Chapter 3: The Man Who Wanted My Inheritance
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
My fiancé, Ethan, was supposed to be waiting inside the ceremony hall with his best man. He was supposed to be the person I would spend the rest of my life trusting.
And according to my mother's attorney, he had contacted her about my inheritance.
“I'm sorry,” I said into the phone.
“Did you say Ethan?””
“Yes,” Elaine replied.
“Ethan Walker.””
My fingers went cold.
“When?””
“About two weeks ago. He said he was trying to understand the financial arrangements for your marriage.””
“That sounds normal,” Darius interrupted quickly.
“He's going to be your husband. He has a right to know.””
I turned toward him.
“I'm on the phone.””
He raised both hands, pretending to surrender.
Elaine had heard him.
“Is Darius there with you?””
“Yes.””
“Then listen carefully, Nia. I don't want to discuss confidential details while he's present. But I need you to understand that the trust was established for your benefit, and any changes require your informed consent.””
I swallowed.
“What changes?””
“Please come to my office as soon as you can. Bring your identification and any documents Marcus gave you.””
“Can't you just tell me?””
“I can tell you this much. No distribution was authorized to your father. No distribution was authorized to your fiancé. And no one has permission to borrow against the trust.””
Darius's face tightened.
“Elaine, this is ridiculous,” he said loudly.
“You're making a private family matter into something it isn't.””
There was a pause on the line.
Then Elaine replied, “Mr. Cole, I suggest you stop speaking before you make this considerably worse.””
Darius went silent.
I had never heard anyone talk to him like that.
“Ms. Porter,” I whispered, “what is going on?””
“I'm not going to frighten you with half the facts. Come see me. And please don't sign anything anyone gives you until we've spoken.””
The call ended.
For several seconds, I stared at my phone.
Then I looked at Darius.
“Tell me the truth.””
He exhaled slowly.
“Your mother left you some money. That's all.””
“How much?””
“I don't know.””
“You just told me she didn't have much.””
“She didn't, when I knew her.””
“Then why did you ask her attorney whether my trust could be accessed before my wedding?””
He flinched.
It was small, but I saw it.
“You're twisting things.””
“Did you contact her?””
“Yes, but it was a general inquiry.””
“About what?””
“Whether you might be entitled to anything from your mother.””
“Why would you need to know that?””
He stared at me as though I were being deliberately unreasonable.
“Because I am your father. I wanted to understand your circumstances.””
“Then why did Ethan call her?””
Darius rubbed his face.
“Ask Ethan.””
“I will.””
I turned toward the ceremony hall.
The music had stopped completely now. Through the open doors, I could see guests shifting in their seats and whispering to one another.
My aunt Patricia stood near the first row, twisting a tissue between her fingers.
When she saw me, she hurried over.
“Nia, honey, what's happening? The officiant says he's been waiting for twenty minutes.””
“I need to speak to Ethan.””
Patricia glanced at Darius.
“Is everything all right?””
“No.””
The answer came out before I could soften it.
Her expression changed.
I had spent the morning trying to preserve appearances, but suddenly the idea of walking into that ceremony and promising forever to a man whose honesty I had never tested felt unbearable.
“Where is Ethan?”” I asked.
“In the groom's room, I think.””
I gathered my dress and walked away.
Darius followed.
“Nia, we should talk first.””
“No.””
“Don't embarrass yourself.””
I stopped so abruptly that he nearly walked into me.
“Embarrass myself?””
His lips pressed together.
“That's not what I meant.””
“Then explain what you meant.””
He glanced toward the guests.
“You're upset. You're making decisions based on a letter written by a man who has resented me for decades.””
“Maybe. But Elaine knows about the trust, and she knows you contacted her.””
He lowered his voice.
“Listen to me. Whatever you think happened between your mother and me, you need to understand that families make complicated decisions. Money makes those decisions uglier.””
I stared at him.
“Did you come back because you missed me?””
“Yes.””
“Or because you found out I had money?””
His face hardened.
“How dare you?””
The anger in his voice should have frightened me into apologizing.
Instead, it clarified something I had been trying not to see.
A loving father might have been hurt by the question.
A guilty man might have been afraid of the answer.
Darius seemed furious that I had asked it at all.
I turned away.
“I'm going to talk to my fiancé.””
As I walked down the corridor, memories flashed through my mind.
The night Darius first contacted me, I had been sitting on my apartment floor assembling invitations.
His message had appeared on social media.
Hi, Nia. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm your biological father. I've thought about you every day.
I had read it so many times that I could recite it from memory.
He had sent pictures of himself holding me as a baby. He had told me he regretted missing my childhood. He had cried during our first phone call.
I had cried, too.
I had wanted him so badly that I had never asked why he waited twenty-six years to find me.
Now I wondered whether he had found me at all.
The groom's room door was partly open.
I heard Ethan laughing.
“I'm telling you, everything is going to work out,” he said.
“She'll be here in a minute.””
Another male voice replied, “You'd better hope so.””
I pushed the door open.
Ethan stood in front of a mirror, adjusting his tie. His best man, Jordan, sat on a sofa with a glass of water.
Ethan turned.
“There she is!””
He smiled and opened his arms.
“Baby, what happened? Everyone's getting restless.””
I didn't move toward him.
“Did you contact my mother's attorney?””
His smile faltered.
“What?””
“Elaine Porter. Did you call her two weeks ago?””
Jordan looked up from his phone.
Ethan's hands dropped to his sides.
“Why are you asking me that?””
“Because she told me you did.””
He glanced at Jordan.
That glance was enough to make my stomach tighten.
“Can you give us a minute?”” Ethan asked him.
Jordan stood slowly.
“Sure.””
As he passed me, he murmured, “I'm sorry, Nia.””
I turned toward him.
“For what?””
He stopped.
Ethan snapped, “Jordan, go.””
Jordan left without answering.
The door clicked shut.
I looked at my fiancé.
“Tell me why you called Elaine.””
Ethan took a deep breath.
“I was trying to understand our finances.””
“Our finances?””
“Once we're married, your inheritance becomes part of our future planning.””
“What inheritance?””
He stared at me.
The silence lasted only a second, but it was long enough.
“You knew about the trust,” I whispered.
“I knew there was a possibility of one.””
“How?””
“Your father mentioned it.””
“Which father?””
Ethan hesitated.
“Darius.””
I felt something inside me go very still.
“You and Darius have been talking about my inheritance?””
“Not behind your back in the way you're imagining.””
“Then explain it.””
He walked toward the sofa, picked up his water glass, and took a drink.
It was the kind of thing he did when he was preparing to make an argument. I had seen it during disagreements about our apartment, our wedding budget, and whether we should buy a house immediately after the ceremony.
Usually, I found it reassuring.
Now it looked rehearsed.
“Darius told me your mother might have left you money,” he said.
“He wanted to make sure you wouldn't lose it because of poor financial decisions.””
I stared at him.
“Darius has never seen my financial records.””
“He's your father.””
“He didn't know what school I attended until eight months ago.””
Ethan set down the glass.
“Nia, I know this is emotional, but you're not thinking practically.””
“Why did you call Elaine?””
“To ask whether the trust existed.””
“And whether you could access it?””
His silence answered before he did.
“I asked about the legal structure.””
“Did you ask about borrowing against it?””
He looked away.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Ethan.””
He dragged a hand through his hair.
“We were trying to plan our future.””
“With money that belongs to me?””
“With money that will affect both of us.””
“Did you ask whether you could borrow against it?””
He finally looked at me.
“Yes.””
The room seemed to shrink around us.
“How much?””
“I didn't request a specific amount.””
“Ethan.””
He sighed.
“Three hundred thousand dollars.””
I stared at him.
The number was so enormous that my mind refused to connect it to anything real.
“What would you need three hundred thousand dollars for?””
“Our business.””
He had told me he wanted to expand his event-planning company after the wedding. He had described a new office, additional staff, and contracts with corporate clients.
He had said the company was growing.
He had never said it was in trouble.
“What business problem?”” I asked.
“It's temporary.””
“What problem?””
He paced toward the window.
“We lost two major clients. A supplier filed a claim. There's a cash-flow issue.””
“How much debt do you have?””
He didn't answer.
I followed him.
“How much debt, Ethan?””
“About two hundred and forty thousand.””
My mouth went dry.
“You told me the company was profitable.””
“It was.””
“You told me we could afford this wedding.””
“We can, if your stepfather stops sabotaging it.””
The words hung in the air.
I stared at him.
“You knew Marcus was paying for the wedding.””
“Of course I knew.””
“And you let me believe you were contributing.””
“I paid for the rings.””
“The rings?””
He spread his hands.
“I paid for the honeymoon deposit, too.””
I could barely hear him over the pounding in my ears.
The honeymoon deposit had been a source of pride for him. He had insisted on booking a luxury resort in the Caribbean and told me that he wanted our marriage to begin with something unforgettable.
I had thanked him repeatedly.
Now I wondered how much of it had been paid for with borrowed money.
“Did you use my money for the deposit?””
“No.””
“Did you use money from the trust?””
“I told you, I haven't accessed the trust.””
“Then why were you asking Elaine about a loan?””
“Because I was trying to protect our future.””
I stepped back.
“You were planning to borrow against an inheritance I didn't even know existed.””
“I was planning to invest in our life together.””
“Without telling me.””
“Because I knew you'd react like this.””
The sentence struck me with a force I hadn't expected.
He wasn't ashamed.
He was annoyed that I had discovered the truth before he could persuade me to accept it.
I looked down at my engagement ring.
The diamond caught the light from the window.
I remembered the night he proposed. We had been sitting on the rooftop of our apartment building, watching fireworks over the city.
He had told me that I was the safest place he had ever known.
I had believed him.
“Did you know Darius was coming back into my life before he contacted me?”” I asked.
Ethan frowned.
“What?””
“Did you know about him?””
“No.””
“Did he contact you before or after I told you I had found him?””
He looked at the floor.
“After.””
“Then how did the two of you become so close?””
“He wanted to help.””
“Help you get access to my trust?””
“Stop saying it like that.””
“Like what?””
“Like we're criminals.””
I stared at him.
For the first time, I understood how easily a person could make you feel unreasonable for asking a reasonable question.
Ethan took my hands.
“Look at me, Nia.””
I didn't.
“Please.””
I finally raised my eyes.
“I love you,” he said.
“I want to marry you. I want us to build something real together. But I need you to understand that marriage means sharing responsibilities.””
“Responsibilities aren't the same as secrets.””
“I was going to tell you.””
“When?””
“After the wedding.””
“After I signed the marriage certificate?””
He released my hands.
“Why are you making everything sound so sinister?””
“Because you're asking for three hundred thousand dollars from a trust I didn't know existed, while my biological father is trying to become part of my life, and the man who raised me has just canceled the financial arrangements for a wedding neither of you could afford.””
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Marcus has been controlling you for years.””
I went completely still.
“What?””
“He wants you dependent on him. That's why he's paying for everything. That's why he never encouraged you to build a relationship with Darius.””
“You don't know anything about Marcus.””
“I know he made sure you always needed him.””
“He worked two jobs so I could go to college.””
“He made you feel indebted.””
“He taught me to drive.””
“He made himself indispensable.””
I stared at the man I was supposed to marry in less than an hour.
Then I noticed something on the table beside the sofa.
A thick white envelope.
My name was written across the front.
Underneath it was a printed label from a financial services company.
I picked it up.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Don't touch that.””
I looked at him.
“What is it?””
“Business paperwork.””
“Why does it have my name on it?””
He reached for the envelope.
I moved it behind my back.
“Nia, give it to me.””
“No.””
His voice sharpened.
“That's confidential.””
“Then you shouldn't have left it lying around.””
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a stack of documents bearing my full legal name, my date of birth, and my home address.
I flipped through the pages.
A loan application.
A personal guarantee.
A preliminary financing agreement.
And a signature on the last page that looked almost exactly like mine.
Almost.
My fingers began to tremble.
“What is this?””
Ethan lunged toward me.
“Give me that!””
I stepped away, clutching the papers.
“You forged my signature?””
“No!””
“Then why is my name here?””
“It's a draft.””
“A draft of what?””
He took another step.
“Nia, listen to me. Nothing has been submitted.””
I looked at the signature again.
The capital N leaned too far to the left.
The final stroke of the B was wrong.
But whoever had copied it had studied my handwriting carefully.
I knew the signature because I had signed it hundreds of times.
And I knew one more thing.
The application was dated six weeks earlier.
Before Darius had even returned to my life.
Before the wedding invitations were mailed.
Before I had ever heard the words family trust.
I lifted my eyes toward Ethan.
“Who helped you prepare this?””
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Three sharp knocks.
A man's voice followed.
“Ethan, we have a problem. The bank just called.””
Ethan closed his eyes.
The door opened before either of us could answer.
Jordan stood in the doorway, his face pale.
He looked at the papers in my hands.
Then he looked at Ethan.
“Oh, God,” he whispered.
I turned toward him.
“What do you know?””
Jordan swallowed.
“I was going to tell you.””
“Tell me what?””
He glanced at Ethan, who was now standing perfectly still.
Then Jordan said the words that shattered the last piece of certainty I had left.
“Ethan didn't just apply for a loan in your name, Nia.””
May you like
He looked at the document I was holding.
“He already used your signature to secure the first one.””
Related Stories
