Chapter 3: The Woman My Father Stopped Trusting
My father read the message three times.
Then he stood so abruptly that his coffee tipped over on the side table.
“Dad?””
He grabbed a dish towel and wiped the spill without looking at me.
“I need to make a call.””
“Is Aunt Rebecca coming here?””
He hesitated.
“I don't know yet.””
“Does she know what Nicole has been doing?””
“I don't know that either.””
He picked up his phone and walked toward the kitchen.
I heard him dial.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a woman's voice came through the speaker.
“Marcus?””
Dad closed his eyes.
“Rebecca.””
“Oh, thank God.””
Her voice sounded older than I remembered, though I had only met her a handful of times when I was little.
“Are the children with you?”” she asked.
“Yes. They're safe right now.””
“And Nicole?””
“She's upstairs.””
“Then listen carefully. Don't confront her with anything else until you know what you're dealing with.””
Dad gripped the edge of the counter.
“What exactly am I dealing with?””
A long pause followed.
Then Rebecca said, “You remember what happened with my daughter, don't you?””
Dad looked toward me.
I knew the name she meant.
Emily.
My cousin.
She was twenty-one now, living somewhere in Ohio. When I was younger, she'd spent a summer with us, but I remembered very little about her except that she was quiet and always wore a silver bracelet with a tiny heart charm.
One day, she had stopped visiting.
When I'd asked why, Dad told me she and Rebecca had moved away.
“Emily had problems,” he said quietly.
“You told me she was struggling at home.””
“No,” Rebecca replied.
“I told you she was afraid to come home.””
Dad went still.
Rebecca continued.
“I told you she was skipping meals. I told you she was hiding food in her bedroom. I told you she was terrified of Nicole.””
Dad's face drained of color.
“You said Emily was lying.””
“I said Nicole told you Emily was lying. I never said I believed her.””
He stared at the phone.
“Why didn't you tell me the truth?””
“I tried, Marcus. I called you six times. I sent letters. I even came to your office, and Nicole told your assistant you were too busy to see me.””
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“I never got those letters.””
“I know that now.””
Something about the way Rebecca said it made the kitchen feel colder.
Dad lowered his voice.
“What do you mean?””
“I mean that when I finally reached you, Nicole told you I'd been drinking again. She said I was unstable, jealous of your marriage, and trying to turn you against her.””
Dad's hand tightened around the phone.
“She told me you wanted money.””
“I asked you to help Emily. I never asked you for a dollar.””
I sat very still, afraid even the smallest movement would interrupt something important.
Dad sank into a chair.
“Why didn't Emily tell me herself?””
“She was seventeen, Marcus. She was scared. She believed Nicole when she said you would choose your marriage over her.””
The words seemed to strike Dad physically.
He stared at the floor.
Then he whispered, “She said the same thing to Maya.””
Rebecca went silent.
When she spoke again, her voice had changed.
“Then it's happening again.””
Dad looked toward me.
“I need you to tell me everything you remember. All of it.””
“I will.””
“But not over the phone. I'm coming tomorrow morning.””
Dad exhaled.
“Rebecca, I don't know if that's a good idea. Nicole—”
“Marcus, I have spent four years wondering whether I should have done more. I will not spend another day waiting while a child hides bread under her bed.””
Dad didn't argue.
They agreed to meet at nine the next morning.
When the call ended, he sat at the kitchen table for a long time.
I wanted to ask a hundred questions, but one frightened me more than the rest.
“Dad, does this mean Nicole did something to Emily, too?””
He looked up.
“I don't know, sweetheart.””
“Do you believe me now?””
His face crumpled.
“Yes.””
The answer came without hesitation.
“I believe you.””
I pressed my hands over my mouth and cried.
He came around the table and held me while I shook against his chest. For the first time in months, I didn't try to hide the sound.
He didn't tell me to calm down.
He didn't ask me to stop crying.
He simply held me.
When I finally pulled away, I wiped my face.
“Is Nicole going to leave?””
“I don't know what will happen with my marriage,” he said.
“But I do know that no decision about my marriage will come before your safety.””
I wanted to believe him.
I really did.
But years of fear don't disappear because someone finally says the right thing.
Upstairs, a door slammed.
Dad looked toward the ceiling.
“I'm going to check on Jordan. You stay here, okay?””
I nodded.
He kissed my forehead and went upstairs.
I was alone in the kitchen when I heard a soft click behind me.
Nicole stood at the entrance to the hallway.
She had changed into a pale blue sweater. Her hair was neatly brushed, and she wore the same small gold earrings she always wore when she wanted to look composed.
She looked like the woman who volunteered at school fundraisers.
The woman neighbors trusted with spare keys.
The woman who had just watched my father discover a box of hidden food.
“Maya,” she said softly, “we need to talk.””
My stomach tightened.
“I don't think we should.””
She walked to the kitchen island and picked up the glass of milk Dad had left beside my plate.
“You know, your father has always had a weakness for sad stories.””
I said nothing.
“He wants to be a hero. He likes feeling needed. And you've learned how to use that against him.””
I gripped the edge of my chair.
“I didn't make you take my dinner.””
Nicole set the glass down.
“No. You made me look like a monster in front of him.””
“You did that yourself.””
Her face changed.
For one brief moment, the polite mask slipped completely.
Then she leaned across the island.
“Do you think he'll stay on your side when he learns what you've been doing?””
My mouth went dry.
“What are you talking about?””
“Your father has no idea how much trouble you've caused. The lies you've told. The things you've hidden.””
I stared at her.
“I haven't lied.””
She smiled without warmth.
“Then why are you so frightened of what he'll find?””
Footsteps sounded overhead.
Nicole straightened immediately.
When Dad appeared at the top of the stairs, she raised her voice.
“I was just checking whether Maya needed anything.””
Dad descended slowly.
“She doesn't need anything from you right now.””
Nicole's lips tightened.
“You can't keep me away from her forever, Marcus.””
“I'm not trying to keep you away forever. I'm trying to understand why my daughter is afraid of you.””
She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears again.
“Because you've taught her that I'm the enemy.””
Dad walked toward the living room.
“Go upstairs, Nicole.””
She stood motionless for a moment.
Then she turned toward me and whispered so quietly that Dad couldn't hear.
“You should have kept your mouth shut.””
She walked away.
I didn't move until I heard the bedroom door close.
Dad came back into the kitchen.
“Did she threaten you?””
I looked toward the stairs.
“She said you'd find out what I've been doing.””
Dad pulled out the chair beside me.
“Is there something you're afraid I'll discover?””
I hesitated.
Then I remembered the small envelope tucked into the lining of my school backpack. I'd hidden it there because I didn't know where else to put it.
Inside was a receipt I'd found in Nicole's purse several weeks earlier.
At first, I'd thought it was a grocery receipt.
But when I looked closer, I'd noticed a name printed beneath the store logo.
Emily.
And beside it, a date from the summer she'd supposedly moved away.
“I found something,” I whispered.
Dad's expression sharpened.
“What?””
I ran upstairs and retrieved my backpack.
My hands trembled as I unzipped the inner pocket and pulled out the envelope.
Dad opened it.
Inside was the receipt, a small photograph, and a folded piece of paper with a handwritten address.
He looked at the photograph first.
It showed Nicole standing outside a brick building beside a teenage girl with long brown hair.
Emily.
The date printed on the back was from only three months earlier.
Dad stared at it.
“Where did you get this?””
“From Nicole's purse. I was looking for my school permission slip. I wasn't trying to snoop.””
He turned the receipt over.
There was a handwritten note on the back.
*Cash paid. No calls to Marcus. Keep the girl away from the family until the papers are signed.*
Dad read it aloud.
Then he looked at the address.
“What papers?”” he whispered.
I shook my head.
“I don't know.””
He pulled out his phone and took a photograph of the receipt.
Then he called Rebecca again.
She answered immediately.
“Did you find something?”” she asked.
Dad looked at the picture of Emily.
“I think I did.””
He read the note aloud.
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.
“Marcus,” Rebecca said, “that address belongs to a family law office.””
Dad's expression hardened.
“Why would Nicole be paying a lawyer to keep Emily away from us?””
“Because she was afraid Emily would tell you what happened.””
“What happened?””
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she said, “Emily didn't leave because she was struggling, Marcus. She was sent away after she discovered something Nicole had been hiding.””
Dad looked at me.
“What did she discover?””
Rebecca's voice dropped to a whisper.
“Nicole had been using money from the children's accounts. When Emily confronted her, Nicole told her nobody would believe a troubled teenager over a respected adult.””
My blood ran cold.
Dad stared at the receipt.
“What children's accounts?””
“The savings accounts your mother set up for Maya and Jordan.””
Dad went completely still.
I had never known much about those accounts. Dad had told me years ago that Mom wanted to make sure we had money for college, but I had assumed he managed everything himself.
“That's impossible,” he whispered.
“Those accounts were never supposed to be touched.””
“I know.””
Dad looked at the photograph again.
“How much money are we talking about?””
Rebecca took a shaky breath.
“I don't know the exact amount. But when Emily found the records, she told me there were withdrawals going back years.””
Dad's hand began to tremble.
He looked at me, then toward the stairs where Nicole was waiting.
And for the first time, I realized that the food hidden beneath my bed might not have been the only thing she had stolen from us.
Dad ended the call and stood.
“I'm going to get the account statements tonight.””
“Dad?””
He turned.
“Whatever you find,” I whispered, “please don't let her send Jordan away like she sent Emily away.””
His eyes filled.
“I won't.””
He hugged me tightly, then walked toward his office.
I stayed in the hallway, clutching the photograph.
A few minutes later, I heard his computer start.
Then silence.
Then the sharp scrape of his chair moving backward.
“That's not possible,” he whispered.
I hurried to the doorway.
Dad was staring at his laptop screen, his face pale.
On the screen was a bank statement.
There were dozens of withdrawals.
Some were small. Others were thousands of dollars.
But the final transaction was different.
It was dated just two days earlier.
And the recipient's name was not Nicole's.
It was mine.
Dad looked up at me.
“Maya,” he said, his voice breaking, “why is your college account showing a transfer request with your signature?””
I stared at the screen.
Because I had never signed anything.
And when Dad enlarged the document, he noticed something even more disturbing.
The signature looked exactly like mine.
But beneath it was a date from a day when I had been at school.
A day when Nicole had been the only adult in the house.
Then Dad opened the attached authorization form.
At the bottom, beside the words *LEGAL GUARDIAN APPROVAL*, was Nicole's signature.
May you like
And next to it, in a box marked *ACCOUNT BENEFICIARY*, was a name neither of us expected to see.
*Emily Rebecca Carter.*
