He moved in three weeks before Northstar's investment was scheduled to close.
He didn't realize Victoria Whitmore lived only four houses away.
Victoria noticed the Ferrari before she noticed its owner.
On the day Malik moved in, a delivery truck stopped outside his mansion while workers carried furniture through the front entrance.
The red Ferrari arrived later, driven carefully up the concrete driveway.
Victoria was returning from a charity luncheon when she saw it.
She slowed her white SUV.
For a moment, she admired the car.
Then she looked toward the house.
The previous owners had been an older couple who moved to Florida.
Victoria assumed another wealthy executive had purchased the property.
She liked knowing the neighborhood attracted people with expensive tastes.
It reinforced the image she wanted Sterling Oaks to project.
But three days later, she saw Malik standing beside the car wearing casual clothing.
He was speaking with a landscaping contractor.
Victoria glanced at his navy shirt and work shoes.
Then toward the mansion.
She assumed he was an employee.
When she asked a neighbor about him, the woman replied that he'd recently moved in.
Victoria laughed.
"No, I mean the owner."
Her neighbor looked confused.
"That's the owner."
Victoria stared.
For a moment, she seemed genuinely surprised.
Then she dismissed the answer.
"Well, perhaps he's renting."
The neighbor shrugged.
"I don't think so."
Victoria changed the subject.
But the image remained in her mind.
A young Black man standing beside an expensive Ferrari outside a mansion she considered part of an exclusive neighborhood.
She couldn't reconcile it with the assumptions she'd made about who belonged there.
Instead of questioning those assumptions, she began questioning him.
Over the next several weeks, Victoria developed an unhealthy interest in Malik's property.
She complained about a delivery van parked briefly near his driveway.
Questioned a contractor working on the garden.
And suggested to a neighborhood association representative that the new homeowner might not understand Sterling Oaks' standards.
The representative explained that the association's rules applied to property conditions and authorized community matters, not a homeowner's race, appearance, or occupation.
Victoria became irritated.
She wasn't accustomed to being corrected by people she considered less influential.
One afternoon, she walked past Malik's driveway while he was washing the Ferrari.
She stopped.
"Beautiful car."
Malik looked up.
He smiled politely.
"Thank you."
She stepped closer.
"Who owns it?"
He glanced toward the vehicle.
"I do."
Victoria laughed lightly.
"Really?"
Malik nodded.
"Yes."
She looked toward the house.
"And you're staying here?"