Chapter 3
Nathan hated that smile.
Victoria was handcuffed beside the patrol car, yet she looked almost calm.
Grace saw it too.
“Why is she smiling?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
He looked down at the documents again.
Victoria had known about Lily.
She had paid a doctor.
She had hidden the real DNA results.
But something still didn’t make sense.
“Why keep the documents?” Nathan asked.
Grace frowned.
“What?”
“If she wanted this buried, why hide proof inside my bedroom?”
The officer beside them looked up.
“That’s a good question.”
Nathan flipped through the papers again.
The last sheet was different.
It wasn’t a medical report.
It was a legal agreement.
Nathan read the first paragraph.
Then stopped.
Grace watched his face.
“What does it say?”
Nathan handed it to her.
The agreement concerned a trust established by Nathan’s grandfather.
If Nathan had a biological child before his thirty-fifth birthday, control of a major portion of the Carter family company would eventually transfer to that child.
Lily had been born two months before Nathan turned thirty-five.
Grace looked stunned.
“She wasn’t hiding Lily just to keep you.”
Nathan shook his head.
“This was about money.”
The officer leaned closer.
“How much money?”
Nathan gave a bitter laugh.
“Hundreds of millions.”
Grace stared at him.
Victoria had planned to marry Nathan.
If Nathan died without a recognized child, his shares would pass according to a different structure.
A structure that heavily favored his spouse.
Grace whispered, “She needed you to believe you had no child.”
Nathan looked toward the patio doors.
Victoria’s smile suddenly made sense.
“She thinks she still has leverage.”
The officer stepped outside and spoke to his partner.
Nathan immediately took out his phone.
He called his attorney.
“Martin, cancel everything connected to my wedding.”
A pause.
“No. I don’t care what it costs.”
Another pause.
“And freeze any account or authorization Victoria has access to.”
Nathan listened.
His expression darkened.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
Grace watched him.
Nathan walked away from Lily.
“Martin, I never signed that.”
Silence.
Nathan’s voice rose.
“I said I never signed it.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Grace asked.
Nathan turned.
“Someone filed documents yesterday giving Victoria temporary financial authority over two of my private investment accounts.”
Grace’s stomach dropped.
“How?”
“Apparently with my signature.”
“But you didn’t sign them.”
“No.”
The officer returned.
“Mr. Carter, we need to know if you believe forgery is involved.”
“I know it is.”
Outside, Victoria began laughing.
Nathan finally opened the door.
The officer stopped him from stepping through.
Victoria looked directly at him.
“You finally figured it out.”
“Figured out what?”
“That you never paid attention.”
Nathan clenched his fists.
“You falsified my signature.”
Victoria smiled.
“Can you prove it?”
“We’ll find out.”
“You’ll find out a lot.”
The officer guided her toward the car.
Then Victoria looked at Grace.
“You think you won?”
Grace said nothing.
Victoria leaned closer before the officer moved her away.
“You should ask him where he was the night Lily was born.”
Grace froze.
Nathan’s face changed.
Victoria laughed again.
Then the patrol car door closed.
Grace slowly turned.
“Nathan?”
He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Nathan, where were you?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“That night…”
Grace waited.
“I thought you had left me.”
“You never answered my calls.”
“I was told you didn’t want to see me.”
“By who?”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Victoria.”
Grace stepped backward.
Nathan continued.
“She came to my apartment. She said she’d spoken to you. She said you were leaving the city.”
Grace stared at him.
“I was in labor.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I called you twelve times.”
“I never got the calls.”
Grace’s anger finally broke through the shock.
“You believed her?”
“I had no reason then not to.”
“You had me.”
Nathan looked devastated.
“You should have believed me.”
“I know.”
Lily suddenly spoke from behind them.
“Mommy?”
Grace turned.
Her daughter looked frightened.
Grace immediately knelt and hugged her.
“It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t.
Nathan’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Martin.
He answered.
“What?”
Nathan listened for several seconds.
Then his face went white.
“When?”
Grace stood.
“What happened?”
Nathan ended the call slowly.
“Victoria transferred twelve million dollars this morning.”
Grace stared at him.
“To where?”
May you like
Nathan looked toward the police car disappearing beyond the gate.
“To an account under Lily’s name.”
