am real.””
Her voice trembled.
“And I'm still here.””
I leaned forward and hugged her.
For a few seconds, I was eight years old again.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
I opened it.
One sentence.
ASK NIA ABOUT THE STORAGE UNIT ON HAWTHORNE.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
UNIT 314.
Then a third.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW I KEPT COPIES.
I called the number immediately.
No answer.
“Who is it?”” Mom asked.
“I don't know.””
I showed her.
She frowned.
“Hawthorne Storage?””
“You know it?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Her face changed.
“Your father rented a unit there years ago.””
“What for?””
“Old company records.””
I stared at her.
“Does Nia know that?””
Mom looked frightened.
“She might.””
“How?””
“Because two months ago, she asked me where your father kept his original business files.””
My phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
A storage unit.
Metal shelves.
Boxes.
And Nia.
She was standing beside a table covered in documents.
But she wasn't alone.
A man stood beside her.
I zoomed in.
I didn't recognize him.
Mom did.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“No.””
“Who is he?””
She stared at the screen.
“That is Gregory Mills.””
May you like
The financial adviser.
The man Nia claimed she'd never met.
