Chapter 6
Grant did not leave.
For forty-three minutes, he stayed in the hospital lobby.
He called Lauren nineteen times.
He called Charles eight times.
He called Nia once.
Nia stared at his name on her phone until it stopped ringing.
Then came the text.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DESTROYED.
Malik read it through the video call.
"Screenshot that."
"Already did."
"Send it to yourself somewhere else."
"Already did."
Charles looked at him.
"You've dealt with this before?"
Malik's jaw tightened.
"My sister had an ex who liked threatening messages."
Nia reached for the phone.
"We don't need to—"
"We absolutely do."
Malik's voice stayed calm.
But she knew that tone.
"We keep everything."
Lauren sat in the corner.
Grant's old ring was still in the trash.
She hadn't moved to retrieve it.
That mattered.
A knock came again.
This time the security guard entered with a woman wearing a dark blazer.
She showed an identification card.
"Detective Elena Ruiz, Chicago Police Department."
Nia straightened.
The detective looked at her.
"Ms. Brooks?"
"Yes."
"I understand you may have been assaulted at the airport."
Nia glanced at Lauren.
Then Charles.
"Yes."
The detective pulled up a chair.
"Would you like to make a report?"
Nia hesitated.
Not because she wanted to protect Grant.
Because she was exhausted.
Her body hurt.
Her baby could still come early.
Her family had detonated in a single afternoon.
And filing a police report felt like opening another door she would never get to close.
Lauren spoke quietly.
"Please do it."
Nia looked at her.
Lauren's eyes were red.
"If he gets away with what he did to you, he'll tell himself it never happened."
The words came from experience.
Nia knew it.
So did everyone else.
She nodded.
"I'll report it."
The detective began asking questions.
Nia answered slowly.
The suitcase.
The shove.
The witnesses.
Grant's words.
His claim that he hadn't known who she was.
The detective paused.
"He said that?"
Nia nodded.
"Several people recorded it."
"Good."
Charles gave her the name of the airport security officer.
The detective took notes.
When the questions were finished, she looked at Lauren.
"Ms. Whitmore, hospital security mentioned the same man is asking for you."
Lauren stiffened.
"Yes."
"Do you feel safe going home?"
Lauren looked down.
"No."
It was one word.
It sounded like freedom and terror at the same time.
The detective nodded.
"Has he ever hit you?"
Lauren hesitated.
"No."
"Has he shoved you?"
"Once."
"Grabbed you?"
"Yes."
"Threatened you?"
"Not directly."
"What does that mean?"
Lauren swallowed.
"He says things."
"What kind of things?"
Lauren stared at her hands.
"If I leave him, nobody will want me."
The detective waited.
"He says everyone thinks I'm spoiled."
Another pause.
"He said if I embarrassed him, he could make sure people knew what I'm really like."
Nia frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Lauren shook her head.
"I don't know."
The detective did.
"Sometimes threats work better when they're vague."
Lauren looked at her.
"Exactly."
The detective asked for Grant's messages.
Lauren unlocked her phone.
There were hundreds.
At first glance, many looked ordinary.
Where are you?
Call me.
Why aren't you answering?
We need to talk.
Then the tone changed.
STOP MAKING THIS WORSE.
YOUR FATHER IS USING YOU.
YOUR SISTER IS POISONING YOU AGAINST ME.
COME DOWNSTAIRS NOW.
DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE.
The detective looked at that one.
"Hospital security won't let him up."
Lauren gave a weak laugh.
"He doesn't know that."
Another message arrived.
I KNOW ABOUT THE BABY.
Nia sat upright.
"What?"
Lauren turned the phone.
Everyone saw it.
Charles stepped closer.
"What does that mean?"
Lauren shook her head.
"I don't know."
Malik's voice came sharply from the phone.
"Ask him."
Nia looked at Lauren.
"Don't."
Malik paused.
"You're right."
The detective nodded approvingly.
"Do not engage."
Another text appeared.
ASK NIA WHY SHE REALLY CAME TO SAVANNAH.
Nia frowned.
"What is he talking about?"
Lauren looked at her.
"I don't know."
Charles stared.
"Nia?"
She shook her head.
"I came because you asked me to."
Charles nodded.
The detective looked around.
"Is there any chance he's trying to lure someone into responding?"
"Yes," Lauren said immediately.
Nia looked at her.
Lauren swallowed.
"He does that."
"Explain."
"If I'm mad, he'll say something weird or cruel until I answer. Once I answer, he acts like the conversation is normal."
The detective nodded.
"Then don't give him the opening."
Charles's phone rang.
Rebecca.
He answered.
"Tell me."
Everyone watched.
His expression darkened.
"When?"
Pause.
"Does security have it?"
Another pause.
"Call the police."
He ended the call.
Nia sighed.
"What now?"
Charles looked at Lauren.
"Grant went to the Savannah house."
Lauren went still.
"How do you know?"
"The property manager called."
"He has a key."
"Not anymore."
Charles's voice was hard.
"I had the locks changed digitally."
Lauren stared at him.
"He got inside before they changed?"
Charles nodded.
"What did he take?"
"Your laptop."
Lauren stood.
"What?"
"The property manager says he also removed two suitcases and a file box from the office."
Lauren started toward the door.
Nia grabbed her wrist.
"No."
"That laptop has everything."
"What everything?"
Lauren looked terrified.
"My accounts. Wedding contracts. Tax returns."
Charles swore.
"And?"
Lauren's face changed.
Nia saw it.
"What?"
Lauren shook her head.
"Nothing."
"Lauren."
"It's nothing."
Nia let go of her wrist.
"Don't do that."
"What?"
"Lie because you're embarrassed."
Lauren's eyes filled.
Nia softened her voice.
"What else is on the laptop?"
Lauren sat down again.
"Journal entries."
Charles looked away, giving her privacy.
Lauren continued.
"I started writing things down after we got engaged."
Nia knew immediately.
"The fights."
Lauren nodded.
"Dates."
The detective leaned forward.
"Details?"
"Yes."
"Photographs?"
Lauren looked at her.
"A few."
"Of injuries?"
Lauren nodded.
Charles's head snapped toward her.
"What injuries?"
"Dad."
"What injuries?"
Lauren's voice broke.
"Bruises."
Charles turned away.
His hands shook.
Nia watched him fight every instinct telling him to storm downstairs and tear Grant apart.
The detective spoke carefully.
"Those records may be useful."
Lauren laughed bitterly.
"If he doesn't delete them."
"Did you back them up?"
She shook her head.
"Maybe to cloud storage. I don't know."
Charles looked at Nia.
"Malik?"
Malik had heard.
"I can walk her through checking."
Lauren stared at the phone.
"Now?"
"Now."
They spent ten minutes trying passwords.
The first failed.
The second failed.
Then Lauren remembered she'd changed it after Grant once demanded access to her phone.
The cloud account opened.
Her hands trembled as she searched.
A folder appeared.
JOURNAL.
Lauren covered her mouth.
"It's there."
The detective nodded.
"Do not open or edit anything right now. We can make a copy properly."
Lauren started crying.
Not because of the evidence.
Because something Grant thought he'd taken from her still existed.
Proof.
A record of her own memory.
The detective stood.
"I'm going downstairs."
Lauren looked up.
"Why?"
"Mr. Mercer has been asked to leave twice."
Charles's expression hardened.
"And if he doesn't?"
"He will."
The detective left.
Nia relaxed back against the pillow.
Then she felt a small kick.
She smiled despite herself.
Lauren saw.
"Is she okay?"
"She just kicked."
Lauren moved closer.
"Can I..."
She stopped.
Nia knew what she wanted.
For a second, all the anger returned.
Five years.
Five stolen years.
Five years Lauren could have told the truth.
Nia almost said no.
Then another kick rolled beneath her skin.
And Nia realized something.
Forgiveness didn't have to mean pretending.
It didn't erase anything.
It didn't even have to happen today.
But punishment didn't have to be permanent either.
She held out her hand.
Lauren stared.
"Come here."
Lauren stepped closer.
Nia took her hand and placed it against the side of her stomach.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Lauren looked disappointed.
Then the baby kicked hard.
Lauren gasped.
"Oh!"
Nia laughed.
Lauren laughed too.
Charles turned around.
He saw his daughters standing together.
One hand over the other.
For the first time all day, his face softened.
Lauren whispered, "She's strong."
"She gets that from me."
"Obviously."
Nia looked at her.
"Was that sarcasm?"
"Maybe."
"You've gotten brave in the last ten minutes."
Lauren smiled.
Then the hospital door opened again.
Detective Ruiz stepped inside.
Her expression had changed.
Charles stood.
"Did he leave?"
"Yes."
Lauren exhaled.
The detective continued.
"But before he did, he handed hospital security an envelope."
Nia frowned.
"For who?"
The detective looked at her.
"For you."
She held up a white envelope.
Nia's name was written across the front.
NIA BROOKS.
Charles reached for it.
The detective pulled it back.
"It's been photographed."
Nia held out her hand.
"I'll take it."
Charles frowned.
"Nia."
"It's mine."
The detective gave it to her.
The envelope wasn't sealed.
Nia pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
There was no letter.
Only a photocopy.
An old legal document.
Nia recognized her mother's name immediately.
Monica Brooks.
Charles leaned closer.
"What is that?"
Nia read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
Her hands started shaking.
Lauren noticed.
"Nia?"
Nia looked at Charles.
"You said my mother kept you from me."
His face went pale.
"She did."
"You said you tried to get custody."
"I did."
Nia turned the paper around.
"Then why does this say you voluntarily withdrew the petition?"
Charles stared at it.
Lauren looked between them.
"Dad?"
Charles didn't answer.
Nia read aloud.
"Petitioner Charles Whitmore voluntarily dismisses his request for expanded visitation."
Her voice cracked.
She looked at him.
"I was six."
Charles sat down.
Nia's heart pounded.
"You told me you fought for me."
"I did."
"Not according to this."
"It's more complicated."
Nia laughed.
There it was.
The sentence every adult used when the truth was worse than the story they had told a child.
"Of course it is."
"Nia."
"No."
She held up the paper.
"You stood outside the airport an hour ago and admitted you gave up too soon."
Charles nodded.
"I did."
"You didn't say you went to court and quit."
Lauren whispered, "Dad, what happened?"
Charles stared at the floor.
For a long moment, he didn't speak.
Then he whispered, "Your mother threatened to expose something."
Nia's blood went cold.
"What?"
Charles looked at her.
"It wasn't about custody."
"What was it about?"
He swallowed.
"Halcyon."
Nia stared.
Charles continued.
"The company was barely surviving then."
"I don't care about the company."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Nia's voice rose.
"You picked a company over your daughter?"
Charles closed his eyes.
"I thought I was protecting hundreds of employees."
"And I was six."
"I know."
Nia's breathing changed.
The monitor beeped faster.
Lauren moved toward her.
"Nia, breathe."
Nia ripped the blood pressure cuff loose from her arm.
Charles stood.
"Nia—"
"Don't touch me."
He stopped.
She looked at the photocopy.
Then at him.
"Grant knew."
Charles's face hardened.
Lauren whispered, "How?"
Nia looked at her.
"How did Grant know any of this?"
Lauren shook her head.
"I never told him."
Charles went still.
"If you didn't..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...then he got this from somewhere else."
Nia looked at the document.
Grant's threat suddenly felt different.
This wasn't just a cruel man lashing out.
He had information.
Old information.
Private information.
Information that could hurt Charles.
Information he had chosen to give Nia at exactly the moment it would cause the most damage.
Charles looked at Lauren.
"The laptop wasn't what he went to Savannah for."
Lauren understood.
"The file box."
Charles nodded.
Nia stared at him.
"What was in it?"
Charles's face turned grim.
"I don't know."
But nobody believed him.
Not completely.
And Nia could see that he knew it.
Her father had admitted one secret.
May you like
Grant had just proven there were more.
The only question was how many.
