In a moment of cold pragmatism that echoes his father, Tariq manipulates the situation. He essentially gaslights his mother, leveraging her guilt over Ghost’s death. It is a chilling display of role reversal; the son is now the one holding the power over the mother, and Mary J. Blige (Monet) and Michael Rainey Jr. (Tariq) play the tension perfectly. Tariq walks away with the signature, but the emotional bridge between them is severely scorched.