Chapter 7 - Darius ColeDarius Cole did not answer Nia’s first call.
He answered the second.
“Nia. How you feeling?”
The ease in his voice made her stomach turn.
“Did you lend Kiara money against her share of my mother’s duplex?”
Silence.
Not long.
Just enough.
“Nia, I think that’s something you should discuss with Kiara.”
“I am discussing it with you.”
“I don’t want to get between family.”
“You’ve apparently been between family for fourteen months.”
Darius exhaled.
“You’ve talked to Marcus.”
“I’ve talked to everybody except the one person who thinks answering a question is optional.”
His tone changed.
“Look, the loan was legitimate.”
“How much?”
“Forty thousand.”
“What collateral?”
“Her economic interest.”
“In the duplex?”
“Yes.”
“My ownership was not pledged?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Send me the documents.”
“I can’t just—”
“You can send them to my attorney.”
“Nia.”
“Today.”
She ended the call.
Andrea, sitting across the conference table, wrote the name down.
“Forty thousand may be unrelated to your company.”
“Nothing feels unrelated anymore.”
“It may be connected. We still separate facts.”
Nia nodded.
Andrea was becoming an anchor because she refused the emotional shortcuts Nia’s mind kept trying to take.
By afternoon, Darius’s attorney emailed documents.
Kiara had indeed borrowed forty thousand dollars fourteen months earlier.
The note was secured only by her distributions from the jointly owned duplex, not by Nia’s share or title.
Legally, that was less catastrophic than Nia had feared.
Emotionally, it was another secret.
“What did she use it for?” Nia asked.
Andrea scanned the documents.
“It doesn’t say.”
Nia already knew she would have to ask.
Kiara arrived at Andrea’s office at four.
She had changed clothes but looked worse.
Nia did not invite her to sit.
“Forty thousand.”
Kiara nodded.
“What for?”
“Debt.”
“What debt?”
“Credit cards.”
Nia stared.
“All forty?”
“Most.”
“How did you get forty thousand dollars into credit cards?”
Kiara’s face tightened.
“After Mom died, I wasn’t doing well.”
“You were twenty-six.”
“I know.”
“You had a job.”
“I lost it.”
Nia frowned.
“You told me you quit.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because you were already handling the funeral, the estate, the renters, everything. I didn’t want you fixing me too.”
Nia looked away.
The explanation hurt because there was something recognizable inside it.
After their mother died suddenly from a stroke, Nia had become relentless.
Probate paperwork.
Insurance.
Memorial expenses.
Property repairs.
Kiara had disappeared emotionally.
Nia had thought grief explained it.
Maybe grief had explained only part.
“I started spending,” Kiara said. “Clothes. Trips. Going out. Stupid things. Then cash advances to make minimum payments.”
“And Marcus knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When?”
“Fourteen months ago.”
“How?”
“I asked him for help.”
Nia stared at her.
“Not me.”
“No.”
“Why Marcus?”
“Because he didn’t judge me.”
The words landed badly.
Kiara saw it.
“I don’t mean—”
“Yes, you do.”
Nia sat down at last.
“You went to my husband with a forty-thousand-dollar secret.”
“Yes.”
“And instead of telling me, he introduced you to Darius.”
“Yes.”
“What did Darius get?”
“Twelve percent interest.”
Andrea looked up.
“That’s expensive.”
“I know.”
“Was there a prepayment penalty?”
“No.”
Nia looked at Kiara.
“Did Marcus get anything?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
Kiara hesitated.
“I never saw anything.”
Different answer.
Nia noticed.
Andrea did too.
“How did Bennett Property Solutions fit in?” Nia asked.
Kiara swallowed.
“The property manager paid repair reimbursements into it.”
“Why?”
“I started doing some coordination work myself.”
“Actual work?”
“Yes.”
“Were the invoices legitimate?”
“Mostly.”
Nia’s eyes narrowed.
“Mostly?”
Kiara looked at the table.
“Three invoices were higher than what the contractors charged.”
“How much?”
“About nine thousand total.”
Nia stared.
“You skimmed nine thousand dollars from Mom’s property?”
“I was paying the loan.”
“You stole from both of us.”
“I told myself I was only taking from my half.”
“But the invoices reduced net income before it was split.”
Kiara began crying.
“I know.”
Nia stood and walked to the window.
Downtown traffic moved below them.
Everyone else’s day continued.
That offended her somehow.
“Why didn’t you ask me for help?”
Kiara answered through tears.
“Because you would have helped.”
Nia turned.
“What?”
“You would have paid it.”
“Maybe.”
“And then I would owe you again.”
“Again?”
Kiara laughed bitterly.
“There. That.”
“What?”
“You don’t even know.”
Nia stared at her sister.
Kiara wiped her face.
“You’ve been taking care of me since I was twelve.”
“Because Mom worked nights.”
“You packed my lunches.”
“Yes.”
“Signed permission slips.”
“Sometimes.”
“Sat at parent conferences.”
“Kiara, where is this going?”
“You became another mother.”
Nia stiffened.
“And I became another person who disappointed you.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Nia felt anger rise.
“So instead you slept with my husband?”
Kiara recoiled.
“No.”
“You’re building a justification.”
“I’m explaining why I kept secrets.”
“Secrets don’t impregnate you by themselves.”
Kiara looked down.
Andrea gently interrupted.
“We can acknowledge family dynamics without using them to excuse conduct.”
Both sisters fell silent.
Andrea turned to Kiara.
“What was Marcus’s role after the loan?”
“He started helping me organize payments.”
“Then Morrow Ridge?”
“Yes.”
“When did the relationship become sexual?”
“Three months after the loan.”
Nia calculated.
That meant the sequence was clear.
Kiara’s debt.
Marcus becoming her confidant.
Morrow Ridge.
False invoices.
Affair.
Nia’s donor match.
Concealment.
Pregnancy.
One boundary crossed had trained them to cross the next.
Andrea asked, “Did Darius know about the transfers from Nia’s company?”
Kiara looked uncertain.
“I think he knew about some.”
“Why?”
“Because the sixty-eight thousand went to Cedar Park.”
“And Darius was involved in Cedar Park?”
“Yes.”
Nia turned from the window.
“How involved?”
Kiara met her eyes.
“He was the managing partner.”
Nia felt cold.
The man who had visited Marcus’s hospital room had not merely known Marcus was moving money.
He had received it.
Andrea closed her notebook.
“That,” she said, “is where we bring in a forensic accountant.”
Nia looked at Kiara.
“One question before you go.”
Kiara waited.
“Did Marcus’s illness cause the money problems?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Nia’s heart sank.
“Then what did?”
Kiara looked terrified.
“Cedar Park started before he got really sick.”
Nia took one slow breath.
“How long before?”
“Almost two years.”
Nia stared.
That was before Marcus had told her their company needed tighter cash management.
Before he increased his control over accounts.
Before he said exhaustion from kidney disease was making him anxious about money.
Before everything.
“What happened at Cedar Park?”
Kiara whispered, “Marcus lost money.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“His money?”
Kiara shook her head.
“No.”
Nia’s voice became very quiet.
“Whose?”
Kiara looked toward Andrea.
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Then back at Nia.
“The first money he lost was yours.”
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