Chapter 7 - The Things Malik Was ToldDr. Serena Wells eventually helped Malik create a list.
Not of punishments.
Of things Loretta had told him.
Kiara saw the list only after Malik agreed.
Mom works because I cost a lot.
Grandma says Mom is tired of fixing my mistakes.
If I make Mom choose, Grandma says Mom will choose peace.
Grandpa left the house wrong.
Mom took Grandma’s money.
Breaking family things means I don’t respect Grandpa.
Kiara stopped reading.
The last line explained the vase.
Loretta had turned Everett’s memory into a weapon.
Malik did not know his grandfather’s estate structure.
He only knew Grandma said Grandpa’s things were sacred.
When he broke the vase, he thought he had damaged his connection to Everett.
Then Loretta hit him.
Kiara lowered the paper.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Malik looked at the carpet.
“She said you’d get mad.”
“At her?”
“At everybody.”
He shrugged.
“And you were busy.”
There it was.
Not accusation.
Fact.
Kiara worked long hours running a healthcare technology company she had founded eight years earlier.
She had told herself she was building security.
She had become successful enough to hire help, delegate and slow down.
She had not.
Work was predictable.
Parenting after her divorce from Malik’s father had felt less predictable.
Loretta stepped into the gap.
At first, Kiara was grateful.
School pickup.
Dinner.
Homework.
Someone in the house.
She had mistaken availability for safety.
“I should have listened better.”
Malik looked up.
“You didn’t know.”
“I missed things.”
He seemed uncomfortable.
Kiara realized she was asking him to make her feel better.
She stopped.
“So here’s what changes.”
“What?”
“You never have to protect me from the truth.”
Malik frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“If someone tells you, ‘Don’t tell your mom because she has enough problems,’ tell me anyway.”
“Even if it makes you mad?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it’s about you?”
Kiara smiled faintly.
“Especially then.”
Malik thought.
“Can I tell you something now?”
“Always.”
“You leave cabinet doors open.”
Kiara stared.
“Deeply offensive.”
“You said truth.”
He smiled.
She laughed.
The moment was small.
Important.
Meanwhile, investigators traced more art.
The Federal side table had sold to a collector in Chicago.
The French clock was at an auction warehouse awaiting resale.
A landscape painting had crossed state lines through a dealer in New York.
Julian Pike’s claim of ignorance weakened with every discovery.
Emails showed he repeatedly warned Loretta:
Need clean ownership letter.
Trust records still list Everett Heritage.
Buyer asking provenance questions.
Loretta responded:
I was his wife. They are mine.
Julian:
Legally not the same thing.
Loretta:
Then stop acting like a lawyer and sell them.
Kiara read the messages.
That sentence mattered.
Loretta knew there was a legal problem.
Julian knew too.
Neither stopped.
Julian’s attorney began discussing cooperation.
Loretta’s attorney stopped returning Miriam’s calls.
Kiara expected satisfaction.
Instead, she felt grief.
Her mother had spent years believing Everett humiliated her.
Rather than confront that wound honestly, she built a version where every boundary was theft.
And then she treated Malik as another obstacle.
That night, Malik asked whether the dog crate was still downstairs.
Kiara stiffened.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Police already documented it. I haven’t decided what to do with it.”
“Throw it away.”
“I can.”
He hesitated.
“Actually…”
Kiara waited.
“Can we move it?”
“Where?”
“Garage.”
“Sure.”
Malik nodded.
Then:
“Don’t make me watch.”
“You don’t have to.”
The next morning movers carried the crate from the foyer.
Malik stayed upstairs.
When it was gone, he came down slowly.
He stood where it had been.
Nothing remained except faint impressions in the rug.
Malik looked toward Kiara.
“It looks bigger.”
“The foyer?”
He nodded.
Kiara understood.
Fear occupied space.
Removing the object did not remove the memory.
But it gave Malik room to decide what came next.
Then Detective Bell called.
They had found Loretta’s missing money.
Not all of it.
But enough.
And it had been used for more than lawyers.
Loretta had purchased a condominium in her own name six months earlier.
She had been preparing to leave Briarwood.
May you like
After one final plan.
A plan involving the entire art collection.
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