Chapter 13 - THE GRANDMOTHER’S BARGAIN
Nathan left the hotel under police protection.
The jammer had prevented transmission.
It had not prevented Bennett’s team from following the movement of phones connected to the area.
Simon was arrested before he reached the rear exit.
Thomas gave police a statement.
Claire was unharmed.
But Nathan barely cared.
Jamie was with Eleanor.
His mother.
The woman who had frightened him for months.
The woman who had put an insect inside Nathan’s food.
The woman who had told a five-year-old his mother died because she asked questions.
Nathan called the number.
Eleanor answered.
“Where are you?”
“The greenhouse.”
“Which greenhouse?”
“You know.”
Nathan did.
The old Harcourt winter garden stood on an unused family estate forty miles south.
His father had loved it.
After his death, Eleanor kept the property.
Nathan’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Is Nora with you willingly?”
“Yes.”
“Put her on.”
Nora answered.
“Nathan.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Jamie?”
“He’s here.”
“Is he hurt?”
“No.”
Her voice was strange.
Not terrified.
Tense.
But controlled.
“Why are you with her?”
Nora paused.
“Because she found us before Peter did.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
Eleanor took the phone back.
“Simon sent Peter to your safe location.”
“How did you know where it was?”
“I followed Bennett’s officer.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“Of course you did.”
“Peter followed him too.”
“Peter tried to take Jamie.”
“I stopped him.”
Nathan’s mind struggled to process it.
“You expect me to thank you?”
“No.”
Eleanor sounded tired.
“I expect you to come.”
“With police.”
“No.”
“They’re already following me.”
“Then lose them.”
Nathan laughed.
“You are still giving orders.”
“I have something you want.”
“What?”
“The original recording of Simon and Amelia.”
Nathan froze.
“There is more?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get it?”
“Simon kept copies.”
“Why would you have one?”
“Because I learned long ago to keep insurance on the man who kept insurance on me.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
A family built entirely from blackmail.
“What does the rest contain?”
“The truth about Amelia’s car.”
Nathan’s heart tightened.
“I already know Peter touched it.”
“You do not know who told him to.”
Nathan felt cold.
“Simon admitted it.”
“Simon lies even during confessions.”
“What are you saying?”
Eleanor paused.
“Adrian ordered the car disabled.”
Nathan’s mind went blank.
“No.”
“He paid Peter.”
“Why?”
“To stop Amelia from reaching you before she exposed his theft.”
Nathan remembered Adrian admitting he stole from Aster.
“But Simon said—”
“Simon gave Peter the method.”
“Adrian gave the instruction.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Everyone had contributed another link.
Amelia’s letter again.
The important question is who chose not to stop it.
“Does Adrian know it caused her death?”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s voice cracked.
“How long?”
“Since the morning after.”
Nathan felt rage.
“He lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
The unexpected admission stopped him.
Eleanor continued.
“I have spent my life believing that if I controlled enough information, I could control the outcome.”
Nathan said nothing.
“I was wrong.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Are you asking for forgiveness?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I know better.”
Nathan drove in silence.
Eleanor spoke again.
“Jamie is safe.”
“He is afraid of you.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Her voice broke slightly.
Nathan had never heard that before.
“He hid behind Nora when he saw me.”
Nathan’s anger remained.
“You taught him to.”
“I know.”
“You told him Amelia left because he cried.”
“I know.”
“You used his mother’s death to control him.”
Silence.
“I know.”
Nathan almost shouted.
“Stop saying that like it fixes anything.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Then why did you take him?”
“To stop Peter.”
“And then?”
“To make you listen.”
“There it is.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“Still leverage.”
Eleanor did not deny it.
“Bring Jamie to the police station.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Peter escaped.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
“He left before I could stop him.”
“Was he armed?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why is the greenhouse safer?”
“It isn’t.”
Nathan’s grip tightened.
“Mother.”
“I need to give you something before Simon’s people destroy it.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“Aster?”
“Everything.”
Nathan’s heart skipped.
“How much?”
“Forty-two years.”
Nathan stared ahead.
“You kept forty-two years of records?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father taught me never to trust anyone without proof.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“He should have included you.”
“He did.”
Nathan said nothing.
The greenhouse appeared through the trees twenty minutes later.
Bennett’s vehicles remained half a mile behind.
Nathan had not truly lost them.
He was grateful.
He entered the glass building.
Many panes were cracked.
Old vines climbed rusted frames.
At the center stood Eleanor.
Nora beside her.
Jamie ran the instant he saw Nathan.
“Daddy!”
Nathan dropped to his knees.
Jamie collided with him.
Nathan held him so tightly the boy squeaked.
“Too tight.”
Nathan loosened his arms immediately.
“Sorry.”
Jamie buried his face against him.
“I didn’t like Grandma’s car.”
“I know.”
Nora approached.
“She did stop Peter.”
Nathan looked up.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“He came to the cottage with forged police credentials.”
“Eleanor arrived minutes before him.”
Nathan stared at his mother.
“How?”
Eleanor looked toward the floor.
“I knew Simon would have the safe-house address.”
“Why?”
“Because one of Bennett’s administrative clerks used to work for Simon.”
Nathan felt exhausted.
Another compromised person.
Another hidden connection.
“Name?”
Eleanor gave it.
Nathan texted Bennett.
Then he stood with Jamie in his arms.
“Give me the ledger.”
Eleanor pointed toward an iron table.
A black case rested there.
Nathan approached.
Inside were folders.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Audio drives.
Letters.
Every secret Eleanor had spent decades collecting.
Nathan looked at her.
“This could destroy the family.”
“Yes.”
“The company.”
“Possibly.”
“You?”
“Certainly.”
Nathan stared.
“Why give it to me now?”
Eleanor looked at Jamie.
“Because I finally understand Simon’s mistake.”
“What?”
“He thought the company mattered more to me than you.”
Nathan’s expression hardened.
“It did.”
Eleanor flinched.
He continued.
“For years.”
“You chose control every time.”
“Yes.”
“You do not get to rewrite that because you became frightened at the end.”
“I know.”
Nathan almost told her to stop saying it.
Instead he watched her.
She looked at Jamie.
“He knocked the pastry away.”
“Yes.”
“I saw his face.”
Nathan said nothing.
“He was terrified.”
“Yes.”
“Of me.”
Nathan’s silence was answer enough.
Eleanor looked away.
“I became my mother.”
Nathan frowned.
He knew almost nothing about Eleanor’s mother.
She had died before he was born.
“She controlled everyone through fear.”
Eleanor laughed weakly.
“I spent my childhood promising I would never be like her.”
Nathan stared.
“That does not excuse you.”
“No.”
“It explains only how pathetic I am.”
Jamie shifted in Nathan’s arms.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“I want to go.”
“We will.”
Eleanor heard.
Pain crossed her face.
Nathan felt no satisfaction.
Only sadness.
“Give me the recording.”
Eleanor took a small drive from her pocket.
Nathan accepted it.
“Is this the original?”
“A copy.”
“Where is the original?”
“Safe deposit box.”
“Under what name?”
She gave him the information.
Nathan texted Bennett again.
Then a sound came from outside.
Glass cracked.
Nora turned.
“What was that?”
Nathan instinctively moved Jamie behind him.
Eleanor’s face changed.
“Get down.”
A stone crashed through one of the greenhouse panes.
Not a bullet.
A stone.
Wrapped around it was paper.
Nathan stared.
Eleanor whispered.
“Peter.”
Nathan picked up the paper carefully.
One sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE BOY WHERE I COULD FIND HIM.
Nathan looked around the trees beyond the glass.
No movement.
Nora grabbed Jamie.
Eleanor moved toward a side door.
Nathan caught her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To draw him away.”
Nathan stared in disbelief.
“You think this is a redemption scene?”
Her face hardened.
“I know these grounds.”
“So do police.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Eleanor looked startled.
“You brought them.”
“Of course I brought them.”
For the first time, Nathan saw almost a smile.
“Good.”
Police surrounded the greenhouse.
No Peter.
No vehicle.
No footprints beyond partial impressions near the rear.
Bennett arrived.
She immediately took custody of the case.
Eleanor did not resist arrest.
Nathan expected an argument.
There was none.
Bennett read her rights.
Eleanor looked at Nathan.
“Listen to the recording.”
“I will.”
“Before you speak to Adrian.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because he will lie.”
“You all lie.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Jamie.
“Tell him something for me.”
Nathan stared.
“No.”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“Please.”
Nathan almost laughed at the unfamiliar word.
“What?”
“That he was braver than I deserved.”
Nathan said nothing.
She continued.
“And that Grandma was wrong.”
Jamie was watching from beside Nora.
Nathan looked down at him.
He did not relay the message.
Not yet.
Eleanor had spent months putting words into Jamie’s head.
Nathan would not make his son responsible for her remorse.
Police led her away.
Nathan took Jamie to the car.
Nora sat beside them.
Bennett kept the evidence.
On the drive, Jamie fell asleep against Nathan’s chest.
Nathan opened Amelia’s recording with headphones.
Her voice filled his ears.
Simon first.
“You cannot go to Nathan.”
Amelia answered.
“I already should have.”
“He is not stable enough.”
“Because you made him unstable.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Simon spoke.
“You have no proof of that.”
“I have Vale’s notes.”
A pause.
“You broke into a medical office?”
“I photographed a file you were stupid enough to leave in your briefcase.”
Nathan almost smiled through his grief.
That sounded like Amelia.
Simon’s voice hardened.
“You are becoming reckless.”
“No.”
“I’m becoming less afraid.”
Then another voice entered the recording.
Adrian.
Nathan stopped breathing.
His brother sounded panicked.
“Amelia.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to stop you.”
“From telling my husband the truth?”
“From destroying everyone.”
“You stole money.”
“I was going to repay it.”
“You helped his mother hide transfers.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Adrian’s voice cracked.
“If Nathan sees those records, he’ll call police.”
“He should.”
“I’ll go to prison.”
Amelia answered.
“That is not Nathan’s fault.”
Silence.
Then Adrian said something Nathan had never imagined.
“I have a daughter.”
Nathan sat upright.
The car seemed to stop moving.
Amelia sounded stunned too.
“What?”
“A daughter.”
“Who?”
Adrian began crying.
“She’s seven.”
Nathan’s mind went blank.
Adrian had a child?
A seven-year-old daughter twenty months ago would now be nine.
No one in the family had ever mentioned her.
Amelia whispered.
“Does Nathan know?”
“No.”
“Mother?”
“No.”
“Simon?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Nathan’s blood turned cold.
There it was.
Another piece of leverage.
Adrian continued.
“Simon has been paying her mother.”
“Using trust money.”
“If Nathan exposes Aster, payments stop.”
“She’ll lose everything.”
Amelia’s voice softened.
“Adrian, tell Nathan.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“He’ll hate me.”
“He might.”
“But he’ll help the child.”
Adrian sobbed.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know my husband.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Amelia had been right.
Then Simon spoke again.
“This sentimentality is wasting time.”
Adrian snapped.
“Shut up.”
Simon laughed.
“You asked me to stop her.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Amelia went silent.
“What?”
Adrian’s voice panicked.
“No.”
“I asked you to delay her.”
Simon answered.
“You specifically said her car should not reach London tonight.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Adrian said.
“I meant disable it.”
“Nothing more.”
Amelia whispered.
“You touched my car?”
Adrian sounded horrified.
“Amelia, listen—”
She cut him off.
“You touched my car?”
“I didn’t.”
“Peter did.”
Nathan’s hands shook.
Simon interrupted.
“The vehicle will simply fail to start.”
Amelia’s breathing quickened.
“You are insane.”
She moved.
A door slammed.
Adrian shouted.
“Amelia!”
The recording continued with footsteps.
Then Simon’s voice.
“She cannot leave.”
Adrian shouted.
“Let her go!”
Simon answered calmly.
“It is already done.”
The audio ended.
Nathan stared into nothing.
Adrian had ordered Amelia stopped.
He had involved Simon.
He had known Peter would tamper with the car.
Perhaps he did not intend death.
But he had started the chain.
And then he had hidden the truth for twenty months.
Nathan’s phone rang.
Adrian.
As if summoned by the recording.
Nathan looked at Jamie sleeping against him.
Then answered.
“You have a daughter.”
Silence.
Adrian did not ask how Nathan knew.
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Where is she?”
Adrian whispered.
“Nathan.”
“Where is my niece?”
Another silence.
Then Adrian answered.
“With her mother.”
“Name.”
“Lily.”
Nathan’s heart tightened.
“Full name.”
“Lily Grace Monroe.”
“How old?”
“Nine.”
Nathan stared out the window.
“You hid my niece for nine years.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From whom?”
Adrian’s voice broke.
“Mother.”
Nathan felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because Lily’s mother is Thomas Ellis’s sister.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
The entire conspiracy twisted into a new shape.
Adrian’s secret daughter was not merely a Harcourt child.
She was also an Ellis descendant.
A child connected by blood to both sides of the ownership dispute.
Nathan whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Adrian began crying.
“That is why Simon wanted Jamie.”
Nathan’s pulse raced.
“What does Jamie have to do with Lily?”
“Everything.”
Nathan sat straighter.
“What are you saying?”
Adrian’s voice shook.
“Simon wasn’t trying to merge the two families through Thomas.”
“He already had a child who legally belongs to both.”
Nathan stared ahead.
Adrian continued.
“If Simon gets control of Lily’s guardianship and proves the Ellis claim, he can use her to claim both sides.”
Nathan felt sick.
“Where is Lily now?”
Adrian did not answer.
“Adrian.”
Silence.
“Where is she?”
His brother whispered.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan’s anger exploded.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Her mother called me an hour ago.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
May you like
“She’s missing.”
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