Chapter 7
Nathan wanted to drive to the estate himself.
Police refused.
Grace was grateful.
The last thing Lily needed was Nathan rushing into another dangerous situation.
The detective arranged transportation to a protected apartment owned by the department.
Before they left, Nathan knelt in front of Lily.
“We’re going somewhere different tonight.”
Lily hugged her rabbit.
“Are you coming?”
Nathan looked at Grace.
The choice was hers.
Grace hesitated.
Then nodded once.
“Yes.”
Nathan exhaled.
“I’m coming.”
Two hours later, Lily was asleep in a small bedroom under police protection.
Grace stood by the window.
Nathan remained in the kitchen.
He didn’t come closer until she spoke.
“Why did your father hate me?”
“He didn’t know you.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
Nathan looked down.
“My father believed everyone had a price.”
“And mine?”
“He thought you wanted money.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“I left with nothing.”
“I know.”
“I raised Lily on a maid’s salary.”
“I know.”
“I sold my grandmother’s necklace when she got pneumonia.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s the point.”
Grace turned toward him.
“You didn’t know anything.”
Nathan accepted the words.
His phone rang.
The detective.
Nathan answered on speaker.
“We entered the estate,” the detective said.
“Did you find Caleb?”
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“He escaped again?”
“We don’t think he was there when we arrived.”
“But cameras showed him entering.”
“Yes.”
“Then where did he go?”
“There appears to be a passage from the basement to an old service garage.”
Nathan remembered it.
His grandfather had built the passage decades earlier.
“What did he take?”
“That’s why I’m calling.”
The detective paused.
“We found the records room.”
Grace moved closer.
“And?”
“It contains surveillance reports on Grace dating back five years.”
Grace gripped the counter.
“Five?”
“That means the surveillance began before Lily was born.”
Nathan went silent.
The detective continued.
“There are photographs of Grace during pregnancy. Hospital records. Apartment leases. Employment applications.”
Grace felt nauseated.
Nathan whispered, “My father knew Lily existed.”
“We found one file marked CHILD.”
Grace covered her mouth.
“What's inside?”
“Copies of Lily’s birth certificate and medical records.”
Nathan turned away.
His father had known.
For years.
The detective continued.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“A handwritten note from your father.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“Read it.”
The detective hesitated.
Then he did.
“Victoria has confirmed the child is Nathan’s. Under no circumstances should Nathan learn this before the merger is complete.”
Nathan shut his eyes.
Grace stared at him.
“What merger?”
Nathan barely managed the answer.
“The biggest business deal my father ever made.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
The detective continued reading.
“If Nathan recognizes an heir, control provisions may activate and threaten the transaction.”
Grace felt anger rise.
“They hid Lily for a business deal?”
Nathan looked devastated.
“My father did.”
“And Victoria helped him.”
“Yes.”
The detective spoke again.
“But the final line is strange.”
Nathan looked at the phone.
“What does it say?”
“After the merger, tell Nathan the truth. Victoria refuses.”
Silence.
Grace frowned.
“Victoria refused?”
“It appears she and your father stopped agreeing after the merger closed.”
Nathan understood.
“My father intended to reveal Lily eventually.”
“But Victoria realized she could keep everything for herself,” Grace said.
The detective agreed.
“That’s our current theory.”
Nathan rubbed his face.
Then the detective said, “We also found something addressed directly to you.”
“A letter?”
“A video.”
Nathan froze.
“My father recorded it six weeks before his death.”
Grace looked at him.
Nathan’s father had died believing his secrets were still hidden.
“What does he say?”
“We haven’t played the entire recording. But the opening appears relevant.”
The detective sent the file.
Nathan opened it.
His father appeared on screen.
Older.
Weak.
Ashamed.
“Nathan,” he began, “if you are seeing this, then I failed to repair what I destroyed.”
Nathan’s eyes filled.
The man on the screen continued.
“Grace never abandoned you.”
Nathan looked at her.
“She begged me to tell you about Lily.”
Grace whispered, “What?”
Nathan’s father lowered his eyes.
“And I paid someone to make sure her messages never reached you.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
The video continued.
“But Victoria did something I did not authorize.”
The screen suddenly froze.
The file ended.
Nathan grabbed the phone.
“That’s it?”
The detective answered.
“The remaining video is missing.”
Grace stared at the blank screen.
Somewhere, Caleb still had the missing records.
And whatever Victoria had done was dangerous enough that Nathan’s father had tried to confess before he died.
Then Grace’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Nathan looked at her.
“Don’t answer.”
Grace stared at the screen.
A text appeared.
I HAVE THE REST OF THE VIDEO.
May you like
Another message followed.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY LILY WAS REALLY BORN.
