Chapter 7 - Monique’s VersionMarcus did not ask where Kiara had gone.
That hurt too.
She came home and found him in the garage polishing tools that did not need polishing.
“Can we talk?”
“Sure.”
He kept working.
Kiara stood beside the workbench.
“Darnell wants me involved in his company.”
Marcus’s hand stopped.
“For what?”
“He says twenty-five percent ownership.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What’s the debt?”
Kiara blinked.
“How did you know there was debt?”
“Because people with healthy businesses don’t ask ex-girlfriends for emergency money.”
“Seventy-three thousand.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“And the financing?”
“Sixty thousand.”
“What does he need from you?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Yes, you do.”
She hated that he was right.
“He mentioned lenders liking younger leadership.”
“And your credit?”
“Good.”
“And your income?”
“I start at Patterson Financial next month.”
Marcus put the cloth down.
“Don’t sign anything.”
“I know.”
“I mean anything.”
“I said I know.”
Marcus’s expression closed.
Kiara immediately regretted her tone.
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded.
She waited for him to lecture her.
He did not.
That silence was worse.
“Marcus, I’m not stupid.”
“I never said you were.”
“You’re acting like you think he can trick me.”
“I think people get tricked because the person asking is somebody they want to believe.”
Kiara looked at him.
“That sounded personal.”
Marcus turned back to the workbench.
“Maybe it is.”
She leaned against the table.
“Did he ever ask you for money?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Kiara saw it.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“How much?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No. It matters if he’s asking you now.”
“Why does everybody get to decide which parts of my own history matter?”
Marcus turned.
“Because some of us made promises.”
“To Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Not to me.”
He looked tired.
“I know.”
Kiara went inside and found Monique folding laundry.
“Did Darnell ever ask Marcus for money?”
Monique’s hands stopped.
“Marcus told you?”
“He told me enough.”
Monique sat down.
“It was after the education account.”
“How much?”
“Eleven thousand two hundred.”
Kiara laughed bitterly.
“The exact amount he took.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Marcus told him he could repay the account.”
“And Darnell asked Marcus for the money to repay money he stole?”
Monique winced.
“He called it borrowing.”
“Of course he did.”
“Marcus refused.”
“What happened?”
“I begged Marcus to replace it.”
Kiara stared.
“You asked him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid your grandmother’s last gift to you was gone.”
“So Marcus paid for Darnell’s mistake.”
“Over several years.”
“And then Marcus paid tuition too.”
“Yes.”
Kiara walked toward the window.
“Why didn’t you make Darnell repay it?”
“I tried.”
“You should have sued him.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“You were seven. We were already fighting about visitation. I was afraid more court would destroy whatever relationship you still had.”
“What relationship?”
Monique’s face crumpled.
“That’s easy to say now.”
Kiara immediately felt cruel but did not retract it.
Monique stood.
“I made mistakes.”
“You made everybody lie.”
“I asked Marcus not to tell you.”
“For seventeen years.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I grew up with a mother who spent my childhood telling me every ugly thing my father ever did.”
Kiara paused.
Monique’s voice shook.
“I knew what it felt like to have half your identity handed to you like evidence in a trial.”
“So you went the other direction.”
“Yes.”
“You protected Darnell.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“And Marcus?”
Monique’s eyes closed.
“That’s the part I didn’t understand until yesterday.”
Kiara frowned.
“What?”
“I asked Marcus to carry the truth quietly because he was strong enough to carry it.”
Monique began crying.
“I never asked what that would cost him.”
Kiara thought about graduation morning.
Marcus standing beneath the childhood photograph.
Was I real when tuition was due?
She looked toward the garage.
“Why did he stay quiet yesterday until Darnell accused him of pushing him out?”
“Because Marcus has spent most of his adult life believing love doesn’t need witnesses.”
Kiara swallowed.
Monique looked at her.
“But that belief has a flaw.”
“What?”
“Sometimes the person you love grows up without knowing what you protected them from.”
Kiara’s phone buzzed.
A message from Darnell.
I’m sorry things got tense. I don’t want money to come between us.
Then another.
The lender just needs basic information. Nothing gets signed without you.
Kiara read it twice.
A third message arrived.
Do you still have access to a recent property-tax statement from your house? Need it for residency verification.
Kiara’s blood ran cold.
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