Chapter 4: The Girl Denise Pretended to Be
“If they talk to Maya, they'll find out who I told them she was!””
The words hung in the living room.
Denise looked as though she wanted to grab them out of the air and swallow them.
Marcus slowly lowered his hand.
“What did you just say?””
Denise clutched her phone against her chest. It continued ringing, the university's name glowing across the screen.
“I was upset,” she stammered.
“I didn't mean it like that.””
“Like what?”” Maya asked.
Her voice was barely audible.
Denise looked at her, and for the first time, there was no comforting smile, no lecture about gratitude, no convenient excuse.
Only fear.
Marcus extended his hand.
“Give me the phone.””
“Marcus, please.””
“Give. Me. The phone.””
Denise reluctantly placed it in his palm.
He answered and switched on the speaker.
“Hello, this is Marcus Bennett. I'm Maya's father. I believe someone from your office has been trying to contact my daughter.””
A professional female voice answered.
“Yes, Mr. Bennett. My name is Elaine Foster.
I'm the associate director of student records at Westbridge University. We've been trying to resolve a serious discrepancy involving Maya's enrollment.””
Marcus glanced at Maya.
“Could you explain what the discrepancy is?””
“Certainly. We received an enrollment withdrawal request under Maya's name, followed by a request to redirect a tuition refund to another bank account. Our verification team flagged both requests because the identity documents didn't match the information Maya submitted with her application.””
Maya felt her knees weaken.
“A refund?”” she whispered.
Elaine heard her.
“Is that Maya?””
“Yes,” Maya answered.
“I'm here.””
“Ms. Bennett, I'm glad we've reached you. Before I proceed, I need to verify that I'm speaking directly with you.””
Maya answered the security questions.
Elaine confirmed her identity, then continued.
“The original request claimed that you were withdrawing from Westbridge because of a family emergency. It also stated that you wanted any refundable enrollment funds sent to a different account.””
Maya shook her head.
“I never submitted that request.””
“We suspected as much. The signature was inconsistent, and the caller couldn't correctly answer several questions about your application.””
Marcus's face darkened.
“Who made the call?””
“We can't disclose every detail of an ongoing investigation, but we can tell you that the caller identified herself as Maya Bennett's authorized representative.””
Maya looked at Denise.
Her stepmother's face had become almost gray.
“What did she sound like?”” Marcus asked.
“An adult woman. She said she was calling on behalf of a student who was too distressed to speak. She claimed Maya had already agreed to withdraw and that the family needed the funds returned urgently.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Did she give you a name?””
There was a pause.
“Yes. The caller introduced herself as Denise Bennett, Maya's mother.””
Maya stopped breathing for a moment.
Then she looked directly at Denise.
“You told them you were my mother?””
Denise's eyes filled with tears.
“I'm your stepmother. I've raised you for years.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
“I was trying to help!””
“You called my university and pretended to be me!””
“I never said I was you!””
Elaine interrupted gently.
“Ms. Bennett, our records indicate that the caller represented herself as your mother and claimed she had your authorization to withdraw you from the university. We did not accept the request.””
Marcus pressed his fingers against his forehead.
“Thank you, Ms. Foster. What do we need to do to protect Maya's enrollment?””
“We've placed a temporary security hold on the disputed requests. Maya will need to submit a written statement confirming her intentions. We'll also need to verify the original enrollment payment and review the attempted refund.””
“Can she still attend?””
“Yes. Her place has not been canceled. However, we need her confirmation before the deadline.””
“What deadline?””
“Five o'clock today.””
Maya checked the clock on the wall.
3:51 p.m.
“I'll send everything immediately,” she said.
“Good. I'll email you a secure link. Please do not share your verification codes with anyone.””
Maya glanced at Denise.
“I won't.””
Elaine gave her the direct number for the student records office and promised to keep the case open while Maya completed the required steps.
When the call ended, the silence in the living room was suffocating.
Marcus set the phone on the table.
Then he turned to his wife.
“You told a university that you were Maya's mother, that she wanted to abandon her education, and that you had permission to take her money.””
Denise shook her head.
“I didn't take her money from the university.””
“You tried to get it redirected.””
“I thought the refund would help Jordan get started. I planned to put it back.””
“With what?””
Denise looked toward her son.
Jordan had stopped pretending to be indifferent.
“Mom,” he said quietly, “you told me the money was yours.””
Marcus turned toward him.
“Did you know she'd contacted Westbridge?””
Jordan hesitated.
“I knew she'd spoken to someone.””
“Someone at the university?””
“Yeah.””
“What did she tell you?””
Jordan rubbed his face.
“She said she could get Maya's deposit refunded if Maya changed her mind about going. She said it would give us enough money to get the detailing business started.””
Maya felt a strange calm settle over her.
It was worse than anger.
She had spent years wondering why Denise treated her success like a personal insult. Now she was hearing the answer in her stepbrother's own voice.
Jordan hadn't merely benefited from Denise's behavior.
He had been willing to let Maya lose her place so he could have a business.
“You knew what she was doing,” Maya said.
Jordan looked at her.
“I didn't know she'd lied about being you.””
“But you knew she wanted to cancel my enrollment.””
“I thought she'd talked to you about it!””
“When?””
He had no answer.
Maya took a step toward him.
“Did you ever ask me?””
Jordan looked down.
“No.””
“Did you ever ask why I worked every weekend? Why I studied until two in the morning? Why I applied for scholarships instead of asking Dad for money?””
“Maya, I said I was sorry.””
“No, you didn't.””
He stared at her.
“You haven't apologized once. You've only explained why you think you deserved what I earned.””
Jordan's face reddened.
Marcus spoke before he could respond.
“Both of you, listen carefully. Maya's education is not negotiable. The car is hers.
The money that was taken from my account will be investigated. And nobody in this house will contact her university on her behalf again.””
Denise wiped her cheeks.
“You're talking about me as if I'm some criminal.””
“Then stop giving me reasons to question your honesty.””
She looked at Marcus, stunned.
“You're choosing her over your wife?””
“I'm choosing the truth over your lies.””
For a moment, Denise seemed to lose the ability to stand.
Then she reached for the letter on the table.
Marcus caught it first.
“Don't touch that.””
“It's a private document!””
“It belongs to my daughter.””
He handed it to Maya.
She held it against her chest.
For years, she had believed that keeping the peace meant swallowing her anger and allowing Denise to decide what was best for everyone.
Now she understood what that silence had cost her.
She hurried upstairs to her bedroom, where she opened her laptop and logged into her university account.
The secure email from Elaine had already arrived.
Maya followed the instructions, completed the identity verification, and wrote a statement confirming that she had never requested to withdraw from Westbridge.
She attached the original payment receipt from her grocery-store earnings.
Then she clicked *Submit*.
A confirmation appeared.
*Your enrollment verification has been received.*
Maya exhaled.
One battle, at least, was not going to be lost.
She sat on the edge of her bed and looked around the room she'd occupied since childhood. Her graduation gown hung over the desk chair. A stack of textbooks stood beside her window. Her acceptance letter was pinned above the desk, its corners curling slightly.
She had imagined leaving this room with excitement.
Instead, she was counting the things she could still trust.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Sweetheart?”” Marcus called.
“Come in.””
He entered carrying a glass of water and sat beside her.
“Westbridge received your statement?””
“Yes. They sent a confirmation.””
“Good.””
He watched her for a moment.
Then he said, “I owe you an apology.””
Maya looked at him.
“For what?””
“For letting you believe you had to handle Denise's behavior alone. I saw the way she treated you sometimes. I told myself she was stressed, that she'd adjust, that keeping the peace was better than making a fight out of everything.””
His voice broke.
“I should have listened more carefully.””
Maya stared at her hands.
“I didn't tell you everything because I was afraid you'd think I was trying to ruin your marriage.””
Marcus shook his head.
“You were my child long before Denise came into our lives. You should never have had to protect me from the truth.””
Tears slipped down Maya's cheeks.
“I just wanted you to be proud of me.””
He took her hand.
“I have always been proud of you. And no car, no university, no amount of money could ever change that.””
She leaned against him.
For a few quiet minutes, neither spoke.
Then Marcus's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen and frowned.
“It's an email from the bank.””
Maya sat upright.
“What does it say?””
Marcus opened it.
The bank had confirmed that the forty-eight-thousand-dollar transfer had gone into Denise's personal account. It had also identified a series of withdrawals and payments made during the preceding weeks.
Marcus scrolled down.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”” Maya asked.
He turned the phone toward her.
One of the transactions was a payment to a company called Sterling Auto Finance.
The amount was $17,800.
Maya looked at the date.
It was the same day Denise had announced that Jordan needed help buying equipment for his business.
Marcus opened another attachment.
It was a transaction authorization bearing his electronic signature.
Except Marcus had not signed it.
He stared at the screen, then at Maya.
“Someone used my signature to authorize a second payment.””
From downstairs, Jordan suddenly shouted.
“Mom! Why is the bank calling me?””
Marcus rose.
Maya followed him to the doorway.
They heard Jordan's voice again, louder this time.
“Mom, you said nobody would find out about the loan!””
Marcus stopped on the stairs.
Maya felt her stomach turn cold.
The stolen money, the forged signature, the attempted withdrawal from Westbridge—
They had thought they were looking at one terrible lie.
May you like
But Jordan's words suggested that Denise had been hiding something even bigger.
And whatever it was, the bank had just started uncovering it.
