Chapter 11 - Her Name on the Form
Jasmine denied knowingly signing the application.
Nia believed almost nothing automatically anymore.
They met at Mr. Greene’s office the next afternoon.
Lauren came with Jasmine.
Detective Reed attended remotely.
On the conference-room screen was the fraudulent credit application.
Malik Turner — business partner.
Nia Bennett — primary applicant.
Jasmine Price — administrative contact and secondary guarantor.
Jasmine stared at her name.
“I never saw this.”
Detective Reed asked, “Have you ever signed documents electronically for Malik?”
Jasmine froze.
Lauren looked at her.
“Jasmine.”
“A form.”
Nia’s chest tightened.
“What form?”
“In March.”
“What did he tell you it was?”
“A confidentiality agreement for the gym.”
Mr. Greene leaned forward.
“Why would you need a confidentiality agreement?”
“Because he was showing me business plans.”
Nia almost laughed.
Of course.
Malik had brought Jasmine into the fantasy.
Not merely as an affair partner.
As a participant.
“What did you sign?”
“I don’t know.”
Mr. Greene asked, “Did you read it?”
Jasmine looked ashamed.
“No.”
Lauren shut her eyes.
Detective Reed said, “The application contains a digital signature matching your name and an email address belonging to you.”
Jasmine whispered, “He sent me a link.”
“Did you click through multiple pages?”
“Yes.”
“Did you enter your Social Security number?”
“No.”
“Date of birth?”
“Yes.”
“Home address?”
“Yes.”
Nia stared.
Jasmine had been deeper inside Malik’s scheme than she admitted.
Even if she had not understood it.
Detective Reed continued.
“Ms. Price, your role is complicated. You may be a victim of deception. But we need honesty.”
Jasmine began crying.
“I’m telling you.”
“Then tell us everything Malik discussed about the business.”
Jasmine took a breath.
“He said Turner Performance could become a chain.”
“When?”
“February.”
“Before or after your relationship with him became sexual?”
“Before.”
Nia’s eyes sharpened.
So Malik’s interest in Jasmine had also begun alongside the business scheme.
“He said he needed people he trusted,” Jasmine continued.
“He told me Nia had capital and I understood marketing.”
Nia asked, “Marketing?”
Jasmine had run social media for school clubs.
“He said we could build it together.”
“We.”
“You, him, and me.”
Nia stared.
The absurdity almost hurt more than the betrayal.
“He was sleeping with you while planning for all three of us to start a company?”
Jasmine wiped her face.
“At first I thought he meant after graduation.”
“Did you never think it was strange that he discussed my money with you instead of me?”
“Yes.”
“But you liked being included.”
Jasmine looked directly at her.
“Yes.”
The honesty stunned Nia.
Jasmine continued.
“For once, he was asking me what I thought instead of talking about how smart you were.”
Nia’s voice dropped.
“So I became competition.”
“I made you competition.”
“That distinction doesn’t help me.”
“I know.”
Mr. Greene interrupted gently.
“We need facts before feelings right now.”
Nia almost smiled at how impossible that sounded.
Detective Reed asked whether Jasmine had additional messages.
“Yes.”
“Do not delete anything.”
“I won’t.”
“Back up your phone and preserve it.”
Jasmine agreed.
Then Mr. Greene enlarged one page of the bank file.
Nia saw a projected revenue chart.
Turner Performance Expansion Plan.
Below it were proposed ownership percentages.
Darnell Turner — 45%.
Malik Turner — 25%.
Nia Bennett — 20%.
Jasmine Price — 10%.
Nia stared.
“They gave me twenty percent of a company I never agreed to join.”
Mr. Greene nodded.
“And apparently planned to finance largely with credit opened under your identity.”
Jasmine looked horrified.
“I never saw those numbers.”
Nia believed her.
That realization was almost uncomfortable.
Malik had lied to both.
But not equally.
Jasmine had still betrayed Nia knowingly.
Malik had exploited Jasmine’s insecurity while using Nia’s identity.
Two truths could exist together.
After the meeting, Jasmine caught Nia near the elevator.
“Nia.”
Nia stopped.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“But I need you to know something.”
Nia waited.
“Malik didn’t make me sleep with him.”
“I know.”
“I chose that.”
Nia’s expression did not change.
“And I chose every time I kept lying afterward.”
Nia felt something shift.
Not forgiveness.
Respect for one honest sentence.
Jasmine continued.
“But the business stuff—he made it sound like you already knew.”
“You never asked me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Jasmine swallowed.
“Because part of me didn’t want your answer.”
The elevator doors opened.
Nia stepped inside.
Before they closed, Jasmine added, “There’s one more message you should see.”
Nia almost laughed.
“Of course there is.”
Jasmine sent a screenshot.
February 4.
Three weeks before their first sexual encounter.
Malik:
She got the scholarship interview. If Hawthorne takes her, we need another plan.
Jasmine:
What plan?
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Malik:
Make staying feel like her choice.
