Chapter 6 - Three Years
Marcus came to Imani’s house at six that evening.
Imani opened the door but did not invite him inside.
“She doesn’t want to see you.”
“I need to talk to my wife.”
“You needed to talk to your wife three years ago.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Nia, standing ten feet behind Imani, saw it.
So Lauren had told the truth.
“Let him in,” Nia said.
Imani looked over her shoulder.
“You sure?”
“No.”
She stepped aside anyway.
Marcus entered.
He looked exhausted.
He also looked familiar, which Nia hated.
Marriage did that.
It made even the person who wounded you look like home.
They sat in the living room.
Imani disappeared upstairs but made it obvious she was not going far.
Nia did not offer Marcus water.
“How long has Carter Ridge Construction existed?”
His shoulders dropped.
“Two years and eight months.”
“Why?”
“My dad’s company still had viable contracts when he died.”
“You told me the company collapsed.”
“It basically did.”
“That sentence is doing suspicious work.”
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“There were debts. Lawsuits. Unfinished jobs. Mom didn’t want to lose everything Dad built.”
“So you restarted it.”
“Restructured it.”
“With her owning fifty-one percent.”
“Yes.”
“Why hide it from me?”
Marcus stared at his hands.
“Because you would have told me not to.”
Nia almost smiled.
It was the first answer that felt completely true.
“And why would I have told you not to?”
“Because it was risky.”
“How much money have you put into it?”
“Nia…”
“How much?”
He looked toward the window.
“One hundred and thirty thousand.”
Nia felt the room go silent inside her.
“From where?”
“Different places.”
“Marcus.”
“Business income. Bonuses. Savings.”
“Our savings?”
“Some.”
“How much of the one hundred thirty was marital money?”
He did not answer quickly enough.
“All of it?”
“No.”
“How much?”
“Ninety-two.”
Nia stood.
He did too.
“Ninety-two thousand dollars?”
“Over almost three years.”
“Why didn’t I notice?”
“Because I replaced most of it.”
“With what?”
“My commissions.”
“You moved money out, then put money back before statements came?”
“I wasn’t hiding statements.”
“You were hiding behavior.”
Marcus raised his hands.
“I was trying to rebuild something for us.”
“Then why wasn’t I allowed to know it existed?”
He stopped.
Nia stepped closer.
“This is the part you still don’t understand. You keep telling me you were doing things for me that required lying to me.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“I grew up watching my mother lose everything after my dad got sick.”
“Your mother did not lose everything.”
“She almost did.”
“Then say that.”
He sat again.
Nia remained standing.
“Did Denise tell you to hide the company from me?”
“No.”
“Did she know I didn’t know?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Marcus winced.
Nia continued.
“Did she know you were using our money?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever ask you to tell me?”
“Several times.”
That surprised her.
She stared.
“Then why didn’t she tell me?”
Marcus’s voice softened.
“Because I asked her not to.”
“And she chose you.”
“She’s my mother.”
“I know exactly who she is.”
Marcus looked wounded.
The expression angered Nia.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t stand there looking hurt because I discovered the truth.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
He looked away.
Nia took a breath.
“Lauren said the affair started December third.”
Marcus said nothing.
“She said your mother confronted her before Christmas.”
His head lifted.
“That’s not the same as knowing.”
“Enough.”
“Nia, Mom didn’t know for sure until January.”
“You told me four months. Lauren says December. Denise says she suspected. Now you’re defining levels of knowledge.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“This is why I wanted to explain in person.”
“No. You wanted to control the sequence.”
He had no answer.
Nia sat across from him.
“Why Lauren?”
Marcus looked startled.
She hated herself for asking, but she needed one question that was not about money.
“Why her?”
He breathed out slowly.
“I was overwhelmed.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“She understood the pressure.”
“I understood pressure.”
“I know.”
“I was living it with you.”
“I know.”
“So what did she give you that I didn’t?”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“She didn’t know me.”
Nia frowned.
Marcus’s eyes filled.
“With her, I could be whoever I said I was. Successful. In control. Saving the family. With you…”
He stopped.
“With me what?”
“You could see when I was scared.”
Nia absorbed that.
The cruelty of the affair did not soften.
But the mechanism became visible.
Marcus had not chosen Lauren because she knew him better.
He had chosen her because she knew him less.
“That might explain you,” Nia said. “It doesn’t excuse you.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Marcus nodded.
Nia picked up a folder.
“Tessa will contact your attorney.”
His face changed.
“You retained somebody?”
“Yes.”
“Are you filing?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Hope flashed across his face.
Nia saw it.
She corrected herself.
“I know I’m separating from you. I haven’t decided what paperwork comes next.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
As he stood to leave, he reached into his pocket.
“I found this.”
He placed a small brass key on the table.
Nia recognized it immediately.
Westhaven.
She had once kept a copy for walkthroughs.
“I thought you lost it,” Marcus said.
Nia stared at the key.
“I didn’t lose it.”
Marcus looked confused.
Nia’s voice became quiet.
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“You took it.”
And suddenly they both remembered exactly when.
