Chapter 7 - Noah's Secret
Noah did not want to visit his mother.
Darren's attorney had arranged temporary custody while Simone's conduct was investigated.
But after three nights at Darren's house, Noah called Andre.
“Can you come get me?”
Andre could not simply remove him.
Darren was his biological father.
So Andre drove there and sat with Noah on the porch while lawyers handled the rest.
“What happened?”
Noah stared at the yard.
“Dad keeps asking what I told you.”
Andre immediately became alert.
“What did you tell him?”
“About the key.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you not to?”
Noah nodded.
Andre kept his anger out of his voice.
“What exactly did he say?”
“That Mom could go to jail because I can't keep family business private.”
Andre looked toward the house.
Darren stood behind a curtain.
Watching.
Andre lowered his voice.
“You didn't cause this.”
Noah's eyes filled.
“Mom said the same thing.”
“About what?”
“That Maya caused everything.”
Andre felt something twist.
“When?”
“All the time.”
Noah wiped his face.
“She said if Maya would just go live with her aunt, everybody could be happy.”
Andre understood how Simone had recruited the children into her narrative.
Not by asking them to hurt Maya directly.
By presenting Maya's removal as the solution to household tension.
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“The pizza.”
Andre frowned.
“That night?”
Noah nodded.
“Mom gave me four slices.”
“Okay.”
“She told Maya there wasn't enough.”
Andre closed his eyes.
There had been two whole pizzas.
Noah continued.
“Maya didn't say anything. She just got the old piece from the refrigerator.”
He started crying.
“I couldn't eat mine.”
“So you found the key?”
“After.”
“How?”
“Mom went upstairs. I saw her put it in the little bowl in her closet.”
“Why did you take it?”
Noah looked at him.
“Because Maya wasn't lying anymore.”
Andre's throat tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“I used to think maybe she was.”
Noah looked ashamed.
“Mom said Maya wanted you to hate us.”
Andre put a hand on his shoulder.
“You were being lied to too.”
“But I still ate the pizza.”
Andre understood what Noah really meant.
He had benefited.
That created guilt.
“You were ten.”
“I could've given her some.”
“Yes.”
Noah looked surprised by Andre's answer.
Andre continued.
“And next time you see something unfair, you can make a different choice.”
He did not tell Noah he had done nothing wrong.
Children needed forgiveness without having their moral instincts erased.
Noah nodded.
Then his face changed.
“There was another phone.”
Andre froze.
“What?”
“At Dad's house.”
“Darren's?”
Noah nodded.
“He has a white one.”
“What makes you think it matters?”
“I heard him tell Mom to delete everything from the black phone because he had backups.”
Andre immediately called his attorney.
Hours later investigators obtained the information through appropriate legal channels.
The white phone existed.
Darren turned it over after being confronted with a preservation demand and escalating investigation.
Its contents widened the case dramatically.
The messages weren't only between Darren and Simone.
There was a third person.
Someone inside Andre's company.
Someone with enough access to approve vendors, alter internal notes, and prevent questionable invoices from reaching Andre's desk.
The contact name was simply:
V.
Andre did not need long to guess.
Victor Lane.
His operations director.
May you like
His friend of twelve years.
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