Chapter 6 - THE SECRET IN THE PENTHOUSE

Three days later, investigators found another room inside the Ashford penthouse.
It was hidden behind a bookshelf.
Inside were files.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
Passport copies.
And a list of women.
I recognized several names.
Former employees.
Executives.
Politicians' wives.
Journalists.
Women Nathan had threatened.
Women he had paid.
Women he had destroyed.
I sat in the evidence room staring at the files.
Nathan had never been cruel only to me.
I had simply been the woman who stayed close enough to see everything.
Then I found my own file.
It was enormous.
Every conversation.
Every medical appointment.
Every argument.
Every private message.
Even photographs taken inside our bedroom.
My hands began shaking.
He had been watching me.
For years.
Then I found one page that changed everything.
A handwritten note.
CELESTE KNOWS ABOUT THE VALE CONNECTION.
My blood ran cold.
Celeste had known.
She had known who my father was.
She had known I wasn't powerless.
And she had still pushed Nathan toward me.
Why?
I called my father.
"Dad."
"I'm listening."
"Celeste knew."
Silence.
"Knew what?"
"Who you were."
Another silence.
Then his voice changed.
"Where did you find that?"
"Inside Nathan's hidden room."
"Don't touch anything."
"I already did."
"Listen to me."
His tone became sharp.
"Celeste is not the mastermind."
I stood.
"Then who is?"
My father answered quietly.
"The man Nathan answered to."
I felt the room become colder.
"Nathan had a boss?"
"No."
My father paused.
May you like
"He had a partner."
---