Chapter 4 - The Four Words
Nathan broke the red wax seal and pulled out a single sheet of heavy parchment. Written in his father’s precise, jagged handwriting were four short sentences that utterly destabilized everything Nathan thought he knew:
“They poisoned my tea. Trust no one.”
Nathan looked up sharply at his attorney. “Poisoned? My father died of natural cardiac arrest. The hospital report—”
“The hospital report was supervised by Victoria’s uncle, who sits on the county medical board,” Marcus interrupted, his voice dropping to a tense whisper. “Your father discovered that Victoria’s family had been embezzling from the corporate pension fund to finance their own private ventures. When he threatened to cut them off and reinstate Grace and Lily as legitimate heirs, they eliminated him.”
The weight of the revelation slammed into Nathan. It wasn't just a bitter family feud or a discarded romance; it was a decades-long corporate coup disguised as an elite marriage.
“If they killed my father to protect their shares,” Nathan said, his jaw tightening into a hard line of absolute fury, “what do you think they’ll do to Grace and Lily now that the secret is out?”
Before Marcus could answer, a sharp, repetitive pounding echoed from the front entrance of the mansion, followed by the blare of flashing red and blue lights illuminating the high stained-glass windows.
Nathan hurried to the foyer and pulled open the heavy front door.
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Standing on the porch were three armed county deputies, led by Sheriff Vance—a man whose entire department’s budget was funded directly by Victoria’s family foundation. Behind them stood Victoria, flanked by two corporate attorneys, smiling with triumphant malice.
“Nathan Cole?” the sheriff barked, flashing a warrant. “Step aside. We have a court-ordered warrant to search the premises and take protective custody of the minor child.”
