Chapter 9 - Darius’s Suspicion
Kiara read Marcus’s message aloud.
“Ask your man why he was checking on you before any of this happened.”
Renee looked at Darius.
“What is he talking about?”
Darius said nothing.
Kiara stood.
“You were checking on me?”
Darius rubbed his jaw.
“I noticed money missing.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“And?”
“And I started looking.”
“At what?”
“Our account.”
“That’s your account too.”
“Yes.”
“My phone?”
“No.”
“My email?”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Darius pulled out a chair.
“Sit down.”
Kiara laughed bitterly.
“You hate when I say that.”
“You’re right.”
He remained standing instead.
“Four months ago, when you said your debit card got compromised, something didn’t make sense.”
“The three hundred.”
“Yes.”
“You already suspected me?”
“I suspected the explanation.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I asked.”
“When?”
“The next day.”
Kiara remembered.
Darius had casually asked whether the bank had replaced her card.
She had said yes.
That had been a lie too.
Her anger stumbled.
Darius continued.
“I started downloading the monthly statements.”
“You always download statements.”
“Not like this.”
He opened his phone.
There was a spreadsheet.
Transaction date.
Amount.
Category.
Transfer destination.
He had highlighted unexplained withdrawals.
Kiara stared.
“You made a file about me.”
“I made a file about our money.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
Renee looked uncomfortable.
Kiara’s voice sharpened.
“And somehow I’m the secretive one?”
Darius nodded.
“You are.”
The answer stunned her.
“And I was secretive too.”
Kiara stared.
He did not defend himself.
“I saw patterns,” Darius said. “Money moved to your personal account after we agreed on one purpose, then the household expense never appeared.”
“Why didn’t you confront me?”
“Because I thought maybe I was becoming controlling.”
Renee’s expression softened.
Darius continued.
“My father used to track every dollar my mother spent.”
Kiara knew little about Darius’s father.
He had left when Darius was twelve.
“He would check receipts,” Darius said. “Question grocery prices. Accuse her of hiding money. When she bought herself anything, he acted like she stole from him.”
Kiara’s anger faded slightly.
“I promised myself I’d never become that.”
“So instead you secretly monitored me.”
“Yes.”
The irony sat between them.
Darius looked ashamed.
“When I noticed the transfers, I told myself if something was wrong, it would show itself.”
“It did.”
“Yes.”
“After thousands of dollars.”
“Yes.”
Kiara crossed her arms.
“So both of us were hiding.”
Darius’s face hardened.
“Do not make them equal.”
“I didn’t.”
“You were sending household money to your ex.”
“And you were building a financial surveillance file.”
“On an account with my name on it.”
“Without one conversation.”
“Because when I did ask questions, you lied.”
Kiara’s mouth closed.
Darius stepped closer.
“That is the difference.”
She looked down.
He was right.
Not completely.
But enough.
Renee finally spoke.
“Both of you found secrecy safer than conflict.”
They looked at her.
Renee shrugged.
“Doesn’t mean the consequences are equal.”
Darius sat.
He pushed the phone toward Kiara.
“Look at everything.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“The spreadsheet. Look.”
Kiara took it.
He had marked five questionable transfers.
Four led toward Marcus.
One did not.
$900.
August.
Kiara looked up.
“That was the couch.”
“I know.”
“You marked it.”
“Before I figured it out.”
She scrolled.
There were notes beside each entry.
Ask K later.
Possible insurance.
Unknown.
Darius had never written thief.
Never written Marcus.
He had been looking for an explanation.
Kiara handed back the phone.
“I hate that you did this.”
“I know.”
“But I understand why.”
Darius nodded.
“I hate why I felt I needed to.”
They fell silent.
Marcus’s attempt to divide them had instead revealed another fracture.
Not as catastrophic.
Still real.
Kiara asked, “How did Marcus know?”
Darius looked at her.
“That’s the part bothering me.”
Only Kiara knew Darius had questioned the $300 transfer.
She had mentioned his suspicion to Marcus.
Months ago.
She remembered now.
Marcus had asked why she sounded anxious.
Kiara told him Darius was becoming “weird about money.”
She had vented.
Marcus had listened.
Then he told her Darius was probably controlling.
Kiara felt sick.
“I told him.”
Darius’s expression changed.
“What?”
“After you asked about the debit-card thing.”
“You discussed our finances with Marcus?”
“I was upset.”
Darius stood again.
“He knew I was suspicious because you warned him.”
“I didn’t think—”
“No.”
Darius held up his hand.
“Don’t say that.”
Kiara cried quietly.
Renee stared at the table.
Darius paced to the window.
Every new fact expanded the betrayal beyond money.
Marcus knew when Darius asked questions.
Marcus knew their account was tight.
Marcus knew Kiara’s emotional pressure points.
Marcus knew enough to frame Darius as controlling before Darius even knew Marcus was involved.
Darius turned.
“What else does he know about me?”
Kiara’s face went blank.
“What?”
“What have you told him?”
“Nothing important.”
Darius laughed.
“You told him I was tracking money.”
“That was one conversation.”
“You told him we were struggling.”
Silence.
Darius understood.
“You did.”
Kiara covered her mouth.
“I complained sometimes.”
“To your ex.”
“I didn’t see it like that.”
“That sentence again.”
Kiara looked devastated.
Darius’s anger no longer felt hot.
It felt exhausted.
He walked to the table and closed the notebook.
“I’m done tonight.”
Kiara whispered, “Darius.”
“I need one room where Marcus isn’t sitting between us.”
He went toward the bedroom.
Before closing the door, he looked back.
“Tomorrow, you tell me everything he knows.”
He paused.
“Not about money.”
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
His eyes met hers.
“About us.”
