North America / Louisiana (Inside of a black sedan, New Orleans): April 20th, 2026.
(Malakai's POV)
The inside of the black car was silent. The faint sound of traffic and distant horns echoing outside as samantha drove calmly through the evening streets of new orleans.
I sat in the back seat in a black suit with a serious look on my face and my iPhone 17 pro max in my right hand.
The screen glowed against my scarred face.
$1,233,355.00
The car was silent.
I stared at the number for a moment and then clicked my teeth softly underneath my breath.
Still not enough.
I adjusted the cuff of my suit and thought with a annoyed look on my face "That is not enough to sustain this kind of lifestyle"
The car was silent.
I looked back down at the screen again.
$1,233,355.00
A normal person would look at that number and think they were safe.
I looked at it and felt insulted.
I let out a quiet breath through my nose and muttered underneath my breath "Pathetic…"
Samantha glanced at me through the rearview mirror and asked calmly "What is pathetic."
I looked at the screen and said flatly "My bank account."
The car was silent.
Samantha blinked once and then asked "How much is left."
I stared at the phone and answered calmly "One million two hundred and thirty three thousand three hundred and fifty five."
The car was silent again.
Samantha kept her eyes on the road and said "Most people would not call that pathetic."
I let out a quiet laugh without humor and said while shaking my head slightly "Most people do not have my expenses, my debt or my image to maintain."
The sedan was silent.
I unlocked another section of the banking app and started looking through the transactions with my thumb.
Property costs.
Vehicle maintenance.
Private staff.
Wardrobe.
Dining.
Subscriptions.
Quiet transfers.
My eyebrows creased slightly and I thought while staring at the screen "The former owner of this body was a complete dumbass"
The car was silent.
I kept scrolling.
The truth of it was simple.
The house had to go.
That thought alone annoyed me.
The home was large. Beautiful too. High ceilings. Dark wood. Tailored furniture. The kind of place that made ugly people feel poor the second they stepped inside.
And now. Now it was a expensive burden with walls.
I rubbed my stubbles chin with my left hand and thought with a sigh "I am going to have to give it up and find somewhere affordable"
The word affordable irritated me.
It sounded weak. Responsible. Like the kind of word people used when life had already beaten the taste out of them.
Still, numbers did not care about ego.
That was one of the few reasons I respected them. They were cruel, but honest.
The sedan was silent.
Samantha asked calmly "Are you really thinking about selling the house."
I looked out the window for a moment and then said "Yes."
The car was silent again.
Samantha adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and asked "And where exactly are you planning on living."
I leaned back into the seat and said flatly "Somewhere smaller. Somewhere cheaper. Somewhere that does not cost money just to exist."
Samantha was silent for a moment and then said "That sounds miserable."
I looked at my reflection in the tinted glass and said calmly "It sounds temporary."
The sedan was silent.
I stared at the phone for another moment and then thought quietly "I could hack my way out of this."
The car was silent.
Then I shook my head slightly.
No.
Not like before. Not in 2026. Things were too different now.
Too many layers. Too many silent alerts.
Too many automated checks watching other checks like paranoid little machines waiting for something to go wrong so they could start screaming.
I let out a slow breath through my nose and thought with a cold look in my eyes "Security systems are far more improved now"
The car was silent.
I tapped my thumb once against the edge of the phone and thought again "It would take months to bypass modern systems properly"
Months to study.
Months to test.
Months to find a quiet way in without getting noticed.
And if I drew millions too quickly. I would be seen.
End of story.
Not maybe.
Not eventually.
Immediately.
That was the problem.
Small thefts would take too long to matter.
Large thefts would get me caught.
Neither option pleased me.
I lowered the phone slightly and muttered underneath my breath "Annoying…"
Samantha glanced at me through the mirror and asked "So what now."
I locked the phone and slid it into the inside pocket of my suit jacket.
*Tak*
The sedan was silent.
I looked at the passing lights and said calmly "Now I start cutting pieces off this life before it collapses publicly."
Samantha was silent for a moment and then asked "And after that."
I looked at her reflection in the mirror and said flatly "After that I deal with the dead man who refuses to stay dead on paper."
The car was silent again.
After a moment I said "Turn here."
Samantha glanced at the street sign and nodded slightly.
The sedan turned.
The city became quieter as we moved down a darker stretch of road lined with older homes and dimmer lights.
I leaned my head back against the seat and thought quietly "Debt on one side. Hidden property on the other. A false death. A dying show. And now I have to investigate this nonsense in person."
My life was insulting.
Very insulting.
The sedan came to a slow stop.
The street was quiet. The house in front of us smaller than mine but still clean and kept in the kind of way old people maintained things when they had secrets and too much time.
The car was silent.
Samantha put the vehicle in park and asked calmly "This is it."
I looked out at the house and said flatly "Unfortunately."
The interior of the sedan was silent for a moment.
Then I opened the door and stepped out first.
The evening air was cooler than I expected.
Samantha got out from the driver's side and shut the door behind her before smoothing down the front of her clothes with a serious look on her face.
I adjusted the front of my suit and looked toward the house.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Samantha stepped beside me and asked quietly "Do you want me to do the talking."
I looked at her once and said calmly "No. Old people usually talk more when they get nervous."
Samantha let out a quiet breath through her nose and said "That sounds like you."
I ignored her. We walked up the path together.
The porch light hummed faintly above us. The night quiet around the property.
I lifted my right hand and knocked on the door three times.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The house was silent.
Slow footsteps sounded from somewhere deeper inside.
Then the lock turned. The door opened.
A short elderly white woman stood there staring up at me with wide eyes. She was small. Very small. Thin frame. White hair. Pale skin. A floral dress and slippers on her feet.
The porch was silent. The elderly woman's entire face froze.
Her lips parted slightly and she grabbed at her chest like her heart had just remembered its age the second she saw my size.
I looked down at her and said calmly "Good evening."
The elderly woman blinked twice and said with a shakey voice "Sweet lord…"
The porch was silent.
Samantha looked like she was trying not to smile.
The elderly woman swallowed and then asked with visibly nervous eyes "C…can I help you."
I adjusted the front of my suit with one hand and said calmly "I certainly hope so."
She blinked again.
I looked at her and said calmly "My name is malakai obafemi ellington-nobel. This is samantha elise stillinski. We need to ask you a few questions."
The woman's face changed. Not much. But enough.
There it was.
Fear.
Recognition too.
Interesting.
Very good.
The porch was silent.
The elderly woman looked between both of us and then asked carefully "You from the police."
I looked at her and said flatly "No. The police are usually shorter and less well dressed."
"Dumber too" I thought as an image from my previous life flashed through my mind of me flicking them off while escaping on a motor cycle. My bare ass waving in the air.
Samantha let out a quiet breath through her nose.
The elderly woman looked even more nervous and said "I don't know if I should be talking to strangers this late."
I bent down slightly and glanced past her shoulder into the house and then back at her and said calmly "That would have been a more useful concern before you opened the door."
The porch was silent. The elderly woman blinked.
Samantha rolled her eyes and said calmly "Ma'am we're not here to hurt you. We just need information."
The elderly woman looked at me for a long moment. Her eyes lingering on my face and size with a mix of discomfort and alarm before she finally stepped back from the doorway.
"Come in then. But don't stand there looking like that on my porch. You're making me nervous." Said the elderly woman quietly.
I stared at her for a moment and then stepped inside first with my frame hunched over.
Samantha followed behind me.The door shut with a soft click.
The inside of the home was warm. Quiet too. The smell of coffee and old furniture lingering in the air as I stood just inside the entryway with samantha beside me.
The place was neat. Almost too neat.
Small living room. Floral curtains. Worn but clean furniture. Family photos along the walls. Yellow lamp light. A coffee table with little decorative nonsense old people always seemed to collect for no practical reason.
The elderly woman gestured toward the couch and said with a nervous look on her face "Sit down. I'll bring coffee and cookies."
The living room was silent.
I looked around the room once and then sat down on the couch with a serious look on my face. Samantha sat beside me with her posture straight and her eyes quietly studying the room.
The elderly woman disappeared into the kitchen.
The house was silent except for the faint clinking of dishes and the soft sound of a cabinet opening.
Samantha leaned slightly toward me and asked quietly "Do you think she knows something."
I kept my eyes on the family photos and answered calmly "Yes."
Samantha looked at me and asked "How can you tell."
I was silent for a moment and then said flatly "Because her face nearly died the second I started talking."
The room was silent. The atmosphere turning heavy.
A moment later the elderly woman returned carrying a tray with three cups of coffee and a small plate of cookies balanced carefully in her hands.
She set the tray down on the coffee table.
*Tak*
Then she sat down in the chair across from us with both hands folded in her lap and a uneasy look on her wrinkled face.
The living room was silent.
I looked at the coffee. Then the cookies. Then back at her.
The elderly woman cleared her throat lightly and said "My name is dorothy."
I looked at her and said calmly with my left eye opening slightly "Good. Dorothy. Start talking."
Samantha picked up her coffee carefully but said nothing.
Dorothy looked at me for a moment and then at the floor before saying with a sigh "I knew one day somebody would come asking about that family."
The room was silent.
My eyebrows creased slightly and I asked calmly "Why."
Dorothy lifted her eyes to mine and said quietly "Because elias woodland is not right in the head."
The living room was silent.
Samantha slowly set her coffee back down onto the table.
I looked at dorothy and asked flatly "Not right in what way."
Dorothy swallowed and said with trembling fingers "I mean mentally unwell. In the head. Something has always been wrong with that man. Ever since he was younger he had a coldness to him. A meanness. The kind of meanness that smiles while it is doing something terrible."
The room was silent.
I leaned back slightly into the couch and asked calmly "And what exactly does that have to do with his father."
Dorothy's eyes shifted toward one of the family photos on the wall and then back to me.
Her lips parted.
She hesitated.
Then she said quietly "Because elias murdered him."
The living room was absolutely silent.
Samantha's eyes narrowed slightly.
I stared at dorothy for a long moment and then asked with a calm voice that had dropped lower "Explain that very carefully."
Dorothy's hands tightened in her lap.
Her eyes flickered down again.
The room was silent.
Then she took a breath and said shakily "His father was not supposed to die when they said he did and elias knew that. He knew more than everybody else in that family and he kept people quiet because that boy was never right. Never right in the head and never right in the soul."
The room was silent.
I looked at her for a moment and then asked calmly "And how exactly do you know that."
Dorothy swallowed and said quietly "Because I was there."
The living room was silent.
Samantha's eyebrows raised slightly.
I looked at dorothy with a more serious look on my face and asked "There, where exactly."
Dorothy looked down at her hands and said with a shakey sigh "In the house. On the night his father died."
The room was silent.
I leaned forward slightly and said with a calm voice "Keep talking."
Dorothy nodded weakly and said "I worked for that family years ago. Cleaning. Cooking. Watching things I should have never had to watch. His father was not a good man but he still knew his son was unstable. He said it more than once. He used to say that boy had bad blood in his head."
The room was silent.
Samantha glanced at me briefly and then back at dorothy.
Dorothy continued quietly "The night it happened there was shouting. More than usual. I heard glass break. I heard his father yelling and then I heard nothing. When I went near the study door elias came out looking calm. Too calm. He looked at me and said his father had collapsed."
The living room was silent.
I asked calmly "And you believed him."
Dorothy laughed once without humor and then said "No. I was scared of him, but I was not stupid."
The room was silent again.
Dorothy's fingers tightened more in her lap and she said "Later I saw the blood on the carpet edge. Not much. Just enough. And I saw elias moving papers and burning things that had not been there before."
Samantha leaned forward slightly and asked with a serious look on her face "Did anyone else know."
Dorothy looked at her and said quietly "People suspected. Nobody wanted to say it."
The living room was silent.
I stared at dorothy for a moment and then pulled my phone out of my inside pocket.
Samantha looked at me and asked quietly "What are you doing."
I unlocked the phone and said flatly "What I should have done the second she said his name."
The room was silent.
I lifted the phone to my ear. The line rang once.
Then twice.
Then a man's voice answered from the other end "Judge ellington-nobel."
I looked ahead and said calmly "Yes. Listen carefully. I want elias woodland picked up immediately and charged with manslaughter."
The living room was silent.
Samantha stared at me.
Dorothy's eyes widened.
The man on the other end paused and then asked carefully "On what grounds."
I looked at dorothy and then said calmly "Witness testimony tied to the father's death and active concealment issues surrounding the estate timeline. I want him brought in tonight before he has time to start being stupid in public."
The room was silent.
The man on the other end adjusted his throat and said "Understood."
I lowered my eyes slightly and then added flatly "And if he resists, disappoint him."
The living room was silent.
The man on the other end paused for a second and then said "Yes sir."
I ended the call.
*Tak*
The room was silent.
I lowered the phone from my ear and stared at dorothy for a moment before saying calmly "And one more thing."
Dorothy blinked once and asked with a nervous look on her face "What is it."
I adjusted the front of my suit and said flatly "If the documents hold up and the probate review confirms what you said, the inheritance is yours."
The living room was absolutely silent.
Dorothy's lips parted.
Her eyes widened almost immediately and her hand rose slowly toward her chest.
Samantha glanced at dorothy and then back at me but said nothing.
Dorothy swallowed and said with a shakey voice "Mine…"
I looked at her and said calmly "Yes. Yours."
The room was silent.
Dorothy stared at me for a moment like her brain had not caught up to the sentence yet and then said quietly "No. That…that cannot be right."
I let out a quiet breath through my nose and said with a blank look on my face "It is right if the papers are real and if what you told me survives scrutiny."
The living room was silent again.
Dorothy's eyes started watering and she said with a trembling voice "After all these years…"
I looked at her and said flatly "Do not start crying yet. I am giving you information, not permission to collapse on me."
Samantha looked like she was trying not to smile.
Dorothy let out a weak laugh through the tears and nodded quickly.
I rubbed my smooth chin for a moment and then said calmly "If elias woodland concealed a death, tampered with the record and sat on an inheritance that was not his, then that money and property were never meant to stay in his hands to begin with."
The room was silent.
Dorothy lowered her hand slowly and asked with a shakey look on her face "So you really mean it."
I looked at her and said calmly "Yes. If the record holds, you are getting the inheritance."
The living room was silent.
Dorothy covered her mouth with her hand and looked down at her lap as tears finally slipped down her face.
I stared at her for a moment and thought quietly "Good"
At least somebody in this ridiculous mess was finally going to benefit from the truth.
The room was silent again.
Samantha looked at dorothy and then asked calmly "Do you have the documents here."
Dorothy quickly nodded and said "Yes. Yes I do. I kept them hidden."
The living room was silent.
I looked at dorothy and said flatly "Good. Keep them hidden until they are collected properly. Do not hand them to anybody who is not directly tied to the review."
Dorothy nodded again and said with a more serious look on her face "I understand."
The room was silent.
I looked at her for a moment and then said calmly "And if elias calls you, do not answer. If anybody from that family shows up here, do not open the door."
Dorothy swallowed and said quietly "Alright."
Samantha adjusted her posture slightly and said "We can have someone keep an eye on the property if necessary."
Dorothy blinked and then said with a weak voice "Thank you."
The living room was silent.
I looked at the untouched coffee and cookies for a moment before standing up from the couch and adjusting the front of my suit.
Samantha stood up beside me.
Dorothy looked up at both of us with damp eyes and asked quietly "You're leaving already."
I looked at her and said calmly "Yes. I have done enough for one evening."
The room was silent.
Dorothy wiped at the corner of one eye and asked "What happens now."
I looked at her for a moment and then said flatly "Now elias woodland gets picked up and you stop sitting in this house like a woman waiting for fate to remember where she lives."
The living room was silent.
Dorothy blinked twice and then gave a weak nod of her head.
Samantha glanced at me and then toward dorothy before saying calmly "Try to get some rest tonight."
Dorothy let out a small breath and said "I will try."
The room was silent again.
I started toward the front door first.
Samantha followed beside me.
Dorothy stayed behind for a moment and then said quietly from the living room "Judge ellington-nobel."
I paused slightly and looked back at her.
Dorothy stood there with trembling fingers and damp eyes and said with a shakey voice "Thank you."
The house was silent.
I looked at her for a moment and then said calmly "Do not thank me yet. I am not kind. I am just correcting a inconvenience."
Dorothy blinked once.
Samantha looked like she wanted to say something smart but wisely did not.
I opened the door and stepped outside first.
The night air felt cooler. Cleaner too.
Samantha came out behind me and the door shut softly at our backs.
The porch was silent.
We walked down the front path together without speaking.
The street was quiet. The black sedan waiting near the curb under the dim streetlight like it had been watching the whole ridiculous evening unfold with silent judgment.
I opened the rear door and paused for a moment before getting in.
*Creak*
Samantha got into the driver's seat and shut the door behind her.
*Boom*
The inside of the black car was silent.
Samantha looked at me through the rearview mirror and asked with a disgusted look on her face "Would you like to live with my sister."
I looked at her with a blank expression and said immediately "No."
The sedan was silent.
Samantha nodded once and said "Good. I will tell her yes."
I stared at the back of her head and asked flatly "Did you hear the word no and decide it needed a more delusional interpretation."
Samantha started the engine.
*Vrrrm*
The car was silent again.
Then she said with visible irritation "She needs a man in that home anyway. She is too stuck up and bitchy. Too mouthy. Too used to nobody putting her in her place."
I sighed softly underneath my breath and leaned back into the seat with a tired look on my face.
Samantha kept driving.
"Honestly somebody needs to live there and dominate her a little. It might fix her attitude." Said samantha with a shrug and small shake of her head.
The sedan was silent.
I looked out the tinted window and said flatly "Your family sounds exhausting."
Samantha let out a quiet breath through her nose and said "It is, my husband is a moron, my son is growing up to be a stud, my mother is a certified slut and my sisteris a bitch, a very entertaining family."
The black car pulled away from the curb.
Streetlights passed over the windows in long streaks of gold and white as the city slowly swallowed us again.
I leaned my head back against the leather seat and thought quietly "My house is going, my bank account is insulting me, I just ordered a arrest, gave away an inheritance and now samantha is trying to drag me into her family's nonsense because apparently tonight was not already irritating enough"
The car was silent.
Very silent.
After a moment samantha asked calmly "So you are really selling the house."
I looked out the window and said "Yes."
The sedan was silent again.
Samantha adjusted her grip on the wheel and asked "You are serious."
I looked at her reflection in the glass and said flatly "I am not keeping a mansion just to go bankrupt beautifully."
The car was silent.
Samantha blinked once in the mirror and then asked "So where exactly are you going to stay until you find something else."
I let out a slow breath through my nose and said with both of my eyes opening "Not with your sister."
The sedan was silent.
Samantha ignored that completely and said "She has space."
I closed my eyes for a moment and thought quietly "Of course she does"
Then I opened them again and said flatly "No."
Samantha kept driving.
The city lights passed over her face and then disappeared again.
After a moment she said "You say no now."
I looked at the back of her head and asked "Do you always hear whatever version of reality annoys me the most."
The sedan was silent.
Then samantha said calmly with the corner of her lip curling upwards "Only when I think it is funny…ayyy daddy."
I clicked my teeth softly underneath my breath.
Annoying. Very annoying.
I looked out at the passing lights and thought quietly "A dead father. A unstable son. A frightened old woman. A frozen estate. A house I can no longer afford and a woman in front of me trying to move me into another woman's home like I am misplaced furniture"
My life was exhausting.
Absolutely exhausting.
The sedan kept moving through the quiet louisiana night.
And somewhere beneath the streetlights, the silence and the slow pull of financial humiliation, I came to one very simple conclusion.
Tomorrow was going to be worse.
Much worse.
…
THE END…