Chapter 3: The Secret Before Nicole
Dad didn’t tell me who was on the phone.
He just walked outside.
That scared me more than if he had stayed.
My father was never someone who hid things from me.
But that morning, he closed the back door behind him and lowered his voice.
I stood near the kitchen window, pretending not to listen.
I wasn’t proud of it.
But I needed to know.
After ten minutes, he came back inside.
His face looked older.
“Maya.””
I turned.
“What happened?””
He sat across from me.
“Someone called me from Nicole’s past.””
My stomach tightened.
“Who?””
He rubbed his hands together.
“Her former coworker.””
I waited.
Dad looked toward the hallway where Jordan was watching cartoons.
Then he lowered his voice.
“She said Nicole has done this before.””
The room felt colder.
“Done what?””
He hesitated.
“Controlled people.””
I stared.
Dad continued.
“She said Nicole always finds situations where she can look like the victim.””
I remembered all the times Nicole cried whenever Dad questioned her.
All the times she said I was “ungrateful.””
All the times she made him apologize to her.
“She planned everything,” I whispered.
Dad looked at me.
“What do you mean?””
I swallowed.
“After Mom died, Nicole showed up everywhere.””
My father went quiet.
I had never talked about it.
Not because I forgot.
Because I remembered.
The woman at my mother’s funeral who held Dad’s hand.
The woman who kept saying she understood our pain.
The woman who told everyone she wanted to help.
“She said she knew what it was like to lose someone,” I said.
Dad looked away.
“She told me she wanted to be there for you.””
“She wanted you to think she was.””
The words came out before I could stop them.
Dad looked hurt.
Not angry.
Just hurt.
A knock came from the front door.
We both turned.
Nicole stood there.
She had been outside.
Listening.
“I can’t believe this.””
Dad stood.
“Where were you?””
“Walking.””
She looked at me.
“After everything I’ve done for this family, you’re destroying my marriage?””
I flinched.
There it was.
The guilt.
Always the guilt.
Dad stepped between us.
“Don’t talk to her like that.””
Nicole laughed.
“Of course. Now I’m the villain.””
She walked into the room.
“I gave up everything for you.””
Dad stared.
“No one asked you to hurt my daughter.””
Her face changed.
For a second, the mask slipped.
“You always choose her.””
The sentence hung in the air.
Dad looked shocked.
Because that wasn’t the sentence of someone who loved him.
It was the sentence of someone who believed she owned him.
Nicole grabbed her purse.
“Fine.””
She looked at me.
“Enjoy this.””
Then she walked upstairs.
I thought she was leaving.
I was wrong.
Ten minutes later, Jordan came running into the kitchen.
“Maya!””
He was holding something.
A small black notebook.
“Look what I found.””
My blood went cold.
“Where did you get that?””
“Nicole’s closet.””
Dad took it.
The cover was worn.
Inside were pages.
Names.
Dates.
Notes.
My father read silently.
Then his expression changed.
“What is it?””
He looked at me.
“It’s about your mother.””
I stopped breathing.
“What?””
Dad turned the notebook around.
The first page had my mother’s name written on it.
And beneath it was a sentence that made my father’s hands start shaking.
*Step one: Make Marcus believe he needs me.*
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly the question wasn’t just what Nicole had done to me.
May you like
The question was:
How long had she been planning to become part of our family?
