Chapter 6 - The WireBy 11:17 a.m., Nia was on a conference call with her bank’s commercial fraud department.
Andrea sat beside her.
Simone had gone to the design studio to keep staff calm.
Nia did not yet know what she would tell them.
Her business manager, Lena Brooks, joined remotely and sounded confused.
“Marcus approved vendor payments yesterday.”
Nia’s chest tightened.
“What payments?”
“Routine ones, I thought.”
“How much?”
“Forty-two thousand total.”
“Where?”
Lena listed four vendors.
Three were legitimate.
One was not.
“Morrow Ridge Millwork.”
Nia looked at Andrea.
“How much?”
“Twelve thousand.”
Nia closed her eyes.
Even last night, while Marcus knew Kiara was pregnant and the entire lie was collapsing, he had approved another transfer.
Andrea leaned toward the speaker.
“Lena, do not confront Marcus. Do not alter records. Preserve everything exactly as it exists.”
“Is something wrong?”
Nia answered.
“Yes.”
There was a long pause.
“How wrong?”
“Wrong enough that Marcus no longer has authorization to approve payments.”
The bank required documentation because Marcus was a designated officer.
Andrea handled the process.
Access could be suspended pending corporate authorization if Nia followed the company’s governing documents.
Fortunately, Nia still held eighty percent ownership.
By noon, Marcus’s payment credentials were frozen.
At 12:06, he called.
Nia watched the phone vibrate.
Andrea said, “You are not required to answer right now.”
Nia picked up.
“Hello.”
“What did you do?”
No greeting.
No apology.
That told her what she needed.
“I protected my company.”
“You froze my access.”
“Yes.”
“I have payroll files.”
“Send them to Lena.”
“Nia, you’re making decisions while emotional.”
Andrea’s eyebrows rose.
Nia almost laughed.
“I’m emotional because my husband impregnated my sister and moved company funds into her account.”
“You don’t understand the money.”
“Then explain the twelve thousand dollars you authorized yesterday.”
Silence.
Nia looked at Andrea.
Marcus said, “That invoice was already queued.”
“You approved it at four thirty-two.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“You were thinking enough to log in.”
“Nia, listen.”
“No.”
“You’re going to damage the business if you lock me out in the middle of active projects.”
“That’s my risk.”
“It’s our company.”
“You own twenty percent because I gave it to you.”
“And I earned it.”
“We can discuss that with lawyers.”
His voice changed.
“You already hired one?”
Nia heard the fear beneath the anger.
“Yes.”
“You didn’t even give me twenty-four hours.”
“You gave yourself eleven months.”
Marcus breathed heavily.
“Nia, I need to come home.”
“No.”
“My medication is there.”
“You took it.”
“Not all of it. My backup supply is upstairs.”
Nia looked at Simone, who had returned during the call.
Marcus’s medical needs remained real.
That was the terrible complexity.
He could be a liar and still require medication.
He could be unfaithful and still die without the kidney she had given him.
“You can pick it up,” Nia said. “Simone will pack it. You don’t come inside.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“No. This is a boundary.”
“I live there.”
“Then arrange it through your lawyer.”
“I don’t have a lawyer.”
“Get one.”
Marcus went quiet.
When he spoke again, his voice was lower.
“What did Kiara tell you?”
“Everything she knew.”
“She doesn’t know everything.”
Nia’s hand tightened around the phone.
Andrea noticed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Kiara likes confessing when it makes her look less guilty.”
“I’m not interested in your fight with her.”
“You should be.”
“Why?”
Marcus hesitated.
Nia heard it.
“Marcus.”
“You think I created all of this alone?”
Nia looked at Simone.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying your sister had reasons too.”
“What reasons?”
“Ask her what happened to Mom’s duplex money.”
Nia froze.
Their mother.
“What?”
Marcus immediately seemed to regret saying it.
“Nia—”
“What duplex money?”
“Ask Kiara.”
“You’re trying to redirect me.”
“I’m telling you there are things you don’t know.”
“Then say them.”
“I’m not doing this over the phone.”
“You were comfortable planning my life in spreadsheets.”
“Nia.”
“Say it.”
Marcus exhaled.
“She owed money before Morrow Ridge ever existed.”
“To who?”
“People.”
“What people?”
“She’ll tell you.”
“And you helped her?”
“I said I’m not doing this over the phone.”
Nia’s stomach tightened.
The Ashby Street duplex was the only major asset their mother, Lorraine Bennett, had left behind.
Nia and Kiara inherited it equally three years ago.
They had rented both units and split the income.
At least Nia believed they had.
She ended the call.
Simone immediately said, “Do not assume he’s telling the truth.”
“I know.”
Andrea added, “People caught in financial misconduct often redirect blame. We verify.”
Nia nodded.
But the thought had already lodged itself inside her.
She called Kiara.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
A third time.
Voicemail.
Nia opened the rental account on her laptop.
For three years, deposits from the duplex appeared monthly.
Property manager fees.
Repairs.
Taxes.
Distributions.
Nothing looked obviously wrong.
Then Nia noticed that six months earlier, distributions had fallen.
Kiara had explained it as plumbing and roof repairs.
Nia searched her email.
The invoices were there.
Roof.
Plumbing.
Electrical.
All paid.
She checked the names.
One contractor stood out.
Bennett Property Solutions.
Their family name.
Nia had never noticed.
She searched the Georgia business registry.
The company existed.
Registered agent:
Kiara Bennett.
Nia stared.
Another hidden company.
Her phone rang.
Kiara.
Nia answered.
“Did you create Bennett Property Solutions?”
Silence.
“Nia.”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I can explain.”
“That phrase is becoming very expensive.”
Kiara began crying.
Nia stood.
“What happened to Mom’s duplex money?”
There was a pause.
Then Kiara said something that made Nia grip the desk.
“I borrowed against my share.”
“How?”
“I signed a private note.”
“With Marcus?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Kiara took a breath.
“Marcus’s real estate partner.”
Nia went still.
The conspiracy had just grown backward again.
“How long ago?”
“Fourteen months.”
Before Morrow Ridge.
Before the affair.
Before the transplant evaluation.
Nia whispered, “Who is Marcus’s partner?”
Kiara answered.
“Darius Cole.”
Nia knew the name.
Darius had visited Marcus in the hospital twice.
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He had hugged Nia after the surgery and called her a hero.
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