Chapter 8 - Sunday DinnerMarcus almost cancelled Sunday dinner.
Jayden insisted they keep it.
“Grandpa said family doesn’t cancel dinner because people are mad.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You were four when Grandpa died.”
“I remember things.”
Apparently he did.
So Simone came.
The dining room felt like a courtroom pretending to be a home.
Marcus served roast chicken.
Simone brought macaroni and cheese from the same recipe their mother had used.
Jayden talked about school.
For twenty minutes, everyone behaved.
Then he asked the question adults had been avoiding.
“Aunt Simone, are you trying to take Dad’s company?”
Simone nearly dropped her fork.
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Jayden.”
“What?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Online.”
Marcus put down his glass.
“We’re limiting your tablet.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
Simone looked at her nephew.
“No. I’m not trying to take your dad’s company.”
“Did you borrow money from the bad man?”
Marcus stared at Jayden.
“Seriously. Tablet. Gone.”
Simone raised a hand.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“He already knows something is happening.”
“He doesn’t need board financing details.”
Jayden looked between them.
“People at school keep asking me.”
That quieted both adults.
Simone said gently, “I borrowed money from someone I shouldn’t have trusted.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought I could fix a problem without asking anybody for help.”
“Dad says asking for help is smart.”
Simone smiled sadly.
“Your dad is very good at advice.”
Marcus gave her a look.
Jayden continued.
“Did you do something bad?”
Simone inhaled.
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at her.
She went on.
“I used money I wasn’t supposed to use.”
“Are you going to jail?”
“No one has said that.”
Marcus intervened.
“We’re not discussing criminal consequences at dinner.”
Jayden frowned.
“What are criminal consequences?”
“Exactly.”
Simone almost laughed.
For a moment they were a family again.
Then Jayden asked, “Did Dad do something bad too?”
Marcus’s shoulders stiffened.
Simone did not answer.
Jayden saw enough.
“What did you do?”
Marcus looked toward his son.
He could postpone.
He could sanitize.
He could lie.
Instead he said, “I kept something from Aunt Simone that belonged to our family.”
Simone stared at him.
“You’re telling him before you tell me?”
“I’m telling both of you.”
Marcus stood and went to his study.
He returned with the Southfield property file.
Simone’s face hardened.
Marcus placed it on the table.
“When Dad transferred the warehouse to me, he included instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“That once the company debt secured by the property was cleared, I should create a trust giving you forty percent of the property’s economic benefit.”
Jayden looked confused.
Simone did not move.
“You told me there was no agreement.”
“I lied.”
The words remained in the room.
Simone’s eyes filled.
“How long?”
“Eight years.”
“You collected rent from Carter Prestige for eight years.”
“Yes.”
“And forty percent of the economic benefit was supposed to be mine.”
“According to the family understanding, yes.”
“According to Dad.”
“Yes.”
She stood.
Her chair scraped across the floor.
“How much?”
“I don’t know the final calculation.”
“You’re lying again.”
“I haven’t calculated appreciation, distributions and tax adjustments.”
“How much rent have you received?”
Marcus answered.
“About eleven million gross over eight years.”
Simone’s face changed.
Jayden whispered, “Dad…”
Marcus’s throat tightened.
“The property had expenses, taxes and debt service.”
Simone laughed through tears.
“There he is.”
“What?”
“The businessman who appears when the brother becomes inconvenient.”
“That isn’t what I’m doing.”
“You stole from me.”
Marcus went still.
“I don’t know if the document creates a legally enforceable ownership right.”
“I didn’t say you committed theft under Georgia law.”
Her voice broke.
“I said you stole from me.”
Marcus took the sentence.
He deserved it.
Jayden stood slowly.
“Dad, why?”
Marcus looked at his son.
“Because I was angry.”
“At Aunt Simone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because when Grandpa was dying, she left.”
Simone wiped her face.
“I had a breakdown.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You never said that.”
“You never asked.”
She turned toward Jayden.
“I wasn’t on vacation. I was in Charlotte staying with Mom’s cousin because I couldn’t sleep without hearing the hospital monitors.”
Marcus stared at her.
“You told me you needed space.”
“I was twenty-nine and falling apart.”
“I thought you abandoned us.”
“And instead of asking, you punished me for eight years.”
Marcus could not answer.
Jayden’s eyes moved between them.
Then the boy said something that made Marcus feel smaller than Grant Mercer ever could.
“You told me breaking a rule doesn’t make somebody a bad person.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Does lying for eight years?”
Simone closed her eyes.
Marcus swallowed.
“No.”
His voice was rough.
“But it can hurt people for a very long time.”
Jayden looked at him.
“Then you have to fix it.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked at Simone.
“If you’ll let me.”
She picked up her coat.
“You don’t get to decide what fixing it looks like.”
“I know.”
She walked toward the door.
Before leaving, Simone turned.
“One more thing.”
Marcus waited.
“I didn’t tell Grant about the annex.”
“I believe you.”
“Then somebody else has it.”
The front door closed.
Marcus returned to the table.
Jayden looked at the old property file.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“If the paper is missing, how does the bad man know?”
Marcus stared at the empty section marked ANNEX A.
For the first time, he wondered whether the annex had ever truly been missing.
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
Maybe someone had taken it.
And if Grant Mercer possessed the original, then the attack on Marcus had begun years before the Lamborghini exhibition.
Related Stories
