Chapter 13 - Twelve Thousand MissingYolanda denied it immediately.
“I did not steal twelve thousand dollars.”
They were sitting in her townhouse that evening.
Nia had insisted on confronting her in person.
Marcus came because the money had been partly his.
Yolanda placed the statement on the coffee table.
“I was authorized on the account for six weeks.”
“The check was issued during those six weeks,” Marcus said.
“That doesn’t mean I requested it.”
Nia stared at her aunt.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Auntie.”
“I said no.”
Marcus kept his voice controlled.
“Then help us figure it out.”
Yolanda folded her arms.
“Go to the bank.”
“We will.”
“Good.”
Nia’s hands shook.
“Why don’t I remember this?”
Marcus looked at her.
“You were recovering from gallbladder surgery.”
“That doesn’t erase twelve thousand dollars.”
“No.”
Yolanda looked offended.
“You think I took it?”
Nia’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know what I think anymore.”
That hurt Yolanda.
Good, Marcus thought, then hated himself for thinking it.
The next morning, Marcus and Nia visited their bank.
Because the transaction was old, records took time to retrieve, but the representative confirmed the cashier’s check had been purchased at a branch.
“Can you tell us who authorized it?”
The representative examined archived data.
“The request appears connected to Ms. Brooks’s online credentials.”
Nia went still.
“My login?”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at her.
“So you did it.”
“I don’t remember.”
The representative continued.
“The check was payable to Harbor Ridge Financial.”
Marcus frowned.
“What is that?”
Nia’s expression changed.
“I know.”
Marcus turned.
“What?”
She covered her mouth.
“A debt settlement company.”
Marcus stared.
“You had twelve thousand dollars of debt?”
Nia whispered, “Not mine.”
His face hardened.
“Whose?”
She looked at him.
“My mother’s.”
Silence.
Marcus stepped back.
“You used twelve thousand dollars from our joint account to pay your mother’s debt.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot twelve thousand dollars?”
“I didn’t forget the payment. I forgot where all of it came from.”
“That sentence doesn’t even make sense.”
Nia began crying.
“My mother was about to be sued. She had credit cards, medical bills, old loans. She called me while I was recovering.”
Marcus stared.
“And you paid it.”
“She promised to repay us.”
“Us?”
Nia closed her eyes.
Marcus’s voice dropped.
“Did I know?”
“No.”
“Then there was no us in that decision.”
The bank representative looked uncomfortable.
Marcus thanked her and left.
Outside, Nia followed.
“Marcus.”
He turned in the parking lot.
“Eighteen thousand dollars in my account made you believe I was planning to abandon you.”
“I know.”
“Twelve thousand dollars disappeared from ours and you told me it went to debt.”
“It did.”
“You let me think our debt.”
Nia could barely breathe.
“I was ashamed.”
“That word is doing too much work.”
“My mother was desperate.”
“And I would have listened.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You never gave me the chance.”
Again.
The same sentence.
Every secret led back to it.
Nia leaned against the car.
“My family doesn’t ask for help normally.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“They seem extremely comfortable with my bank account.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Your aunt got forty-seven hundred. Your mother got twelve thousand. You have nine thousand hidden. Another six thousand for Jaylen. And I’m the man who got served for not providing enough.”
Nia began sobbing.
Marcus stopped.
His anger remained, but the sight of her unraveling stripped away any satisfaction.
He lowered his voice.
“I’m not trying to destroy you.”
“I know.”
“I’m trying to understand whether we ever had the financial partnership I thought we had.”
Nia looked at him.
“We didn’t.”
The honesty stunned him.
She wiped her face.
“You paid most things. I managed some things. We shared an account. But we never had a partnership.”
Marcus said nothing.
“We had assumptions.”
He slowly nodded.
That evening Nia called her mother, Denise Brooks.
“Mom, did you ever repay the twelve thousand?”
Denise went quiet.
“I’ve paid some back.”
“To who?”
“Aunt Yolanda.”
Nia froze.
“Why would you pay Aunt Yolanda?”
“She told me she covered it.”
Nia’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
“She said the money came through her.”
Nia stood.
“Mom, the money came from my joint account with Marcus.”
Denise gasped.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Yolanda said she handled it.”
Nia closed her eyes.
Memory returned in fragments.
She had been medicated after surgery.
Her mother called crying.
Nia had said she would figure something out.
Yolanda had been helping with bills.
Had Yolanda suggested using the joint funds?
Nia could not remember clearly.
“Mom, how much did you repay?”
“About seven thousand.”
Nia stopped breathing.
“To Aunt Yolanda?”
“Yes.”
Nia’s hand tightened around the phone.
After ending the call, she drove directly to Yolanda’s townhouse.
Marcus followed separately.
Yolanda opened the door and saw their faces.
Nia spoke first.
“Mom paid you seven thousand dollars.”
Yolanda’s expression changed.
That was enough.
Marcus stepped forward.
“You told us the transfers from our account were repayment for an eight-thousand-dollar loan to Nia.”
Yolanda remained silent.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“But you’ve also been receiving repayment for twelve thousand dollars that came from our account.”
Nia stared at her aunt.
“Where is my mother’s money?”
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Yolanda sank onto the couch.
And for the first time, the woman who had spent weeks lecturing Nia about financial protection looked like someone caught inside her own secret.
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