Chapter 6 - The House Nobody Knew About
The property was a four-bedroom house in Marietta.
Simone had purchased it seven months earlier.
Andre had never seen it.
The down payment was $96,000.
At least $61,000 could be traced to funds that had passed through questionable company vendors.
The mortgage application listed Simone as a “financial consultant.”
Marital status:
Married.
Spouse:
Andre Bennett.
But Andre had never signed anything.
His attorney explained that Georgia law did not prevent Simone from purchasing property individually.
The problem was the source of funds and several documents attached to the loan.
One listed a bank account Andre did not recognize.
Another showed income Simone had never earned.
Then came the detail that disturbed him most.
A school enrollment form had been downloaded on the same computer used for the mortgage application.
Student:
Noah Cole.
Another:
Kayla Cole.
There was no form for Maya.
Andre stared at the screen.
“She was planning to move.”
“Possibly.”
“With the kids.”
“That's what the records suggest.”
“And me?”
His attorney hesitated.
“We don't know.”
Andre laughed bitterly.
For weeks Simone had apparently been planning a life in a home purchased partly with money taken from his company.
A life containing her biological children.
Not Maya.
Whether that life contained Andre remained unclear.
Then the hidden phone answered.
A deleted message from Simone to Darren:
Once Andre discovers the vendor accounts, I'll say you manipulated me.
Darren replied:
And when he realizes you bought the house?
Simone: By then Maya will be with Celeste and Andre will be focused on getting her back.
Andre read it twice.
Maya wasn't merely a witness Simone needed away.
She was intended as a distraction.
Create a crisis around the child.
Let Andre panic over custody and family conflict.
Meanwhile Simone could control the financial narrative.
It was calculated.
But another message changed Andre's understanding again.
Darren: You're not bringing Andre to the new house.
Simone: I never said I was.
Andre sat back.
The marriage had already been over in Simone's mind.
He simply hadn't been informed.
That evening Celeste came to the hotel.
Maya ran into her arms.
Celeste was Lena's older sister.
She and Andre had never been especially close after Lena died.
Not hostile.
Just distant.
Simone had encouraged that distance.
“Celeste judges us,” she often said.
Andre had believed her.
Now he wondered how much isolation had been deliberate.
Celeste looked at Andre.
“Why didn't you call me months ago?”
“About what?”
She frowned.
“Simone contacted me.”
“When?”
“Last summer.”
Andre's pulse quickened.
“What did she say?”
“That Maya was unhappy living with you.”
Maya stopped moving.
Celeste continued.
“She asked whether I would take Maya for the school year.”
Andre stood.
“She never told me.”
“I thought you knew.”
“What made you think that?”
“She sent me screenshots.”
Andre closed his eyes.
Fake messages.
Again.
“What did they say?”
Celeste pulled out her phone.
She had saved them.
One supposedly from Andre read:
Maybe Maya needs Lena's family more than she needs me right now.
Another:
I'm exhausted fighting with her.
Andre handed the phone back.
“I never wrote these.”
Celeste's face changed.
Maya whispered, “She showed me that one too.”
Everyone became silent.
Simone had created the same lie for multiple audiences.
To Maya: Dad wanted her gone.
To Celeste: Andre wanted Maya gone.
If the plan succeeded, both sides would believe the separation was voluntary.
Celeste sat beside Maya.
“I almost said yes.”
Maya looked at her.
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I wanted to hear it from your father.”
Andre looked at Celeste.
“You called?”
“Three times.”
“I never got those calls.”
Celeste slowly turned toward him.
“Simone answered once.”
Andre's stomach tightened.
“What did she say?”
“That you didn't want to discuss Maya anymore.”
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Simone had not merely been pushing Maya out.
May you like
She had been building the road on both sides.
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