Chapter 5: What Cameron Knew
Cameron stared at Jasmine as though she had asked him to confess to something he couldn't understand.
“Why would Mom give me money?”” he asked.
Jasmine held up the transaction records.
“Because several payments left my account before the scholarship money was spent.””
Cameron looked at the papers.
Then he looked at his mother.
“Mom?””
Jessica immediately shook her head.
“This is ridiculous. Jasmine is upset, and she's trying to drag you into an argument that has nothing to do with you.””
Jasmine's face tightened.
“I'm not trying to drag him into anything. I'm asking a question.””
“And I'm telling you to stop.””
David stepped between them.
“Jessica, let him answer for himself.””
Cameron pulled his arm free.
“Can somebody explain what's happening?””
David took a breath.
“Jasmine's scholarship money was spent without her permission. We've also found transfers from her account that don't appear to be connected to the basketball uniforms.””
Cameron's expression changed.
“Wait. All of Jasmine's scholarship?””
“Yes,” David replied.
“The entire $18,600.””
Cameron looked at his mother.
“You told me the team equipment was coming out of your savings.””
Jessica's mouth opened.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then she forced a laugh.
“I said I was handling it. I never told you anything about the account.””
Cameron shook his head.
“You said Dad had agreed to help.””
David's expression hardened.
“I did not agree to spend Jasmine's scholarship.””
“I know that now!””
Jessica grabbed Cameron's shoulder.
“Don't start taking sides.””
“I'm not taking sides!”” Cameron protested.
“I'm trying to understand why you told me something different.””
Jasmine watched him closely.
He looked genuinely confused.
But she remembered the way he had gone still when she asked whether Jessica had given him money before the tournament.
She needed to know why.
“Cameron,” she said more gently, “did Mom ever transfer money to you?””
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I don't know what you mean.””
“Did she give you cash? Pay something for you? Send money to your account?””
Jessica cut in.
“That's enough.””
Cameron turned toward her.
“Mom, stop interrupting me!””
The words seemed to surprise them both.
David remained silent.
Cameron looked at Jasmine again.
“About three weeks ago, Mom gave me $500.””
Jasmine's stomach tightened.
“For what?””
“New basketball shoes and some training equipment.””
Jessica immediately spoke.
“That money came from my personal funds.””
David raised the transaction records.
“Then why do we have a transfer from Jasmine's account around the same time?””
Jessica's face hardened.
“Because I moved money temporarily. I already explained that.””
Cameron looked between them.
“Wait. You used Jasmine's money to buy my shoes?””
Jessica turned toward him.
“I was going to replace it.””
“But you told me you were using your savings.””
“I was trying to keep things simple!””
Cameron stepped away from her.
“That's not simple. That's lying.””
Jessica recoiled as though he had struck her.
“How dare you speak to me like that after everything I've done for you?””
Cameron stared at her.
“I didn't ask you to steal from Jasmine!””
The room fell silent.
Jasmine felt tears rise again, but this time they were mixed with anger.
For years, she had defended Cameron when relatives treated him as the less fortunate child in their blended family.
She had shared notes with him.
She had helped him with assignments when basketball practices left him exhausted.
When Jessica complained that Jasmine received more attention because of her grades, Jasmine had tried to make herself smaller.
She had never wanted Cameron to feel less loved.
Now she was standing in the living room, wondering why her own sacrifices had been treated as something disposable.
David rested one hand on the table.
“Cameron, I need you to be honest. Did you receive any other money?””
Cameron hesitated.
Jessica's expression turned pleading.
“Cameron, think carefully before you answer.””
David's eyes narrowed.
“Jessica, don't coach him.””
“I'm his mother!””
“And he's old enough to answer a question.””
Cameron looked down at his phone.
“There was another payment.””
Jasmine stopped breathing for a moment.
“How much?””
“I don't know exactly. Maybe $300. It was for a registration fee and some travel expenses.””
“When was that?””
“Last month.””
David opened the folder.
“Was it before or after the scholarship arrived?””
“Before.””
The answer matched one of the unexplained transfers.
David wrote down the details.
“Did you know where the money came from?””
Cameron shook his head.
“No. Mom said she had everything covered.””
Jessica pressed her fingers against her forehead.
“Because I did have everything covered!””
“With Jasmine's money,” David said.
“Temporarily!””
“Stop calling it temporary as though that makes it acceptable.””
Jessica turned toward Cameron.
“You have no idea how difficult things have been.””
Cameron looked genuinely troubled.
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because you have enough pressure with basketball.””
“So you decided to put the pressure on Jasmine instead?””
Jessica's eyes flashed.
“You ungrateful boy.””
Cameron flinched.
David immediately stepped forward.
“Don't speak to him that way.””
Jessica stared at her husband.
“You're defending everyone except me.””
“I'm defending the truth.””
For a moment, Jessica looked as if she might throw something.
Instead, she snatched her handbag from the sofa.
“I need air.””
She headed toward the front door.
David didn't stop her.
But before she left, he said, “We still need a complete accounting of the money. Leaving the room won't change that.””
Jessica paused with her hand on the doorknob.
Then she walked out.
The door slammed behind her.
Cameron sank onto the sofa.
He looked smaller than Jasmine had ever seen him.
“Is Mom really in trouble?””
David sat across from him.
“What happens next depends on what the records show and how she responds.””
“But she spent all that money because of me.””
“No,” David said firmly.
“She made those decisions. You didn't authorize the transfers, and you didn't know the money belonged to Jasmine.””
Cameron looked at his stepsister.
“I'm sorry.””
Jasmine swallowed.
“Did you know I was struggling to pay for college?””
Cameron nodded slowly.
“I knew you were working a lot.””
“I worked evenings so I could save enough money for books and transportation. I didn't go to parties because I was trying to save every dollar.””
Cameron looked down.
“I thought your scholarship covered everything.””
“It was supposed to cover tuition and part of my other expenses. The rest was my responsibility.””
He rubbed his face.
“Mom kept telling me the team needed better equipment. She said the old uniforms were embarrassing.””
Jasmine stared at him.
“Did you ever tell her she had to buy them?””
“No.””
“Did you ever ask her to use my scholarship?””
“No!””
His answer was immediate.
Jasmine believed him.
That didn't erase the money that had been spent, but it mattered that Cameron hadn't knowingly demanded her future as the price of his own ambitions.
David leaned forward.
“Cameron, there's one more thing. We found transfers to another account that haven't been explained. Do you know anything about those?””
Cameron frowned.
“Maybe.””
Jasmine's heart began pounding.
“What do you mean, maybe?””
Cameron pulled out his phone.
“Mom asked me to send her a screenshot of my bank account last month.””
David went still.
“Why?””
“She said she was helping me organize my tournament expenses. I didn't think anything of it.””
“Did you give her your password?””
“No. Just a screenshot of the account details.””
“Did she ask you to receive any money for her?””
Cameron shook his head.
“Not that I remember.””
He opened his banking app and began scrolling.
Then he stopped.
“Wait.””
David moved closer.
“What is it?””
Cameron turned the screen toward him.
There was a deposit for $2,400.
The date matched one of the unexplained transfers from Jasmine's account.
Cameron stared at the number.
“I thought this was money Mom had set aside for my training.””
Jasmine felt a chill spread through her chest.
“Did you spend it?””
“Some of it. I paid for training sessions and bought equipment. The rest is still here.””
David examined the date and amount.
“Can you download the transaction details?””
Cameron nodded.
His hands shook as he opened the record.
The transfer description contained a reference number.
It matched the one Jasmine had found the night before.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Cameron whispered, “Dad, I swear I didn't know.””
David looked at him.
“I believe you. But we need to establish exactly where this money came from and where the rest went.””
Cameron immediately offered to preserve the records and provide whatever information he had.
Jasmine watched him, struggling with conflicting emotions.
She was angry that her money had helped pay for expenses she had never approved.
But Cameron looked as frightened as she felt.
He had believed his mother was supporting his dreams.
Instead, he had unknowingly become part of a financial trail neither of them understood.
David gathered the documents.
“Don't delete anything from your account. Don't move the remaining money. We'll ask the bank how to handle it properly.””
Cameron nodded.
Then he looked at Jasmine.
“If that money came from you, I'll help pay it back.””
Jasmine swallowed.
“You shouldn't have to fix your mother's decisions.””
“But I spent some of it.””
“Because you thought it was yours.””
“Still, it doesn't feel right.””
For the first time that evening, Jasmine saw something in Cameron's expression that she desperately needed to believe was real.
Remorse.
Not because his basketball team might lose its new uniforms.
Not because his mother was angry.
But because his stepsister had been hurt.
David returned to the records and compared the deposit with the other transfers.
The $2,400 payment explained one transaction.
It didn't explain the others.
He circled another reference number.
Then another.
Several payments remained unaccounted for, including a substantial transfer that had occurred shortly before the scholarship deposit.
Cameron leaned forward.
“Dad, there's something else.””
David looked up.
“What?””
“Mom told me not to mention a payment to the team manager.””
Jasmine's stomach tightened.
“What payment?””
Cameron swallowed.
“She said she had covered a deposit for the tournament, but she didn't want the other parents asking questions about where the money came from.””
David's expression became unreadable.
“Did she tell you how much?””
Cameron shook his head.
“No. But I remember seeing a receipt in her handbag. It was for several thousand dollars.””
Jasmine looked at the records.
One of the unexplained transfers was for $4,800.
The date was almost identical.
David slowly closed the folder.
“Cameron, we need to find out whether that receipt matches this payment.””
Cameron nodded.
But before they could continue, his phone buzzed.
A message from Jessica appeared on the screen.
*Don't tell your father anything else. You don't understand what will happen if he finds out the whole truth.*
Cameron read it twice.
Then he turned the phone toward David.
Jasmine felt the room grow colder.
Because Jessica had just confirmed what they had all begun to suspect.
May you like
There was something else.
Something she was willing to risk her own family's trust to keep hidden.
