Chapter 5 - The Man in the Gray Suit
Nathan opened the consultation-room door.
The man in gray immediately turned away.
Nathan followed him.
“Stop.”
The man kept walking.
Nathan increased his pace.
Hospital security looked over as Nathan grabbed the stranger’s arm.
The man spun around.
His expression remained calm.
Too calm.
“Mr. Cole.”
Nathan released him slowly.
“You know me.”
“Most people in New York know you.”
Nathan glanced at the badge clipped near the man’s waist.
It looked official from a distance.
Up close, Nathan noticed the seal was wrong.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled faintly.
“Someone trying to prevent a family misunderstanding from becoming public.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
“Richard Vale sent you.”
The smile disappeared.
The stranger leaned closer.
“You should marry Victoria.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You should forget the maid.”
Nathan’s fists tightened.
The man continued.
“And you should understand that fatherhood requires proof.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Threaten my daughter again.”
The man raised his eyebrows.
“You don’t know she’s your daughter.”
“I know enough.”
The stranger glanced toward the hospital windows.
“Then perhaps you should ask Grace why she spent five years hiding under three different names.”
Nathan stopped.
The man walked away.
Marcus appeared behind Nathan.
“Who was that?”
Nathan looked toward the elevator.
“A message.”
They returned to Grace’s room.
Nathan confronted her carefully.
“Did you use different names?”
Grace did not deny it.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they kept finding me.”
Grace explained that she initially moved to Vermont.
Three months later, a private investigator appeared near Lily’s daycare.
She moved to Maine.
Then Pennsylvania.
Each time, someone eventually found them.
Grace changed jobs.
Changed phone numbers.
Stopped using social media.
Lily learned never to tell strangers their address.
Nathan felt a wave of shame.
His daughter had spent her entire childhood hiding from his family.
“How did you end up working for me?”
Grace looked down.
“Your father’s attorney contacted me seven months ago.”
Marcus frowned.
“Which attorney?”
“Samuel Price.”
Marcus’s expression immediately changed.
“Samuel Price died eleven months ago.”
Grace stared at him.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Whoever contacted you wasn’t Samuel.”
Grace pulled out her phone.
The email was still there.
It contained an employment referral to Nathan’s household management agency.
It promised that working inside Nathan’s mansion would finally give Grace a chance to tell him the truth safely.
Nathan read the email twice.
Somebody had deliberately brought Grace into his home.
But why?
Marcus checked the sender information.
“It’s routed through offshore servers.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Someone wanted you near me.”
Grace nodded.
“Or near Victoria.”
Nathan’s phone buzzed.
A news alert appeared.
His face hardened.
The headline had already spread across several major outlets.
MILLIONAIRE EXECUTIVE TARGETED IN CHILD ABDUCTION PLOT.
Below it was Grace’s photograph.
A second image showed Nathan carrying Lily from the ambulance.
The article claimed Grace had spent years falsely telling Lily that Nathan was her father.
Nathan kept reading.
Then he reached the final paragraph.
Police sources allegedly possessed DNA evidence proving Nathan was not Lily’s biological father.
Grace whispered.
“They already have DNA?”
Nathan looked at Marcus.
May you like
Marcus’s face said everything.
Nobody in that hospital had collected a sample.
