Chapter 4: The Man Who Came Back for My Family
Alexander moved between me and the study door.
"Stay here," he said.
I caught his sleeve.
"I'm not hiding in my father's study while Nathan searches my mother's house.""
"Then stay beside me.""
We went downstairs together.
Nathan stood in the foyer, breathing hard. Stephanie was beside him, holding her handbag against her chest. Neither had bothered to remove their coats.
"How did you get in?"" I asked.
Stephanie lifted a key.
"Mother gave me a spare years ago.""
"You don't have permission to enter.""
"This is my home.""
"No," I said.
"It's Mother's home. And she's gone.""
Her eyes flashed.
"Don't start lecturing me about respect. You left this family.""
Nathan stepped forward.
"Claire, I need to talk to you alone.""
"Whatever you need to say, you can say it here.""
He looked at Alexander.
"This concerns the contract.""
Alexander's expression hardened.
"What contract?""
Nathan glanced at Stephanie.
She shook her head almost imperceptibly.
I saw it.
So did Alexander.
"You're going to have to be more specific," he said.
Nathan rubbed his face.
"Your father had a business arrangement with Eleanor Wilson. It involved a development project outside Savannah. When the project failed, there were documents that should have been destroyed.""
Alexander stared at him.
"My father died eleven years ago. The project you're talking about was abandoned thirteen years ago.""
"Exactly.""
"Then why are you discussing it now?""
"Because the documents resurfaced.""
"Where?""
Nathan looked at me.
"With your mother.""
I felt the room tilt.
"What did you do to her?""
"Nothing.""
"Then why was she afraid?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know what she told you, but I never threatened Eleanor.""
Stephanie crossed her arms.
"He helped her when she needed it. He was the only person in this family who offered to arrange professional care when her health declined.""
I turned toward my sister.
"Mother never told me she needed professional care.""
"Because you weren't here.""
"I offered to come home.""
"And she refused. Perhaps she didn't want you to see her like that.""
The cruelty in her voice was almost casual.
I looked at her carefully.
"Did you visit her in the hospital last month?""
Stephanie's lips pressed together.
"Of course.""
"How many times?""
"That's none of your business.""
"Did you know she was asking for me?""
Her gaze shifted toward Nathan.
It was a tiny movement, but it told me more than her answer could have.
"She was confused," Stephanie said.
"No," I replied.
"She was dying.""
The silence that followed was terrible.
Alexander placed the brass key on the hall table.
"What does this key open, Nathan?""
Nathan's face went white.
"I don't know.""
"Then why did you come here looking for it?""
"I didn't.""
Stephanie turned sharply toward him.
"You said we needed to find the original documents before the trustee reviewed the estate.""
"I said we needed to find out what Eleanor had kept.""
"That's the same thing!""
"No, it isn't.""
They stared at each other.
I had never seen my sister look at Nathan with uncertainty before. She had always treated him as the man who had chosen her over me, the man whose decision supposedly proved she was better.
Now she seemed to be wondering whether she had chosen the wrong man.
Alexander picked up the key.
"I suggest you both leave.""
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"You can't shut us out of this. The documents concern my company.""
"Then you can have your attorney contact mine.""
"You know what those papers could do to me.""
"That sounds like a reason to preserve them, not destroy them.""
Nathan's hands curled into fists.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with.""
"Then explain it.""
For a moment, I thought he might.
His shoulders sagged. His eyes moved to me, and the expression on his face was almost pleading.
"Claire, I loved you.""
I felt a strange, quiet anger.
"Don't.""
"I did.""
"Then you should have told me the truth before you climbed into bed with my sister.""
"I was trapped.""
"By what?""
He looked at Alexander.
"My father had debts. I inherited the company before I understood how badly it was compromised. There were investors who could have destroyed us. Your mother had information that could have helped me.""
"Mother?""
"She knew about the old project. She knew what happened to the money.""
I stared at him.
"Was that why you proposed to me?""
"No.""
"Was that why you wanted to marry into my family?""
"No.""
"Then why did you stay with Stephanie?""
His mouth tightened.
"Because I loved her, too.""
The words should have hurt.
They didn't.
They simply closed a door that had been standing open in my mind for six years.
Stephanie stepped toward him.
"Don't make me sound like part of a business arrangement.""
"I'm not.""
"You told me Claire was the only person who could get access to Eleanor's holdings.""
Nathan flinched.
I looked at my sister.
"What?""
Stephanie's face drained of color.
Nathan turned on her.
"That's not what I said.""
"You told me the family properties were the key to the financing. You told me if we were married, we could consolidate the assets and get the bank to approve the loan.""
I felt sick.
"You stole my fiancé because you wanted access to Mother's money?""
Stephanie's eyes filled with angry tears.
"That's not what happened.""
"Then explain it.""
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Nathan stepped between us.
"Stephanie, stop talking.""
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the foyer.
"You told me I was your future!""
"You are.""
"Then why are you begging her for help?""
Nathan stared at her, breathing hard.
Because she had finally asked the question he couldn't answer.
I looked toward the staircase.
The brass key lay in Alexander's hand. Father's watch was upstairs. Mother's letter had warned us about a contract, and Nathan had just admitted that my family had been connected to a financial scheme for more than a decade.
There was something else.
A detail I couldn't stop thinking about.
"Stephanie," I said, "when did you first meet Nathan?""
She wiped her cheek.
"Why?""
"Answer me.""
"At a charity dinner. Eight years ago.""
I turned to Nathan.
"When did you start working with my mother?""
He hesitated.
"About seven years ago.""
Before my engagement.
Before the affair.
Before the day I found them together.
My hands went cold.
"How did you know she had access to the properties?""
Nathan looked away.
Stephanie whispered, "He said he was introduced to her through a family friend.""
"Who?""
Neither answered.
Alexander moved toward the door and opened it.
"Leave. Now.""
Nathan took one last look at me.
"You think marrying a billionaire means you're safe, Claire. It doesn't. You don't know what your mother was involved in, and you don't know what Alexander's father did.""
"Then I suppose it's fortunate that we're going to find out.""
Nathan's expression hardened.
"You'll regret this.""
Stephanie followed him into the rain.
At the threshold, she turned back.
"Mother loved me, Claire. Whatever you find, remember that.""
Then she left.
Alexander locked the door.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Finally, he took my hand.
"Your sister isn't the only person hiding something.""
"Who else?""
He looked toward the study.
"My father had a business partner. A man he trusted more than anyone else.""
"Who was he?""
Alexander swallowed.
"Your father.""
I stared at him.
"My father died before yours.""
"I know.""
"Then how could they have been partners?""
Alexander reached into his jacket and removed a folded photograph. It showed two men standing beside a half-built commercial property. One was unmistakably Richard Whitmore.
The other was my father, James Wilson.
On the back, in faded ink, someone had written a date.
Thirteen years earlier.
May you like
And beneath it were five words that made my knees weaken.
The money was never missing.
