Chapter 19 - Simone's Story
Simone did not meet them in secret.
Marcus Bell arranged the conversation at his office.
She was forty-four, composed, and visibly uncomfortable.
Malik expected rage.
Instead she looked tired.
“I don't want revenge,” Simone said.
Tanya sat across from her.
“Then why contact us?”
“Because Calvin called me.”
Tanya glanced toward Marcus.
Simone continued.
“He said Darrell was having another property dispute.”
“Another?”
Darrell's former fiancée looked at her.
“That got my attention.”
Tanya's face tightened.
“What happened with you?”
Simone folded her hands.
“I owned a condo.”
Renee closed her eyes.
Of course.
Simone noticed.
“No, he didn't steal it.”
Everyone relaxed slightly.
“He wanted to renovate it and rent it out.”
“That sounds familiar,” Tanya said.
“He had plans. Numbers. Projections.”
“Did you invest?”
“Twenty thousand.”
Tanya stared.
“Did he repay you?”
“Some.”
“How much?”
“Seven.”
Tanya's jaw tightened.
Simone continued.
“When I started asking questions, every conversation became about trust.”
Malik looked at his mother.
Tanya looked away.
“He told me relationships don't work when one person needs receipts for everything,” Simone said.
Renee muttered, “Convenient.”
Simone nodded.
“He said I was treating him like a criminal.”
Tanya's eyes filled.
“He said that to me.”
“I figured.”
“Did he try to get on your deed?”
“No.”
Tanya looked surprised.
“He wanted me to sell.”
“Why?”
“Capital.”
“For his business?”
“Yes.”
“What stopped you?”
“My father.”
Tanya swallowed.
“What did he do?”
“Asked one boring question.”
“What?”
“Show me the books.”
Malik almost laughed.
Simone smiled sadly.
“Darrell got furious.”
“What happened?”
“The engagement ended six weeks later.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Forge anything?”
“Not that I know.”
“Steal?”
“I can't prove he did.”
Simone leaned forward.
“This is important. Don't turn my bad relationship into evidence for your case.”
Marcus nodded approvingly.
Simone looked at Tanya.
“What I can give you are messages.”
She handed over printed texts.
Darrell complaining that Simone's father was “poisoning” her.
Calling financial questions disrespectful.
Saying a partner should “believe in the vision.”
Tanya read them.
The phrasing mirrored messages he sent her almost exactly.
Malik saw his mother becoming smaller with each page.
Finally Tanya asked, “Did he love you?”
Everyone went still.
Simone looked surprised.
Then thoughtful.
“Yes.”
Tanya blinked.
“You think he did?”
“I think so.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because people can love badly.”
Simone's voice stayed calm.
“They can love selfishly.”
Tanya stared.
“They can want you and what you own.”
Her eyes filled.
“At the same time.”
That sentence did more than anger ever could.
Tanya had been trying to decide whether her memories were authentic.
Simone gave her permission to stop solving that impossible puzzle.
After the meeting, Malik walked Simone to the elevator.
“Thank you.”
She smiled.
“You're the son.”
“Yeah.”
“The one Darrell said wouldn't grow up.”
Malik frowned.
“He talked about me?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Malik froze.
“What?”
Simone realized.
“No—sorry. I mean when he and I briefly spoke last year.”
“You talked last year?”
“He called me after getting engaged emotionally—whatever you want to call it—with your mother.”
“Why?”
“To tell me he'd found somebody who trusted him.”
Malik felt sick.
“What did he say about me?”
“That Tanya's son was spoiled and territorial.”
“He hadn't lived with us yet.”
“No.”
Malik stared at the elevator doors.
Simone sighed.
“I shouldn't have said anything.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I'm glad you did.”
“How long had he been dating Mom when he said that?”
“Maybe nine months.”
Before Darrell moved in.
Before Malik openly disliked him.
Before any household conflict.
“Did he say why I was territorial?”
Simone searched her memory.
“He said you acted like the house belonged to you.”
Malik's stomach dropped.
The house.
Again.
The elevator arrived.
Simone stepped inside.
“Malik.”
“Yeah?”
“Don't spend your twenties proving him wrong.”
“What?”
“If he called you immature, don't build your life around looking mature.”
The doors began closing.
“That's still him controlling you.”
Malik stood alone in the hallway.
That evening, he withdrew his apartment application.
Not because he was returning home.
Because he realized he had been trying to move fast enough to defeat Darrell's accusation.
Instead he enrolled in four spring classes.
He adjusted his work schedule.
Opened a separate high-yield savings account.
Made a budget.
Slow adulthood.
His own adulthood.
Meanwhile, Marcus Bell received a call from the county recorder's investigative liaison.
They had examined the rejected deed.
The notary commission number belonged to a real notary.
But the notary denied witnessing Tanya's signature.
The seal image appeared copied.
That did not prove Darrell personally created it.
But the document was no longer merely suspicious.
Someone had manufactured an acknowledgment.
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