Chapter 5: Her Mother’s Voice
Marcus rose so quickly that his chair rolled into the wall.
“You were mistaken,” he said.
“It had Mom’s blue case.”
“You saw my old phone.”
Nia shook her head.
“Her photograph was still on the lock screen.”
Grant closed the office door.
“This conversation should continue privately.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You mean somewhere without bank cameras?”
Grant’s hand dropped from the handle.
Aaliyah turned to Marcus.
“Take us home and open your safe.”
“You don’t give me orders.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“The trust does.
The home belongs to Aaliyah as trustee.”
Marcus stepped close enough for Aaliyah to smell his coffee.
“You throw me out, and Nia loses everything.
Her college deposit, her car insurance, all of it.”
Nia’s voice cracked.
“You said my college was paid.”
“It will be if you stop helping them.”
Aaliyah reached for Nia’s hand.
Nia hesitated, then took it.
“We’re going home,” Aaliyah said.
“Together.”
When they arrived, Marcus drove past without stopping.
Daniel called the locksmith listed in the estate file.
Nia stood on the porch.
“I know another way in.”
She lifted a ceramic flowerpot and removed a brass key taped beneath it.
“Mom showed me,” she said.
“She told me never to tell Dad.”
Aaliyah touched the key.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I liked being the daughter he chose.”
Aaliyah’s eyes burned.
Nia looked down.
“I saw you pretending that sweater was enough.
I knew it wasn’t.
I just didn’t want the car any less.”
Aaliyah pulled her into a hug.
Nia clung to her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I wanted to hate you today,” Aaliyah whispered.
“But he did this to both of us.”
Daniel cleared his throat gently.
“We need to find that phone.”
The safe stood inside Marcus’s study.
Nia entered the six-digit code—their birthday—and the lock clicked open.
Inside were their mother’s phone, three bank cards, and a bundle of letters tied with ribbon.
Daniel switched on the phone.
“It needs a passcode.”
Aaliyah picked up the photograph of Rosewood House.
Four numbers had been written beneath Samuel Brooks’s name.
“Try 1968.”
The screen opened.
A recording application appeared first.
One file was labeled FOR MY DAUGHTERS.
Their mother’s voice filled the room.
“Aaliyah, Nia, if you hear this, Marcus has forced the truth into the open.”
Nia covered her mouth.
“I loved you both from the first moment I held you.
Nothing Marcus says can change that.
He has taken money from Nia’s fund and tried to mortgage Rosewood House.
I stopped him once.
I may not be there to stop him again.”
Aaliyah sank onto the sofa.
Nia sat beside her and held her arm.
Their mother continued.
“The proof is in Samuel’s ledger at Rosewood.
Daniel knows where to look.
Do not let Marcus divide you.
That is how he wins.”
The recording ended.
Nia pressed the phone to her chest.
Tears ran over her fingers.
“She knew,” Nia whispered.
“She knew exactly what he was doing.”
Aaliyah put her forehead against her sister’s.
“And she made sure we’d hear her together.”
The front door slammed downstairs.
Marcus’s footsteps crossed the hall.
“Put that phone down!” he shouted from the study doorway.
Daniel stepped between him and the sisters.
“You’re not taking it.”
Marcus lunged toward the desk, grabbed the phone, and raised it over the stone fireplace.
Nia moved first.
She caught his wrist.
“No, Dad.”
“You’re choosing her over me?”
“I’m choosing the truth.”
Aaliyah took the phone from his hand.
Marcus backed toward the door.
“You think an old recording saves you?
Rosewood won’t belong to either of you by tomorrow.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“What did you do?”
“I sold it.”
“You had no authority.”
“I had Grant.”
May you like
Marcus smiled at Aaliyah.
“The demolition crew arrives at eight in the morning.”
