Chapter 9 - Charlotte
Charlotte was a city.
Not a woman.
Nia was almost disappointed by the relief she felt.
Then Keisha explained.
Andre had mentioned a property seminar in Charlotte, North Carolina, months earlier.
He claimed Wells Family Ventures had been evaluating an investment there.
Nia searched their calendar.
Andre had gone to Charlotte in April.
He told Nia it was a regional sales conference.
She remembered packing his suitcase.
Keisha sent another screenshot.
Charlotte deal might solve everything. If I can get 20K liquid, I can lock in my share.
Nia stared.
Twenty thousand.
The missing line in the cash-out strategy.
She called Andre again.
No answer.
So Nia searched.
Wells Family Ventures did not own property in Charlotte according to public county records she could easily locate by name.
She searched Andre’s email, but only the joint household account she was authorized to access.
One hotel receipt.
One rental car.
Nothing else.
At home that evening, Andre returned for clothes.
Nia was waiting.
“Charlotte.”
He stopped.
“Keisha needs to learn when to shut up.”
“That reaction tells me plenty.”
“It was an investment group.”
“What group?”
“Private.”
“Name.”
Andre stared at her.
“You hired a lawyer?”
Nia kept her face neutral.
“Why?”
“You’re talking like one.”
“Answer the question.”
He laughed bitterly.
“So that’s where we are.”
“Where are we?”
“You’ve decided I’m some kind of scammer.”
“I’ve decided I’m done accepting vague nouns.”
Andre looked confused.
“Vague nouns?”
“Investment. Opportunity. Future. Security. Family. You keep using words that sound responsible instead of telling me what you actually did.”
His expression changed.
For once, he had no prepared response.
“Charlotte was a group of investors buying distressed rentals.”
“How much did you put in?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did you need twenty thousand?”
“To participate.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The deal fell apart.”
“Before or after you took money from our savings?”
“Before.”
Nia watched him carefully.
“Can you prove that?”
His jaw tightened.
“I don’t need to prove every thought I ever had.”
“You do if the thought involved using home equity I own.”
Andre placed shirts into his bag.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
Nia felt almost physically struck by the logic.
“Because I would object?”
“Because you kill every risk before it has a chance.”
“I’m not interested in gambling our house.”
“That’s not gambling.”
“You planned to pull equity from our home to invest in a private real estate deal and a duplex with your ex.”
“She is not my ex in the way you keep making it sound.”
“She is literally your former partner.”
“She is Malik’s mother.”
“Both things can be true.”
Andre zipped the bag.
“You know what your problem is?”
Nia folded her arms.
“Go ahead.”
“You think responsibility gives you moral authority.”
“And you think ambition gives you permission.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then his shoulders dropped.
“I was trying to build enough assets so none of us had to struggle.”
Nia’s voice softened.
“We weren’t struggling.”
Andre looked away.
That was the wound.
He had invented scarcity because scarcity gave him leverage.
Nia stepped closer.
“Why did you tell me we couldn’t afford groceries?”
He did not answer.
“Why did you make the household feel poor when you were planning investments?”
“I needed cash flow.”
“You needed me to spend less.”
“Yes.”
The admission hung in the room.
Nia’s eyes filled.
“Why didn’t you spend less?”
Andre swallowed.
“Nia.”
“No. Say it.”
He looked miserable.
She continued.
“I canceled my birthday. Maya returned shoes. I stopped contributions to her education fund. You sat at Bellmont eating lobster.”
“I didn’t eat lobster.”
Nia stared at him.
Andre instantly knew how absurd the correction sounded.
She laughed once.
“Get out.”
He picked up the bag.
At the door, he turned.
“There was never another woman.”
Nia shook her head.
“You still think that’s the standard.”
“What does that mean?”
“You think because you didn’t sleep with Keisha, the rest is smaller.”
Andre’s expression shifted.
Nia continued.
“You built a future I wasn’t allowed to know about using money I was helping you save.”
He left.
Later that night, Keisha called.
“Malik said something.”
Nia’s chest tightened.
“What?”
“He asked if his dad was still buying the building where they would work together.”
Nia sat up.
“What building?”
“I don’t know.”
Keisha sounded frightened.
“He said Andre showed him pictures.”
Nia thought of the corkboard inside Suite 214.
Two houses.
A duplex.
A commercial lot.
“Did Malik say what kind?”
Keisha was quiet.
“He said a gym.”
Nia closed her eyes.
Andre had once dreamed of owning a training facility.
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Then Keisha added:
“He told Malik your house would pay for it.”
