Chapter 7: The Money With My Name on It
For several seconds, Aaliyah couldn't hear anything except the ticking clock above the reception hall doors.
One hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
Her biological father had supposedly left her that money when she was six years old. Someone had opened an account in her name, and somewhere along the way, the money had vanished.
She looked at Marcus.
“Did you take it?””
His face tightened.
“No.””
“Then who did?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
Marcus flinched as though she had slapped him.
“I expect you to ask the questions you need to ask. Even if the answers hurt.””
Aaliyah turned to Denise.
“Did you know about the account?””
Her mother nodded slowly.
“I knew Robert had opened something for you. He showed me the paperwork that day. He said he wanted to make sure you would have money for college, even if he wasn't around.””
“And you never checked it?””
“I tried.””
“When?””
“When you were twelve. I called the bank, but they wouldn't give me information because I wasn't listed as the account holder. Robert had opened it under a trust arrangement, and I didn't have the authority to access it.””
Aaliyah stared at her.
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I didn't know if the money was still there. I didn't want to promise you something that might not exist.””
“That was your decision to make?””
“No,” Denise whispered.
“It wasn't.””
Aaliyah looked away.
Her wedding dress suddenly felt unbearably tight. The delicate silk pressed against her ribs, and the pearl buttons down her back seemed to pull at her skin with every breath.
She wanted to take it off.
She wanted to walk outside and keep walking until the people who had spent her entire life deciding what she could handle were nothing more than voices behind her.
Instead, she placed the photograph on the table.
“I'm calling Robert.””
Marcus nodded.
“That's your choice.””
She dialed.
Robert answered on the second ring.
“Sweetheart, I'm glad you called.””
“Don't call me that.””
A pause.
“All right. What's wrong?””
“You told me you left money for me when I was six.””
“I did.””
“One hundred and twenty thousand dollars.””
“That's approximately what was in the account.””
“Where is it?””
Robert exhaled sharply.
“I've been waiting years for this conversation.””
“Then answer the question.””
“The account was supposed to be managed until you reached adulthood.””
“Who managed it?””
“I established the trust through a financial adviser.””
“What's the adviser's name?””
Robert hesitated.
“Daniel Whitmore.””
“Do you have his contact information?””
“I can find it.””
“Find it now.””
“Aaliyah, this isn't something we can resolve in five minutes.””
“You've had twenty years.””
His voice hardened.
“Don't speak to me like I'm the enemy.””
She gripped the phone.
“Then stop giving me reasons to think you are.””
Silence.
When Robert spoke again, his tone was colder.
“I gave you that money. I did my part.””
“Did you withdraw it?””
“No.””
“Did you authorize anyone else to withdraw it?””
“I don't remember signing anything like that.””
“Then why is it gone?””
“I never said it was gone.””
Aaliyah froze.
“What?””
“I said the account was supposed to be managed until you became an adult. I don't know what happened afterward.””
“You told Mom you didn't know where the money went.””
“I told her I didn't have access to it anymore.””
Aaliyah's heart began to pound.
“Why didn't you tell me that before?””
“Because I wanted to talk to you first. I didn't want your first experience of reconnecting with me to be about a bank account.””
She looked at the envelope on the table.
“You sent me a gold bracelet. You booked a hotel suite. You arrived at my wedding in an expensive car. And now you're telling me you don't know where my money went?””
“I have my own finances.””
“Then why did you ask Mom for a loan last month?””
Robert's breathing grew louder through the phone.
“That has nothing to do with this.””
“Everything has something to do with this now.””
“Listen to me. I am your father. Whatever mistakes I made, I never stopped loving you.””
Aaliyah closed her eyes.
She had waited years to hear those words.
She had imagined hearing them while sitting beside him at a kitchen table, perhaps with a childhood photograph between them and a cup of coffee growing cold.
She had never imagined hearing them while demanding answers about missing money.
“Love doesn't explain where the money went,” she whispered.
Robert said nothing.
Then Marcus stepped forward and held out his hand.
“May I?””
Aaliyah hesitated before giving him the phone.
Marcus spoke calmly.
“Robert, I need the name of the bank, the trust documents, and the adviser's contact information. We should establish what happened before making accusations.””
Robert gave a bitter laugh.
“Now you want to investigate my finances?””
“No. I want to find Aaliyah's money.””
“And what happens when we discover you had something to do with it?””
“Then I'll answer for it.””
The confidence in Marcus's voice made Aaliyah look at him.
He wasn't trying to avoid suspicion.
He was inviting it.
Robert, however, didn't seem reassured.
“I'll send the information,” he said.
“But I'm not going to let you use this to turn my daughter against me.””
Marcus glanced at Aaliyah.
“She doesn't need my help deciding how she feels about you.””
The call ended.
For a moment, the room remained quiet.
Then Aaliyah sank into a chair and covered her face.
“I don't know who to believe anymore.””
Marcus sat beside her, leaving enough space between them that she could move away if she wanted.
“You don't have to decide today.””
“My wedding is supposed to start in ten minutes.””
“I know.””
“My fiancé is waiting for me. Our families are outside. Everyone thinks I'm about to walk down the aisle, and I'm sitting here trying to figure out whether my parents stole from me.””
“Your mother didn't steal from you.””
Aaliyah lifted her head.
“How can you be so sure?””
Marcus looked at Denise.
“Because I know what she was trying to protect.””
Denise shook her head.
“Don't defend me. I should have told her about the account.””
“Yes,” Marcus said.
“You should have.””
Aaliyah let out a shaky breath.
“At least you're all agreeing on something.””
A sudden knock interrupted them.
Emily appeared at the door.
“I'm sorry. Your fiancé is asking whether the ceremony is still happening. He says he's willing to wait, but he needs to know if you're all right.””
Aaliyah looked toward the hallway.
Ethan had been waiting downstairs for nearly an hour. He had called her twice that morning just to tell her how excited he was to marry her. He had sent her a photograph of his cuff links, joking that he had finally learned how to dress like a grown man.
He had no idea that the day had become a battle over money, secrets, and twenty years of silence.
“Tell him I need five minutes,” she said.
Emily nodded and disappeared.
Marcus rose.
“I'll give you some privacy.””
Aaliyah caught his sleeve.
“Please don't leave.””
He stopped.
She looked up at him, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I know what I said earlier. About you not being my real father.””
Marcus's throat tightened.
“You were upset.””
“No. I was cruel.””
He shook his head.
“You were trying to understand something important about yourself.””
“I made you feel like twenty years meant nothing.””
Marcus looked down at her hand on his sleeve.
“Those twenty years mean something to me, regardless of what happens today.””
Aaliyah began to cry harder.
“I'm sorry, Dad.””
He knelt beside her chair.
She threw her arms around him, careful of the wedding dress, and buried her face against his shoulder.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Marcus whispered, “I love you, kiddo. That part has never been in question.””
Her phone vibrated on the table.
A new email had arrived.
The sender was a man named Daniel Whitmore.
The subject line read:
*URGENT: AALIYAH HAYES TRUST ACCOUNT — HISTORICAL RECORDS*
Aaliyah wiped her face and opened it.
The email contained a single sentence.
Before I release the records, you should know that the original beneficiary designation was changed when you were twelve years old.
Below it was a scanned document.
And the name listed as the new beneficiary was not Marcus Reed.
It was not Denise.
It was not even Robert.
It was someone Aaliyah had trusted with her life.
May you like
Her fiancé.
Ethan Cole.
