Chapter 10
Police reached Anna’s house within minutes.
It felt like hours.
Nathan stood beside the phone, unable to sit.
Grace held Lily.
Martin paced.
Finally, the detective received the call.
“They’re alive.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Grace nearly collapsed with relief.
“What happened?”
“Anna got Benjamin through a bathroom window and ran to a neighbor’s house.”
“And Caleb?”
“Gone.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“Again?”
“He left before officers arrived.”
Grace looked at the detective.
“He won’t stop.”
“No.”
That answer frightened everyone.
By afternoon, Anna and Benjamin were under police protection.
Nathan arranged nothing himself.
He followed the investigators’ instructions exactly.
He had learned enough about control for one lifetime.
Then Victoria requested to speak with him.
Nathan refused.
She requested Grace.
Grace refused too.
Finally, Victoria offered information about Caleb in exchange for speaking to both of them with attorneys and police present.
They agreed.
Victoria entered the interview room wearing jail clothing.
Her confidence had faded.
But not her arrogance.
Nathan sat across from her.
Grace beside him.
Victoria smiled at Grace.
“You were always harder to get rid of than expected.”
Nathan’s hands tightened.
Grace remained calm.
“You failed.”
Victoria laughed.
“Did I?”
“You didn’t marry Nathan.”
“Legally, that’s still being argued.”
“You won’t touch his money.”
Victoria’s smile weakened.
“And Lily is alive.”
The smile vanished.
Nathan leaned forward.
“Where is Caleb?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan stood.
“We’re done.”
“Sit down.”
He paused.
Victoria’s eyes moved toward Grace.
“Caleb isn’t working for me anymore.”
Grace frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he realized the documents were worth more than I was paying him.”
Nathan sat again.
“What does he want?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
Victoria laughed softly.
“Everything.”
The detective watching through the glass entered.
“Explain.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Caleb has copies of financial records, DNA records, trust documents, recordings, everything.”
Nathan stared at her.
“And?”
“And he plans to sell them.”
“To who?”
Victoria shrugged.
“Competitors. Media. Whoever pays most.”
Grace shook her head.
“That doesn’t explain why he went after Anna.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“He needed Benjamin.”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Why?”
“Because a child is better leverage than a document.”
Nathan nearly lunged across the table.
Grace grabbed his arm.
“Nathan.”
He stopped.
Victoria smiled again.
Grace saw it.
She leaned forward.
“You enjoy making him angry because you want him to lose control.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
Grace continued.
“You’ve been doing that for years, haven’t you?”
Nathan looked at Grace.
She was right.
Every attack.
Every secret.
Every provocation.
Victoria wanted Nathan emotional.
Reckless.
Easy to manipulate.
Grace turned to Nathan.
“Don’t give her what she wants.”
Nathan slowly sat back.
Victoria looked irritated.
Then the detective placed a document in front of her.
“We found Caleb’s storage unit.”
Victoria’s confidence vanished.
“What?”
“We recovered hard drives.”
She went pale.
The detective continued.
“Including recordings of your conversations.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
The detective said nothing.
That silence was enough.
For the first time, Victoria looked genuinely afraid.
Nathan saw it.
“What did you say on those recordings?”
Victoria looked away.
Grace whispered, “Something worse than what we already know.”
Victoria stood abruptly.
“I want my lawyer.”
The interview ended.
Three weeks later, the forged marriage certificate was invalidated.
The stolen transfer was frozen.
Dr. Mercer was arrested attempting to cross into Canada.
Caleb was captured after investigators traced one of the stolen files he tried to sell.
Anna and Benjamin returned under protection.
Nathan met his son in a quiet room.
Benjamin stood behind his mother at first.
Nathan didn’t rush him.
He knelt.
“My name is Nathan.”
Benjamin looked at him.
“I know.”
Nathan’s eyes filled.
Anna whispered something to her son.
Benjamin slowly walked forward.
“Are you my dad?”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
Benjamin studied him.
Then Lily ran into the room holding two stuffed rabbits.
She handed one to Benjamin.
“You can have this one.”
Benjamin smiled.
Nathan covered his face for a moment.
Grace watched from the doorway.
Later that evening, Nathan found her outside.
“I know we can’t recover the years.”
Grace nodded.
“And I know finding out I’m Lily’s father doesn’t automatically make me one.”
She looked at him.
“That’s true.”
“I want to earn it.”
Grace studied his face.
“No promises?”
“No promises.”
“No trying to buy our lives?”
“No.”
“No deciding things for Lily without me?”
“Never.”
Grace gave him the smallest smile.
“Then start tomorrow.”
Nathan smiled back.
“Tomorrow.”
Lily appeared at the doorway.
“Daddy!”
Nathan turned immediately.
She ran toward him.
He caught her.
Benjamin followed more slowly.
Nathan lowered one arm.
Benjamin hesitated.
Then stepped into it.
Nathan held both children.
Grace watched him.
For four years, lies had kept them apart.
For six years, another child had been hidden.
Victoria had tried to turn children into inheritance claims, evidence, and weapons.
But she had made one mistake.
She had believed family was only about money.
Months later, Grace entered the same kitchen where Victoria had raised the hockey stick.
Lily was decorating cupcakes.
Benjamin was stealing frosting.
Nathan stood at the sink washing bowls.
Grace laughed.
Nathan looked over.
“What?”
“You’re terrible at washing dishes.”
“I’m learning.”
Lily giggled.
“Daddy needs practice.”
Nathan smiled.
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone went quiet for half a second.
Old fear.
Old memories.
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace nodded.
He opened the door.
A courier handed him an envelope.
Nathan returned to the kitchen and opened it.
Inside was confirmation that Victoria had pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
Grace read it.
Then folded the paper.
Lily tugged her sleeve.
“Is the bad lady coming back?”
Grace knelt.
“No, sweetheart.”
Lily looked at Nathan.
“Promise?”
Nathan glanced at Grace before answering.
He had learned something about promises.
So he chose his words carefully.
“We’ll always do everything we can to keep you safe.”
Lily accepted that.
She hugged him.
Benjamin joined her.
Grace watched the three of them.
Their family wasn’t perfect.
It wasn’t simple.
And it could never become what it might have been before the lies.
But it was real.
That mattered more.
Nathan looked across the children at Grace.
She smiled.
Not because she had forgotten.
Not because she had forgiven everything.
May you like
But because for the first time, nobody else was deciding their future.
They were.
