Chapter 10 - The Paycheck
Monday morning, Nia arrived at work and discovered her access card had been disabled.
She tried twice.
Red light.
A security guard approached.
“Ms. Carter?”
“Yes?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“I’m supposed to take your badge.”
“On whose authority?”
“Ms. Denise Carter.”
Nia almost smiled.
Of course.
“Tell her I’ll be upstairs.”
“I can’t let you in.”
The lobby filled slowly with employees arriving for morning shifts.
Some watched.
Nia called Denise.
Her mother answered immediately.
“Go home.”
“You fired me?”
“You are on administrative leave.”
“For what?”
“Removing confidential company documents.”
“I removed nothing.”
“You accessed financial records outside your role.”
“My role is payroll manager.”
“You accessed executive accounts.”
“Because they contain payments from my property.”
Several employees were openly listening now.
Denise lowered her voice.
“This is not the place.”
“You chose the place when you deactivated my badge.”
Andre appeared from the elevator.
He saw Nia and stopped.
Nia addressed him.
“Did you approve this?”
Andre looked toward security.
“Go upstairs.”
“So Mom can speak for you?”
“Please.”
“No.”
Andre approached.
“Nia, not here.”
She laughed.
“That phrase should be on the family crest.”
He winced.
Employees pretended not to watch.
Andre lowered his voice.
“Your paycheck will be deposited today.”
Nia stared.
“What?”
“I fixed payroll.”
“You fixed mine?”
“Yes.”
“Was anyone else missing money?”
Andre said nothing.
Nia understood.
“You deliberately withheld my paycheck.”
“No.”
“Then why only mine?”
“Cash flow—”
“Stop.”
Her voice cut through the lobby.
“Just stop lying.”
A home-care supervisor named Sheila Freeman stepped forward.
“Nia?”
Everyone turned.
Sheila looked nervous.
“My check was short too.”
Andre frowned.
“What?”
“Three hundred twenty dollars.”
Another employee spoke.
“Mine was almost five hundred.”
Then another.
Suddenly the lobby changed.
People began comparing deposits.
Nia stared at Andre.
“You told me this affected everyone.”
“It did.”
“No.”
“Payroll system error.”
Nia looked around.
“Anyone salaried missing money?”
Silence.
No executives raised hands.
Nia’s anger became cold.
“You took hourly workers’ wages.”
Andre snapped:
“Nobody took anything.”
Sheila held up her phone.
“My timesheet says forty-three hours. I got paid thirty-six.”
The security guard looked away.
Andre’s face reddened.
“We’ll investigate.”
Nia laughed.
“I am payroll.”
“You’re suspended.”
“Convenient.”
Denise appeared upstairs overlooking the lobby.
“Everyone back to work.”
The room went silent.
She descended slowly.
“Payroll discrepancies will be corrected.”
She looked at Nia.
“And you will leave.”
Nia faced her mother.
“You used employee payroll to cover company debt.”
Denise’s eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
“You borrowed against my house. You hid my ownership. You withheld wages.”
“Nia.”
“No.”
Nia pulled Robert’s audit copy from her bag.
“And Dad found the same pattern eleven years ago.”
Denise stopped.
The lobby became perfectly still.
Nia held up the paper.
“He was going to remove you as account signer the morning after he died.”
Andre whispered:
“Jesus.”
Denise stared at Nia.
“You want to destroy your father’s company?”
Nia shook her head.
“You’ve been using Dad’s memory as a hostage.”
“Nia.”
“He wanted an audit.”
Denise stepped closer.
“You know nothing about your father’s last days.”
“Then tell me.”
“Not here.”
Nia looked around.
“Here seems perfect.”
Denise’s face cracked for half a second.
Then she said:
“Your father knew Andre lost the money.”
Andre went pale.
“Mom.”
“He knew,” Denise continued. “And he planned to call the police.”
Andre stared at her.
“You said he was going to handle it privately.”
“I protected you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I saved you.”
Nia watched them.
For the first time, Denise’s control was turning inward.
Andre stepped away.
“How much did Dad know?”
“Enough.”
“Did he know you kept moving money after the scam?”
Denise stiffened.
Andre understood.
“You kept doing it.”
“I had obligations.”
“What obligations?”
Denise said nothing.
Nia stepped closer.
“Harbor Point?”
Andre looked at her.
Denise’s eyes flashed.
“Get out.”
Nia smiled sadly.
“I will.”
She handed her badge to the security guard.
Then turned to Sheila.
“Document your hours. Screenshot everything.”
Denise snapped:
“Do not give employees legal advice.”
“I’m telling them to keep records.”
Nia looked at everyone.
“If your paycheck is wrong, save your timesheets.”
People nodded.
Denise watched in horror.
The silence she had relied on for decades was disappearing in real time.
Nia walked outside.
Marcus waited across the street.
She stopped.
“You knew?”
“I figured she’d suspend you.”
“How?”
“Because controlling people remove access when they’re scared.”
Nia laughed bitterly.
“You’re becoming irritatingly wise.”
“I’m aging.”
Her phone buzzed.
A deposit alert.
$2,147.83.
Her missing paycheck.
Then another alert.
Incoming transfer.
$25,000.
From Denise Carter.
Memo:
FOR MICAH.
Nia stared.
Marcus saw it.
“What’s that?”
She showed him.
His face hardened.
“She’s buying time.”
Nia immediately sent the money back.
Then she typed:
MY SON IS NOT YOUR RECEIPT.
Before she could hit send, another message arrived from Denise.
You think you know hunger?
Ask Marcus where he got the money to save his company after you kicked him out.
Nia slowly lifted her eyes.
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Marcus had gone pale.
And once again, truth changed direction.
