Chapter 6 - What Malik Wanted
Malik arrived at the house at four fifteen.
Nobody invited him.
The doorbell rang three times.
Ms. Bennett checked the camera.
“He’s here.”
Nia stood from the couch.
“Let him in.”
Her mother looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m done hearing his explanations through other people.”
Ms. Bennett opened the door but remained between Malik and the interior.
Malik looked terrible.
His eyes were bloodshot. He wore the same black dress shirt from graduation, now wrinkled beneath a gray jacket.
“Nia.”
She stood twelve feet away.
“Come inside.”
Her mother stepped aside reluctantly.
Malik entered.
His gaze swept over the decorations.
His face tightened when he saw the banner.
Nia held up the missing trust statement.
Actually, a photocopy.
Mr. Greene had emailed one so Nia could compare identifying information.
“Recognize this?”
Malik’s eyes shifted.
“No.”
“Try again.”
“I’ve seen statements before.”
“Where?”
“You showed me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Malik exhaled.
“Nia, can we talk about us first?”
“There is no us.”
He flinched.
“We need to talk about Jasmine.”
“No. We’re talking about my money.”
His expression changed almost imperceptibly.
Nia saw it.
“You knew exactly how much was in my trust.”
“Jasmine told me.”
“You entered this house and took a document.”
“I did not.”
“You were here alone in January.”
“I came for my charger.”
“You told me you were at practice.”
Malik looked toward Ms. Bennett.
She said, “Look at Nia.”
He did.
Nia continued.
“You accessed my cloud storage.”
“I used Jasmine’s laptop.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Malik rubbed his jaw.
“I was trying to help us.”
Nia almost laughed.
“Help us?”
“You were going to Hawthorne.”
“Yes.”
“Three hours away.”
“Yes.”
“And you were acting like everything we had here didn’t matter.”
“My education mattered too.”
“I never said it didn’t.”
“You complained every time I talked about Hawthorne.”
“Because you planned your whole future without me.”
Nia stared at him.
“I was seventeen.”
“We were together.”
“That does not mean I build my college choices around your insecurity.”
His eyes hardened.
“You always made me feel temporary.”
There it was.
The resentment beneath the apologies.
Nia crossed her arms.
“So you tried to defer my enrollment.”
Malik said nothing.
Her mother inhaled sharply.
Nia stepped closer.
“I spoke to Hawthorne.”
Malik’s face changed.
“They have the login records.”
“Nia—”
“You changed my recovery email.”
“I was going to change it back.”
“After what?”
He looked away.
“After you calmed down about leaving.”
Nia felt something inside her become very still.
“You thought you could sabotage my housing, request a deferral, and then somehow I would calmly decide not to go?”
“I was desperate.”
“Desperate people ask questions.”
“I did.”
“No. You pressured me.”
“I loved you.”
“You wanted control.”
His voice rose.
“You don’t understand what I was trying to build.”
“Then explain the thirty-five thousand dollars.”
Malik went silent.
Ms. Bennett stepped forward.
“What thirty-five thousand dollars?”
Nia never removed her eyes from him.
“He emailed Mr. Greene pretending to be me.”
Malik’s face revealed the truth before his mouth could deny it.
Ms. Bennett whispered, “You did what?”
Malik said quickly, “I wasn’t stealing.”
“You impersonated my daughter.”
“I was asking what was possible.”
“Using her name.”
“I knew she would eventually agree.”
Nia stared in disbelief.
“You asked me in January.”
“You didn’t understand the opportunity.”
“I said no.”
“Because you don’t know the gym.”
“I said no.”
Malik’s jaw clenched.
“Turner Performance could be worth half a million in five years.”
“Then find investors who say yes.”
“My uncle needed money now.”
Nia saw everything aligning.
Darnell Turner’s gym had been struggling.
Malik wanted ownership.
Nia had money.
Nia planned to leave.
So Malik had tried to prevent one and exploit the other.
“And Jasmine?”
Malik’s expression collapsed again.
“That had nothing to do with the money.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“You started sleeping with her after I refused to invest.”
“That isn’t why.”
“Then why?”
His eyes watered.
“Because she needed me.”
Nia laughed bitterly.
“And I didn’t?”
“You didn’t need anybody.”
The sentence struck deeper than she expected.
Malik continued before realizing what he had said.
“You always knew where you were going.”
“So you punished me for it.”
“No.”
“You tried to make me smaller enough for you to feel necessary.”
Malik shook his head.
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither was changing my future while sleeping with my best friend.”
Ms. Bennett opened the front door.
“Leave.”
Malik looked panicked.
“Nia, please.”
She pointed outside.
Malik stepped backward.
At the threshold he stopped.
“I never took that trust paper.”
Nia stared.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“But I’m telling you anyway.”
Then he looked toward the office.
“I didn’t need to take it.”
Nia frowned.
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Malik swallowed.
“Jasmine already had a picture of every page.”
