Chapter 4 - The Bride’s Bargain
Victoria was arrested the next morning for assault.
Her attorneys arranged a controlled interview at the district attorney’s office.
Nathan entered the observation room with Grace and Julian.
Detective Chen sat across from Victoria.
“You knew about Lily before you met Nathan.”
Victoria folded her hands.
“My father told me there had been a woman.”
“That was not the question.”
“Yes.”
“When did you learn about Lily?”
“Three years ago.”
Grace whispered behind the glass.
“She knew.”
Nathan did not answer.
Chen continued.
“Why did you begin dating Nathan six months later?”
Victoria’s lips tightened.
“Because our families had wanted the match for years.”
“Did Nathan know that?”
“No.”
“Did you approach him because your father instructed you to?”
Victoria hesitated.
“At first.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Grace looked at him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Chen asked, “At first?”
Victoria nodded.
“I was supposed to become part of his life, stabilize the relationship between the companies, and make sure the marriage happened.”
“Did you love him?”
Victoria stared at the table.
“Yes.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
Grace watched him.
Victoria continued.
“I did not expect to.”
Chen placed a photograph of Lily on the table.
“Then why attack her mother?”
Victoria’s voice sharpened.
“Because Grace came back.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“What everything?”
“My marriage. The merger. My father’s protection. Nathan’s company.”
Chen leaned forward.
“Or your inheritance?”
Victoria’s face changed.
Julian whispered, “There it is.”
Chen slid a copy of the family agreement forward.
“Section twelve. If Nathan had a legally recognized child from a prior relationship before your marriage, certain voting shares designated for the post-marriage family trust would remain with Nathan’s direct descendant.”
Grace frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Julian answered quietly.
“Lily’s existence reduces Victoria’s future control.”
Nathan stared through the glass.
Victoria said, “I did not care about the shares.”
Chen replied, “Then why did your attorney file a false abduction complaint?”
“I was scared.”
“You created forged travel records.”
“I did not forge them.”
“Who did?”
Victoria looked toward the one-way glass as if she could see Nathan behind it.
“My father’s investigator.”
“Elias Vane?”
“No.”
Chen waited.
Victoria’s breathing changed.
“Someone else.”
“Name.”
Victoria looked at her attorney.
He shook his head.
Chen said, “Victoria, Vane has already given us a statement.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Vane will say whatever saves him.”
“He says you hired him six months ago to find Grace.”
Nathan felt his stomach turn.
Chen placed payment records on the table.
“Twenty thousand dollars through an interior-design company you control.”
Victoria looked down.
“Fine.”
“So you found Grace.”
“Yes.”
“You learned she was working at Nathan’s townhouse.”
“Yes.”
“Did you arrange that job?”
Victoria said nothing.
Grace whispered, “What?”
Nathan turned toward her.
“You applied through an agency.”
Grace stared at the glass.
“The agency called me first.”
Julian’s expression changed.
Chen asked, “Did you arrange for Grace to be hired?”
Victoria whispered, “Yes.”
Nathan stepped toward the door.
Grace grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“She put me in your house.”
“Why?”
They turned back to the interview.
Chen asked exactly that.
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“I wanted to know what she had.”
“What do you mean?”
“Letters. Evidence. Whether Lily really looked like Nathan. Whether Grace intended to tell him.”
“So you put her under the same roof.”
“I thought I could control it.”
Grace laughed once, horrified.
“She thought I was bait.”
Victoria continued.
“I told the agency Nathan needed household staff. I made sure Grace’s application was selected.”
“Why not simply pay her?”
“My father tried that.”
“Why not tell Nathan the truth?”
Victoria’s composure broke.
“Because I knew what he would do.”
Nathan whispered, “She knew I would choose Lily.”
Grace looked at him.
Chen said, “What would he do?”
Victoria wiped at her eyes.
“He would leave me.”
“Because he had a daughter?”
“Because Grace was the one person he never really got over.”
Nathan went still.
Grace looked away.
Victoria continued.
“I read his old journals.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“You read what?”
Grace touched his arm.
“Stay here.”
Chen said, “Where did you get them?”
“Charles kept them.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to understand Nathan’s weaknesses.”
Nathan laughed quietly, painfully.
Grace said, “That family studied you.”
“No.”
Nathan watched Victoria.
“They studied everyone.”
Chen’s tone changed.
“Let’s discuss the assault.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You entered the townhouse, found Grace and Lily in Nathan’s office, and struck Grace with a hockey stick.”
“I panicked.”
“You raised it again.”
“I was angry.”
“Lily says you told Grace, ‘Dead people keep secrets.’”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I said it.”
“What did you mean?”
Victoria looked toward the glass again.
“It was something Charles used to say.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“He said that?”
Victoria nodded.
“When people threatened him with old mistakes.”
Chen said, “Were you threatening to kill Grace?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
“I wanted her afraid.”
Grace whispered, “Just like her father.”
Chen placed another file on the table.
“The forged police complaint was prepared three days before the assault.”
Victoria’s attorney shifted.
Victoria said nothing.
“So this was not panic. You had already planned to remove Grace from Nathan’s life.”
“I planned to have her investigated.”
“Using fake evidence.”
“I did not create the evidence.”
“Who did?”
Victoria finally answered.
“Martin Vale.”
Julian frowned.
“My former partner?”
Nathan turned.
“You know him?”
“He left my firm four years ago.”
Chen said, “Martin Vale was counsel on the original guardianship petition five years ago.”
Julian went pale.
“I didn’t know.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You didn’t know?”
“I joined the firm after that case.”
Grace asked, “Can you prove it?”
Julian nodded slowly.
“If he used the firm’s archive systems, yes.”
Chen ended the interview and requested an arrest warrant for Vale.
But by noon, Vale’s office was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
His assistant said he had left the country.
Nathan slammed his fist against the conference table.
“He gets away?”
Chen shook her head.
“We have border alerts.”
Grace said, “What did he do five years ago?”
Chen looked at them.
“Vane says Vale created the false psychological records and drafted the guardianship petition.”
“And now?”
“He appears to have created the fake travel documents.”
Nathan asked, “For Victoria?”
“Yes.”
Grace stared at the floor.
“So the same man tried to take Lily from me twice.”
Julian’s voice was quiet.
“And he had access to my firm’s old systems.”
Nathan turned to him.
“You need to recuse yourself.”
Julian flinched.
“Nathan—”
“You cannot represent me while your firm is part of the evidence.”
Julian nodded.
“You’re right.”
Grace studied him.
“Did you know anything?”
“No.”
Nathan wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
For weeks, everyone who claimed loyalty had hidden something.
Julian reached into his bag.
“There is one thing I found before Chen’s warrant locked our archive.”
He placed a flash drive on the table.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
“A copy of Vale’s billing ledger from five years ago.”
Grace leaned forward.
“Who paid him?”
Julian looked at Nathan.
“Charles Cole.”
“That we know.”
“And Richard Ashford.”
“Also known.”
Julian swallowed.
“There was a third payer.”
Nathan went still.
“Who?”
Julian slid a printed line item across the table.
Nathan stared at the name.
EVELYN COLE.
“My mother?”
Grace’s eyes widened.
Nathan looked at Julian.
“My mother died when I was nineteen.”
Julian nodded.
“The payment was made from the Evelyn Cole Memorial Trust.”
Nathan’s confusion deepened.
“That trust was controlled by my father.”
“Not entirely.”
Julian pointed to the trustee field.
“Charles was co-trustee.”
“With whom?”
Julian took a breath.
“Your uncle, Samuel Cole.”
Nathan stared.
Samuel had left the family business ten years ago after a bitter fight with Charles. Nathan had been told it was about money.
Grace whispered, “Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“Oregon.”
Nathan looked at the payment record.
“What does he have to do with Lily?”
Julian shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan called Samuel.
His uncle answered on the fourth ring.
“Nathan?”
Nathan had not heard his voice in six years.
“Did you authorize a payment to Martin Vale five years ago from my mother’s trust?”
Silence.
Then Samuel whispered, “You found it.”
Nathan’s hand tightened around the phone.
“What did you pay him to do?”
“To investigate your father.”
Nathan stared at Grace.
“Why?”
“Because I knew Charles was hiding something from you.”
“Lily?”
“I didn’t know about Lily.”
“Then what?”
Samuel’s voice cracked.
“Your mother’s trust.”
Nathan felt a new fear.
“What about it?”
“Charles was using it to cover company losses.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Again with the company.”
“I hired Vale because he claimed he could prove it.”
Grace whispered, “He was working both sides.”
Nathan asked, “Did Vale give you evidence?”
“No. He disappeared with the money and told Charles what I was doing.”
“So my father forced you out.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were twenty-four and worshiped him.”
Nathan flinched.
Samuel continued.
“I tried once. You told me never to speak about your father that way again.”
Nathan remembered.
He had said exactly that.
“When can you come to New York?”
“I’m already on my way.”
Nathan ended the call.
Grace looked at him.
“What is the last piece?”
Nathan stared at the old trust ledger.
“Why Vale kept helping them after he had evidence that could destroy them.”
Julian nodded.
“He wasn’t loyal.”
Grace’s expression hardened.
“He was paid.”
Nathan looked toward the window.
“Then we find out what he was paid to hide.”
Three hours later, Detective Chen called.
Border agents had detained Martin Vale at JFK before he could board a private flight.
He had been carrying two phones, seventy thousand dollars in cash, and a sealed envelope addressed to Nathan Cole.
Inside was a handwritten confession.
May you like
Not from Vale.
From Charles Cole.
