CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH COMES OUT
Maya didn’t understand at first.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me it was this bad?” she asked one evening.
Marcus sighed.
“Because I thought I could balance both worlds,” he admitted. “Be their son… and still protect you.”
Maya looked at him carefully. “And now?”
“Now I choose you. Every time.”
That should’ve been the end of it.
But secrets have a way of surfacing.
A week later, Rachel showed up again.
Not arrogant this time.
Desperate.
“You don’t understand what you’ve done,” she said. “Mom is losing everything.”
Marcus didn’t respond.
Rachel hesitated… then lowered her voice.
“She wasn’t supposed to treat Maya like that. She just… she thought if Maya broke, you’d come back to the family fully.”
Maya went still.
“You mean… that was intentional?”
Rachel didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
That was the moment everything clicked.
This wasn’t neglect.
May you like
It was strategy.
And it failed.
