"Because you know how Mom gets."
I closed my eyes.
That was always the answer.
Mom gets angry.
Mom gets upset.
Mom doesn't like being challenged.
And somehow, avoiding her anger had become more important than protecting anyone she hurt.
"Marcus, what is Gerald doing there?"
He hesitated.
"He's making some kind of announcement."
"About what?"
"A family development company."
My stomach dropped.
"Did Mom mention my business?"
He lowered his voice.
"She said you agreed to help finance it."
I felt sick.
"I never agreed."
"I know that now."
"Did you know before tonight?"
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
I took a breath.
"Tell Gerald I haven't authorized any investment."
"Nia, please come back and explain it yourself."
I ended the call.
Then I opened my email.
Buried beneath vendor confirmations was a message from Gerald's office.
Its subject line read:
Carter Legacy Initiative — Founding Partner Confirmation.
The message was dated six weeks earlier.
I opened it.
A document was attached.
My name appeared on the first page.
Nia Carter.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Carter Development Group.
Beneath it was a proposed commitment.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
I stared at the screen.
I had never agreed to contribute that amount.
I had never signed the document.
But when I opened the final page, my heart nearly stopped.
A signature appeared beside my name.
It looked almost exactly like mine.
Then I noticed something even worse.
The document was dated the day my mother had asked me to sign a birthday card for Aunt Patricia.
I remembered her placing several papers beneath the card.
She told me the stack was only there to protect the table from the pen.
Had she used that moment to obtain my signature?
Or had someone copied it?
I didn't know.
But I knew one thing.
The dinner hadn't been organized simply to celebrate my mother's birthday.
It had been designed to announce an investment I had never approved.
My phone vibrated.
A message from Olivia.
Ms. Carter, the restaurant manager has confirmed that the additional business presentation was contracted separately by Mrs. Evelyn Carter. Your original deposit remains applied to the dinner. We are not charging your card for the unauthorized upgrades.
I exhaled.
Then another message arrived.
The total amount outstanding under your mother's addendum is $48,760.
I stared at the number.
Nearly fifty thousand dollars.
My mother had spent more on additional services than I'd expected the entire dinner to cost.
Then Olivia sent one final message.
The investor has requested that the presentation be stopped until the authorization issue is resolved.
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, I understood why Mom was panicking.
She wasn't simply afraid of an expensive restaurant bill.
She was afraid the people she'd invited would discover that her wealthy, successful daughter had never promised to fund their investment.
I got into my car.
Then I called Angela.
"I found a document with my signature on it."
Her voice sharpened.
"Do not alter it. Forward the original email and attachment."
She examined the file.
Then she called me back.
"Nia, I need you to listen carefully."
My stomach tightened.
"The document doesn't merely promise an investment."
I gripped the steering wheel.
"What does it do?"
Angela took a breath.
"It appears to offer a security interest in assets belonging to your company."
I stared through the windshield.
My mother's humiliation had been painful.
The restaurant bill had been outrageous.
But now I was facing something far more serious.
Her husband gave her an ultimatum she never expected.
The sound of scissors ripping through my daughter's costume was the soun...
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Someone had tried to place my business at risk.
And my own signature was sitting at the bottom of the document.
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the document.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
A signature that looked like mine.
And language suggesting that assets belonging to Carter Development Group could be used to support a project I'd never agreed to finance.
I founded my company at twenty-six.
I started with a single renovation project and a borrowed desk in a friend's office.
Six years later, I employed eighteen people.