Chapter 3: The Second Phone
The name above the message read: MOM—PRIVATE NUMBER.
“Give me that phone,” Vanessa said.
Evelyn held it behind her back.
“Why does Mia have a private number for you?”
“It’s for emergencies.”
“Is taking Aaliyah’s college money an emergency?” David asked.
Vanessa reached around Evelyn, but Aaliyah stepped between them.
“Don’t touch my grandmother.”
Vanessa gave a cold laugh.
“Now you’re brave because she brought a few papers?”
“No.
I’m done being quiet.”
Mia pressed herself against the wall.
“Mom, you said the money was supposed to be mine.”
“Be quiet, Mia.”
“You said Grandpa would have wanted me to have it.”
“He wasn’t your grandfather,” Aaliyah said.
Vanessa pointed at her.
“That is exactly the selfish attitude I’ve lived with for six years.”
Aaliyah’s fingers curled around the torn fabric of her dress.
“You lived in my father’s house.
You used my mother’s room.
You made me apologize every time Mia hurt me.
And now you call me selfish?”
“Your father invited us here.”
David lifted the papers.
“I didn’t invite you to forge my signature.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“You gave me access to your email.”
“For school forms and household bills.”
“You told me to handle the family finances.”
“I never told you to touch Aaliyah’s trust.”
Vanessa turned toward Mia.
“Unlock the phone.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Mia.
Vanessa moved closer.
“I said unlock it.”
Mia’s hand shook.
“You told me I would get a car if I helped.”
Aaliyah stared at her stepsister.
“Helped with what?”
Mia covered her mouth.
“With what, Mia?” Evelyn asked gently.
“The dress was supposed to keep her home from graduation.
Mom said if Aaliyah didn’t attend, I could claim the money as the first granddaughter to graduate.”
“That isn’t how the trust works,” Evelyn said.
“It says first biological grandchild.”
Vanessa grabbed the phone from Evelyn’s hand and entered a code.
“There.
The messages are gone.”
David stepped toward her.
“You just deleted them in front of us.”
“They were private conversations with my daughter.”
“They were evidence,” Evelyn said.
Vanessa slid the phone into her pocket.
“Evidence of nothing.”
Aaliyah bent down and picked up one white piece of her dress.
“Mia didn’t invent this plan.”
“You can’t prove I did.”
“No,” Mia whispered.
“But I can.”
Vanessa’s head turned sharply.
Mia reached beneath the mattress and pulled out a small tablet.
“I connected my messages to this last month.”
Vanessa lunged toward her, but David caught her wrist.
“You’re not deleting anything else.”
“Let go of me!”
“Not until Evelyn photographs every message.”
The tablet chimed before Mia could unlock it.
A bank notification filled the screen.
TRANSFER STATUS: PENDING FINAL VERIFICATION.
Aaliyah stopped breathing for a moment.
“Pending?” David said.
“I thought the transfer failed.”
Evelyn opened the alert.
“The first request failed,” she said.
“A second one was approved this morning.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Then perhaps the bank found it legitimate.”
Aaliyah looked at the amount beneath the notification.
May you like
Her entire education fund was scheduled to leave the account at nine o’clock the next morning.
And beside the approval was a signature that looked exactly like hers.
