Chapter 5 - The Desperate Plead
With Marcus sitting in a federal holding facility with a set bail of $500,000 that nobody could pay, my mother and Emily were left completely helpless.
Their bank accounts—all linked to Marcus’s shell company transfers—had been frozen by federal order. The luxury cars parked in the driveway had been seized as criminal assets.
On Wednesday night, as I was returning to my apartment after a workout in the building gym, I found my mother sitting on the marble bench outside my building lobby.
She looked entirely crushed. Her designer clothes were wrinkled, her hair was unwashed, and the arrogance that had defined her for fifty years had vanished.
"Maya..." she whimpered, standing up as I approached. Her hands were shaking.
I stopped ten feet away, keeping my distance. "How did you get my address, Mom?"
"Emily traced your phone location from an old family sharing plan..." Mom stammered, taking a desperate step forward. "Maya, please... you have to help us. They took everything. The bank froze my cards. I couldn't even buy groceries today. Emily’s college canceled her enrollment this morning!"
"Actions have consequences, Mom," I said flatly.
"He's your father!" Mom cried, tears streaming down her hollow cheeks. "Yes, he lost his temper! Yes, he made a mistake with those business accounts! But family forgives, Maya! If you drop the assault charges and tell the federal prosecutors that you made an error in your audit, they'll let him out!"
I looked at my mother—the woman who had watched her husband wrap his fingers around her eldest daughter's neck and hadn't moved a single inch to stop him.
"When he was choking me, Mom," I said softly, my voice cutting through her sobbing, "did you say 'family comes first'?"
Mom blinked, swallowing hard. "I... I was scared..."
"No, you weren't scared," I corrected. "You were calculating. You were thinking about Emily's tuition and your handbag collection. You stood there and let him throw me out in the rain because you thought I was weak. You thought I would come crawling back with the money just like I always did."
"I am your mother!" she screamed, her voice cracking with desperate rage. "I gave birth to you! You owe me your life!"
"I paid off your debts for four years, Mom," I said calmly, pulling out my phone. "I paid over sixty thousand dollars into your household. My debt to you is paid in full. With interest."
I turned toward the glass entrance of my building.
"Maya, wait!" she begged, grabbing at my sleeve. "At least give us money for rent! They're foreclosing on the house! We have nowhere to go!"
May you like
I pulled my arm away from her touch.
"Sell your designer handbags, Mom," I said, stepping into the lobby as the security guard closed the heavy doors between us. "Family comes before selfish little dreams, right?"
