Chapter 6 - A Mother's Christmas Lie
I had spent six years believing Darius and I were a team. By Christmas Eve morning, I understood that he had been playing on several teams and charging every one of them for the uniform.
The board meeting took place in a secure conference room. Patrice sat beside me. Lorraine waited outside with a thermos of tea and a spare pair of shoes because my feet still swelled.
I entered wearing a dark green maternity dress and a coat that covered the healing bruises on my arms. I walked slowly. I would not pretend I had recovered just because the room wanted a dramatic entrance.
Calvin Price stood when he saw me.
"Simone. Thank God."
"Sit down, Calvin."
He sat.
Beverly Knox pressed her lips together.
"We were told you had died."
"Who told you?"
"Darius."
"And you accepted a death certificate without verifying it?"
Beverly looked at Patrice.
"Counsel, is this necessary?"
"Yes," Patrice said.
Elijah presented the unauthorized transfers, altered approvals, and proposed patent sale. I did not accuse anyone of crimes from the head of the table. I asked questions and required the answers to be recorded.
"Who approved Monarch?"
Calvin cleared his throat.
"The executive committee."
"Show me the minutes."
"There may have been an informal understanding."
"Then there are no minutes."
Beverly folded her arms.
"We needed continuity."
"You needed to verify whether I was alive."
Silence.
The independent directors voted to suspend disputed transactions and refer the records for investigation. Calvin and Beverly recused themselves from matters involving the questionable approvals. I agreed to a temporary medical leave with an independent executive handling daily operations under the existing governance documents.
It was not a triumphant takeover. It was a company trying to repair damage while its leader was still injured.
When the meeting ended, Elijah handed me a photograph of my father beside the first prototype.
"Found this in storage," he said.
I pressed it to my chest.
"Thank you."
Outside, reporters gathered. Patrice gave a short statement: I was alive, receiving medical care, and cooperating with investigators. She declined questions about my pregnancy.
Darius's memorial was canceled. The ballroom had already been decorated, but there would be no funeral for a woman who had walked into her own board meeting.
I thought that would end the performance.
Instead, Darius held a press conference on the mansion steps. He said our marriage had been strained and suggested I had staged my disappearance to punish him.
Tasha stood behind him.
Micah stood beside her.
I watched the video for ten seconds before turning it off.
"He brought a child into this," I said.
Lorraine shook her head.
"That boy needs someone looking out for him."
Patrice contacted counsel for the child through appropriate channels. She made clear that I wanted no public speculation about his parentage or involvement.
That evening, a woman named Yvette Monroe called me. She was Tasha's older sister.
"I've been trying to reach you for months," she said.
"Why?"
"Because Tasha told me she was afraid of Darius."
I did not answer.
"She said he had documents that could take Micah away from her. I thought she meant custody papers. Then she asked me to keep a suitcase for her."
"What was in it?"
"Money. A burner phone. A copy of a marriage certificate."
My heart thudded.
"Whose marriage?"
Yvette exhaled.
"Darius and Tasha."
I stared at the wall.
"They married before he married you," she said. "Tasha told me it was annulled."
"Was it?"
"I don't know."
Yvette had found the document while looking for her own birth certificate in a shared storage box. She offered to give it to investigators.
I called Patrice.
May you like
For years, I had feared being replaced.
Now I wondered whether I had ever been legally married at all.
