Chapter 4 - The Envelope From the Dead
Marcus Hale arrived at the hospital forty minutes later carrying a black leather case.
Nathan met him inside a private consultation room.
Grace remained nearby with Lily.
Two police officers waited outside.
Marcus locked the door.
Then he placed a cream-colored envelope on the table.
Nathan recognized his father’s handwriting immediately.
FOR NATHAN ONLY.
IF GRACE BENNETT RETURNS.
Nathan stared at it.
“How long have you had this?”
“Six years.”
Nathan looked up sharply.
“Six?”
Marcus nodded.
“Your father gave it to my predecessor before I became managing partner.”
“He instructed our firm not to acknowledge its existence unless specific conditions occurred.”
Nathan tore the envelope open.
Inside were four pages.
The first page began with one sentence.
Nathan, if you are reading this, then I failed to keep the past buried.
Nathan’s face hardened.
Grace stood beside him.
He kept reading.
His father admitted knowing about Lily.
He admitted ordering Grace to leave.
He admitted arranging the false psychiatric evaluation.
He even admitted forging Nathan’s signature.
But the next paragraph changed everything.
I did not begin this arrangement.
Richard Vale did.
Nathan looked toward Marcus.
Victoria’s father.
The letter explained that Richard Vale had secretly financed Cole Industries during a catastrophic liquidity crisis.
In exchange, Richard demanded a future merger between the Cole and Vale families.
Not merely through business.
Through marriage.
Nathan and Victoria.
If Nathan married someone else or produced an heir outside the agreement, Richard could call several hidden loans at once.
Cole Industries would collapse.
Thousands of employees could lose their jobs.
Nathan lowered the letter.
“My father sold my life to protect the company.”
Marcus nodded grimly.
“There’s another page.”
Nathan continued.
His father claimed he had eventually regretted forcing Grace away.
He secretly created a trust for Lily.
Thirty million dollars.
Transferable upon proof of paternity.
Grace covered her mouth.
Nathan kept reading.
But there was a condition.
If Nathan married Victoria before acknowledging another biological heir, control of Cole Holdings would permanently transfer through a succession agreement favoring the Vale family.
Nathan looked at Marcus.
“Our wedding is in two weeks.”
“Yes.”
“And if Lily is legally recognized before then?”
“The succession agreement becomes invalid.”
Grace went pale.
Nathan understood.
“That’s why Victoria attacked them.”
Marcus nodded.
“Lily doesn’t merely threaten the wedding.”
“She threatens control of a corporation worth nearly two billion dollars.”
Nathan looked again at the letter.
At the bottom, his father had written something by hand.
I thought I could protect the company and eventually repair what I did to Grace.
I was wrong.
Richard has people everywhere.
If something happens to me, do not trust the board.
Nathan slowly folded the letter.
His father had died from a heart attack fourteen months earlier.
At least that was what everyone believed.
Grace suddenly whispered.
“Nathan.”
He looked at her.
She was staring through the narrow window in the door.
One of the police officers who had been stationed outside was gone.
The other was speaking with a man in a gray suit.
Grace’s entire body stiffened.
“That man.”
Nathan turned.
“You know him?”
Grace nodded.
May you like
Her face had drained of color.
“He was outside my apartment the night your father forced me to disappear.”
