CHAPTER 3: THE BROTHER WHO KNEW
Enzo’s body went cold.
“Nathan found you where?”
Harper looked toward the fireplace, as if the answer lived in the flames.
“At my father’s lake house.”
Enzo stepped closer, then stopped when she stiffened.
“Explain.”
Harper wrapped the robe tighter around herself.
“Three months ago, Nathan came to collect money from my father. Preston wasn’t there. I was.”
Her voice dropped.
“I had been locked in the east wing for two days.”
Enzo felt the room tilt slightly.
Nathan had told him nothing.
Not one word.
“He heard me,” Harper continued. “I was behind a locked door. I begged him not to leave.”
Her eyes filled, but she held herself together.
“He broke the door open.”
Enzo remembered Nathan coming home that night with bruised knuckles.
He had joked that a door had insulted him.
Enzo had laughed.
God help him, he had laughed.
“Nathan took pictures of my back,” Harper said. “Of the room. Of the locks. He said he was going to make sure my father could never hurt me again.”
Enzo’s voice turned rough.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because I begged him not to.”
That answer struck harder than accusation.
Harper looked ashamed.
“I was scared. My father owned judges, police, doctors. He told everyone I had anxiety. He said if I ever spoke, he would have me committed and take everything my grandfather left me.”
Enzo stared at her.
The trust fund.
The marriage clause.
The money Preston had tried to use as bait.
It had never been a reward.
It had been a cage.
“What happened after Nathan found you?” Enzo asked.
Harper’s lips trembled.
“He came back two nights later with papers. Evidence. A safe drive. He said he had enough to destroy my father.”
Enzo already knew the ending.
But he made himself listen.
“My father found out.”
The fireplace cracked sharply.
Harper looked at him.
“And Nathan died the next morning.”
For a long moment, Enzo heard nothing but blood rushing in his ears.
Then he turned and walked to the door.
Harper panicked.
“Where are you going?”
Enzo looked back.
“To find proof.”
Her face went white.
“No. If you go after him now, he’ll disappear.”
“He won’t get far.”
“You don’t understand.” Harper took one step forward. “My father keeps insurance on everyone. Including you.”
Enzo paused.
Harper reached into the torn wedding dress lying on the floor.
From inside the lining, she pulled out a small silver flash drive.
“I stole this before the ceremony.”
Enzo stared at it.
“What is that?”
May you like
Harper’s voice barely held.
“The reason Preston was willing to give me away.”
