Chapter 9
Malik arrived at 8:12 the next morning.
He came through the hospital door carrying a backpack, a paper bag, and enough panic for three people.
Nia barely had time to smile before he wrapped his arms around her.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
She buried her face against his chest.
For the first time since the airport, she let herself fall apart.
He didn't say anything.
He just held her.
Lauren quietly stepped into the hallway.
Charles followed.
Malik kissed the top of Nia's head.
"You scared ten years off my life."
"I'm sorry."
"No, you're not."
She laughed through tears.
"No."
He pulled back.
"Baby okay?"
"Baby is grounded until college."
"Good."
He kissed her belly.
"You hear that?"
A kick answered.
Malik stared.
Nia smiled.
"She's opinionated."
"She gets that from you."
"Everybody keeps saying that."
He sat on the edge of the bed.
Then his face changed.
"Now."
Nia sighed.
"Now what?"
"Tell me everything you didn't tell me last night."
She stared.
"You know me too well."
"Unfortunately."
So she told him.
Charles.
Monica.
The affair.
Richard.
Renee.
The documents.
The possibility Charles had been too afraid to say out loud.
Malik listened.
When she finished, he took her hand.
"Whatever those papers say, you're still you."
"I know."
"Do you?"
She looked away.
"Nia."
"What if Charles isn't my father?"
Malik was quiet.
Not because he didn't know what to say.
Because he refused to give her something cheap.
Finally, he said, "Then Charles is still the man who failed you."
She looked at him.
"And the man who's trying now."
Her eyes filled.
"Both stay true."
He squeezed her hand.
"And if he is your biological father, same thing."
Nia laughed softly.
"That's very annoying."
"I practice."
At ten o'clock, Detective Ruiz arranged a meeting room inside a police station near the hospital.
Nia's doctor wouldn't let her leave.
So technology did the work.
Renee appeared on a secure video call from the station with Detective Ruiz beside her.
Lauren and Charles returned to Nia's room.
Malik stayed near the bed.
Renee placed a thick folder on the table.
"This is what Monica kept."
Charles looked sick.
Renee opened it.
Old bank records.
Photocopies of ledgers.
Handwritten notes.
Letters.
A document signed by Richard Voss.
Nia watched from the screen.
"What is that?"
Renee looked at her.
"A statement Richard wrote six weeks before he died."
Charles frowned.
"I never knew about this."
"No."
Renee picked it up.
"He gave it to Monica."
"Why?"
"Guilt."
Charles laughed bitterly.
"Richard didn't have guilt."
"People get religious when doctors tell them they're dying."
Renee unfolded the pages.
"He admitted falsifying records."
Charles went still.
"He admitted framing me."
Renee's voice tightened.
"He admitted threatening Monica."
Nia whispered, "And?"
Renee stared through the screen.
"He admitted paying someone to interfere with your custody case."
Charles stood.
"What?"
Renee continued.
"He bribed an investigator hired by Monica's attorney."
Charles looked stunned.
"Why?"
"To make sure Monica remained afraid of you."
Nia frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
Renee turned another page.
"It does if Richard needed Charles distracted."
Charles's face changed.
"During the investor investigation."
Renee nodded.
"Exactly."
Lauren looked between them.
"So he used Nia."
Renee's eyes softened.
"Yes."
Nia felt sick.
A child turned into leverage.
Not because of love.
Not even because of hatred.
Because grown men were afraid of losing money.
Renee continued.
"There's more."
Nia tensed.
Renee pulled out a sealed envelope.
Monica's handwriting was on the front.
FOR NIA.
Nia stopped breathing.
"I've had this for twelve years," Renee whispered.
Nia stared at her.
"Why?"
"Your mother made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"To give it to you when you were ready."
Nia laughed in disbelief.
"When was that supposed to be?"
Renee's eyes filled.
"I kept telling myself not yet."
Nia's anger flared.
"Everyone in my life keeps deciding when I'm ready for my own truth."
Renee lowered her head.
"You're right."
"Open it."
Renee looked up.
"It's yours."
"Open it."
"Nia—"
"Please."
Renee carefully opened the envelope.
Inside were three pages.
Her voice shook as she began.
"My sweet Nia..."
Nia closed her eyes.
She had almost forgotten the exact rhythm of her mother's voice.
Renee read.
"If you are reading this, then I waited too long again."
Nia's tears came instantly.
Malik took her hand.
"I spent years telling myself I was protecting you from your father. Sometimes I was. Sometimes I was protecting myself from admitting how angry I still was."
Charles looked down.
"I hid his letters."
Nia swallowed hard.
"I told myself you were too young to understand why he left. Then you became old enough, and I was ashamed to tell you how many years I had already stolen."
Lauren started crying.
Renee kept reading.
"Your father hurt me deeply. I hurt him too. Neither of those things gave me the right to make you carry our war."
Charles covered his eyes.
Nia stared at the screen.
Then Renee reached the line everyone feared.
"And there is one question I know you may have one day, because Richard made sure the doubt existed."
Charles looked up.
Nia stopped breathing.
Renee continued.
"Richard was never your father."
Charles's knees almost gave out.
He grabbed the chair.
Nia closed her eyes.
Malik kissed her hand.
Lauren exhaled so loudly it almost sounded like a sob.
Renee read on.
"I never slept with him. He wanted Charles to believe otherwise because jealousy made Charles easier to control."
Charles sat.
Tears ran down his face.
Nia couldn't look at him yet.
Her mother continued through Renee's voice.
"Charles Whitmore is your biological father. More importantly, he loved you, even when he failed to love you bravely."
Nia broke.
Malik held her.
Across the room, Charles cried quietly.
Lauren placed a hand on his shoulder.
Renee stopped reading for a moment.
Then continued.
"I hope one day you can forgive me for hiding the letters. I hope one day you can forgive him for not knocking on the door hard enough."
Nia laughed through tears.
That sounded exactly like her mother.
"Most of all, I hope you build a family where nobody uses silence as punishment."
Renee's voice cracked.
"I love you. Mom."
Nobody spoke.
Not for a long time.
Finally, Nia whispered, "She knew."
Renee nodded.
"She knew she had made mistakes."
"So did you."
Renee looked down.
"Yes."
Nia wiped her eyes.
"I'm angry with you."
"You should be."
"I love you."
Renee looked up.
"I love you too."
Nia nodded.
"Both can be true."
Charles made a broken sound that might have been a laugh.
Nia looked at him.
He met her eyes.
There were decades between them.
Lost birthdays.
Unopened letters.
Court papers.
Fear.
Pride.
Silence.
Nia said, "You're still not forgiven."
Charles nodded immediately.
"I know."
"But I believe you loved me."
His face crumpled.
"Thank you."
"Don't make me regret saying that."
"I won't."
Nia almost smiled.
Then Detective Ruiz spoke.
"There's something else."
Everyone turned.
She held up a small USB drive.
"The flash drive Grant left in Savannah has been examined."
Charles's face hardened.
"What was on it?"
"Copies of the same historical documents."
Renee frowned.
"How?"
"Scans."
Charles swore.
Detective Ruiz continued.
"But there were also recent spreadsheets."
Lauren sat straighter.
"What spreadsheets?"
"Halcyon payment records."
Charles looked grim.
"The fraudulent vendors."
"Yes."
"Anything tying them to Grant?"
"More than that."
The detective paused.
"The files suggest Mr. Mercer wasn't acting alone."
Charles froze.
"Who?"
Detective Ruiz looked at him.
"Your chief financial officer."
Charles stared.
"Rebecca?"
Lauren's mouth dropped open.
Nia whispered, "The woman helping you investigate him?"
The detective nodded.
"Potentially."
Charles shook his head.
"No."
"Some of the transfers required her authorization."
Charles grabbed his phone.
Malik said, "Don't call her."
Charles stopped.
Detective Ruiz nodded.
"Do not alert anyone."
Lauren looked terrified.
"Grant knew Dad would ask Rebecca to investigate."
Nia understood.
"So the flash drive wasn't a mistake."
"No," Malik said.
"He wanted you to find it."
Charles looked at the screen.
Detective Ruiz continued.
"It appears Grant may have copied evidence as insurance."
Charles stared.
"Against Rebecca?"
"Against everyone."
Nia thought about Grant at the airport.
The arrogance.
The panic.
The threats.
He hadn't just been a cruel man exposed by chance.
He had been carrying around enough stolen money and secrets to destroy careers.
Maybe a company.
Maybe lives.
Lauren whispered, "If Rebecca knows Grant has evidence against her..."
Malik finished.
"Then Grant isn't only dangerous to you."
Detective Ruiz nodded.
At that exact moment, Charles's phone buzzed.
A text.
He looked down.
His face changed.
"Who is it?" Nia asked.
He turned the screen.
Rebecca.
CALL ME NOW. GRANT IS MISSING.
Charles stared at it.
Another message appeared.
HE TOOK SOMETHING FROM THE OFFICE.
Then another.
CHARLES, THIS IS SERIOUS.
Malik stood.
"Don't answer."
Charles looked at Nia.
For the first time in her life, her father wasn't making the decision alone.
He was asking without words.
Nia nodded toward Detective Ruiz.
"Give her the phone."
Charles did.
The detective read the messages.
Then asked, "What could Grant have taken from your office?"
Charles stared at the wall.
Slowly, the color drained from his face.
"There was one thing."
Lauren whispered, "What?"
Charles swallowed.
"An original ledger."
Renee's eyes widened on the screen.
"You still had it?"
Charles nodded.
"Locked in a private safe."
Detective Ruiz frowned.
"What did it contain?"
Charles looked at Nia.
"Every payment Richard made during Halcyon's first five years."
Renee whispered, "Including the names?"
"All of them."
Nia's stomach tightened.
Charles continued.
"Politicians. Investors. Consultants."
Malik looked at him.
"Blackmail material."
Charles didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Lauren's phone began ringing.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
Detective Ruiz said, "Don't answer."
The call stopped.
Then a voicemail arrived.
Lauren stared.
The detective asked her to forward it.
Seconds later, she played it on speaker.
Grant's voice filled the hospital room.
Calm.
Too calm.
"Lauren, I'm giving you one chance to fix this."
Nia felt cold.
"If your father calls the police, the ledger goes public."
Charles closed his eyes.
"If Nia presses charges, it goes public."
Nia's jaw tightened.
"And if you end the wedding..."
A pause.
"...it goes public."
Lauren stared at the phone.
Grant continued.
"You have until tomorrow at noon."
Then the voicemail ended.
Silence.
Lauren looked at her father.
Charles looked at Nia.
The old version of their family would have panicked.
Hidden things.
Made deals.
Protected reputations.
Sacrificed the person with the least power.
Nia could almost see the pattern waiting for them.
Then Lauren stood.
"No."
Charles looked at her.
"What?"
Lauren's hands shook.
But her voice didn't.
"No more."
She picked up her phone.
"He wants the wedding?"
Nia frowned.
"Lauren."
May you like
A strange calm entered her sister's face.
"Then let's give him one."
