Chapter 5
We did not confront Natalie.
Claire refused.
“If she’s involved, warning her helps Ryan.”
“If she isn’t?”
“Then we need to learn that before we scare her.”
The next morning, Claire hired a licensed investigator named Marcus Hale.
By noon, Marcus had confirmed three things.
Natalie lived in the apartment.
Ryan visited regularly.
And Diane owned the corporation that technically held the mortgage.
My marriage seemed to get uglier by the hour.
I expected jealousy.
Instead, I felt something stranger.
Relief.
If Ryan was sleeping with Natalie, at least that betrayal was ordinary.
Compared with everything else, an affair felt almost simple.
Marcus called again that evening.
“It may not be an affair.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Natalie Brooks is married.”
“To who?”
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
He sent a file.
Natalie’s legal name was Natalie Brooks Carter.
My breath caught.
“Carter?”
Claire read over my shoulder.
Natalie had married seven years earlier.
Her husband was Philip Carter.
Ryan’s uncle.
The same uncle who laughed when Diane gave Mom the bones.
The same uncle who had supported Diane’s assault claim.
But Natalie used her maiden name professionally.
“Why would Ryan secretly buy his uncle’s wife an apartment?” Daniel asked.
Marcus answered through speakerphone.
“I don’t know yet.”
Then he sent another photograph.
Ryan entering Natalie’s building.
He wasn’t alone.
Philip was with him.
So was Diane.
Not an affair.
A meeting place.
A secret family office.
The next question was obvious.
“What are they doing there?”
Marcus couldn’t legally break in.
But we didn’t need him to.
Natalie contacted me first.
At 11:08 that night, I received a text from an unknown number.
DON’T TRUST THE FILES IN THE STORAGE BOX.
My heart began pounding.
WHO IS THIS?
The reply came immediately.
NATALIE.
Daniel wanted to call the police.
Claire wanted caution.
I wanted answers.
Natalie sent another message.
RYAN KNOWS YOU FOUND THE BOX.
That changed everything.
HOW?
YOU WERE FOLLOWED.
I looked toward the dark windows of Daniel’s house.
Suddenly every parked car looked threatening.
Claire called Marcus.
He checked outside.
Nothing suspicious.
Then Natalie wrote:
I CAN PROVE WHAT THEY DID TO YOUR FATHER.
I typed back.
WHERE?
Her answer:
MIDNIGHT. ST. MATTHEW’S PARKING GARAGE. LEVEL 4. COME ALONE.
Claire almost laughed when she read it.
“You are absolutely not going alone.”
But we went.
Just not the way Natalie requested.
Marcus parked two levels below.
Claire stayed nearby.
Daniel refused to remain home and parked across the street.
At 11:57, I walked onto Level 4.
Natalie stood beside a silver sedan.
She was thirty-nine, polished, usually confident.
That night she looked terrified.
“You brought people.”
“You expected me not to?”
She shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What do you know about my father?”
She looked toward the stairwell.
“Ryan has been lying to everyone.”
“That isn’t news.”
“No. I mean everyone. Diane too.”
That surprised me.
“Diane helped him set me up.”
“Yes. But she thinks this is about protecting the family.”
“And it isn’t?”
Natalie reached into her purse.
I tensed.
She pulled out an old photograph.
Three young men stood beside a construction trailer.
My father was one.
Philip Carter was another.
The third was Ryan.
“He worked at the site that summer,” Natalie said.
“I know.”
“Do you know what happened the night before your father died?”
“No.”
“Ryan confronted him.”
My throat tightened.
“About the copied files?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Philip told me.”
“Why?”
“Because he was drunk. Because he hated his brother. Because guilty people eventually need someone else to carry their secrets.”
Natalie explained that Richard Carter had ordered Philip to scare Dad.
Not kill him.
According to Philip, Ryan volunteered to help.
They wanted Dad to reveal where he had hidden the evidence.
Dad refused.
Then the next day, the platform failed.
“Who sabotaged it?” I asked.
Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.
“Philip says he doesn’t know.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
Neither did I.
“Why are you helping me?”
Her mouth tightened.
“Because Ryan is going to destroy Philip.”
I stared at her.
“Your husband helped cover up my father’s death.”
“I know.”
“And you want me to protect him?”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I want the truth out before Ryan makes Philip the only villain.”
That was different.
“What does Ryan have?”
“Copies of old records. Edited recordings. Documents designed to make it look like Philip acted alone.”
“Why?”
“Because federal investigators have been asking questions about Carter projects.”
Claire had mentioned potential federal exposure after seeing Dad’s records.
Natalie continued.
“Ryan believes someone reopened an old file six months ago.”
“Did they?”
“I don’t know.”
“But he started moving money.”
“Yes.”
“And targeting me.”
Natalie looked ashamed.
“He was supposed to get control of Carter Industries quietly.”
“Why my company?”
“Because he needed a legitimate business to move assets through if Carter Development’s old liabilities resurfaced.”
Everything clicked.
Ryan hadn’t married me only because of my father.
He had stayed because my success became useful.
My company became his lifeboat.
“And the dinner?”
Natalie nodded.
“Diane planned it.”
I almost smiled.
Of course she did.
“She wanted you angry. Ryan wanted a recorded incident. They intended to push you out of the company before investigators could freeze anything.”
“Why did you help them?”
“I didn’t.”
“You worked for Ryan.”
“I worked for you.”
The answer surprised me.
Natalie stepped closer.
“I copied records for three years.”
“For who?”
She reached into her purse again.
This time she removed a flash drive.
“For myself.”
I took it.
“What’s on here?”
“Transfers. Emails. Audio. Enough to prove Ryan forged your signature.”
My heart raced.
“And my father?”
She hesitated.
“One recording.”
“What recording?”
“Philip and Ryan arguing.”
“About Dad?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Why would they argue about him after so long?”
“Because Richard was dying.”
I remembered the official timeline.
Richard Carter had supposedly died seven years ago.
But Dad’s hidden audio recording had been dated months before I met Ryan, which was eight years ago.
Something didn’t fit.
“Richard died before Ryan and I married.”
Natalie’s face changed.
“That’s what Ryan told you?”
“Yes.”
She whispered, “Oh my God.”
“What?”
Natalie looked genuinely shocked.
“Emily, Richard Carter didn’t die seven years ago.”
I stared at her.
“Yes, he did.”
“No.”
“My husband went to his funeral.”
Natalie shook her head.
“There was no funeral.”
I felt the concrete floor tilt beneath me.
“When did he die?”
She looked toward the stairwell again.
Then back at me.
“He didn’t.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Richard Carter is alive.”
The sound of tires echoed through the garage.
Natalie froze.
Headlights appeared at the far end of Level 4.
A black SUV turned toward us.
Natalie grabbed my arm.
“You need to go.”
“Is that Ryan?”
“I don’t know.”
She shoved me toward the stairwell.
“Go!”
The SUV accelerated.
Its headlights flooded the garage.
Then Natalie said something that stopped me for half a second.
“Your mother knows Richard is alive.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She’s known for years.”
The SUV came closer.
Natalie pushed me.
“Run!”
May you like
I ran.
And for the second time in three days, I realized my mother had been hiding something that could destroy everything I thought I knew.
