Chapter 7 - NATHAN’S CONFESSION

Nathan sat in the library with his hands restrained in front of him.

Dominic stood across the room.

Mia sat near the fireplace.

Daniel guarded the door.

Nobody spoke until Dominic placed Isabella’s letter on the table.

Nathan looked at it.

Then closed his eyes.

“You found it.”

“You knew?”

“No.”

Nathan laughed without humor.

“But I knew your mother left something.”

Dominic remained standing.

“Start talking.”

Nathan looked toward Mia.

“I’m sorry.”

Mia stared at him.

“That isn’t enough.”

“I know.”

“You locked me underground.”

Nathan nodded.

“I did.”

“My daughter cried for three days.”

His face tightened.

“I know.”

“You told her I left her.”

“I know.”

Mia’s voice shook with anger.

“You don’t get to keep saying that.”

Nathan looked down.

Dominic waited.

Finally Nathan spoke.

“My father contacted me eight years ago.”

Daniel frowned.

“You knew he was alive for eight years?”

“Yes.”

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

Nathan continued.

“I thought I was seeing a ghost.”

“He told me your father ruined him.”

“He said the Vale family stole everything from us.”

“He wanted Shepherd back.”

“And you helped him.”

“At first, I gave him information.”

“Nothing critical.”

“Schedules.”

“Old account structures.”

“Names.”

Nathan looked at Dominic.

“I told myself I owed him something because he was my father.”

Dominic’s voice stayed cold.

“And then?”

“Then Claire appeared.”

Mia shifted.

Nathan continued.

“She wasn’t random.”

“Samuel recruited her.”

Dominic leaned against the desk.

“Before she met me?”

“Two years before.”

The answer cut deeper than Dominic expected.

Every dinner.

Every vacation.

Every whispered promise.

Planned.

Claire had never accidentally entered his life.

She had been placed there.

“What did Samuel promise her?”

Nathan laughed softly.

“Your empire.”

Dominic’s expression did not change.

Nathan looked toward the window.

“Claire’s father owned a logistics company in New Jersey.”

“Your organization absorbed it twelve years ago.”

Dominic remembered.

Bennett Freight.

Nearly bankrupt.

He had bought it.

Saved six hundred jobs.

Claire apparently remembered something else.

“Her father blamed you for losing control.”

Nathan said.

“He drank himself into an early grave.”

“Claire decided you had stolen his life.”

“So she wanted mine.”

“Yes.”

Mia folded her arms.

“And you fell in love with her.”

Nathan looked at Mia.

Then at Dominic.

“Yes.”

The room went silent.

Dominic felt strangely calm.

The betrayal had become too large for anger.

Nathan continued.

“I thought Claire and Samuel wanted control.”

“Money.”

“Power.”

“Then six months ago, I realized Samuel wanted revenge.”

“Against me?”

“Against your father.”

“My father is dead.”

Nathan looked at him.

“That never mattered.”

Daniel stepped closer.

“What was the plan?”

Nathan inhaled slowly.

“Claire marries Dominic.”

“She begins slipping medication into his drinks.”

“Small doses.”

“Enough to cause confusion.”

“Memory problems.”

“Loss of balance.”

“The cameras record every bad moment.”

“Doctors already paid by Samuel document symptoms.”

“The fake financial records surface.”

“Dominic appears unstable and criminally compromised.”

“Claire petitions for emergency control.”

“Then?”

Nathan looked at Dominic.

“Samuel leaks everything.”

“Federal agencies.”

“Banks.”

“Business partners.”

“Enemies.”

“Within forty-eight hours, the Vale empire collapses.”

“And me?”

Nathan hesitated.

Dominic repeated,

“What happens to me?”

“Samuel wanted you alive long enough to watch it happen.”

Mia looked sick.

Dominic almost smiled.

“That sounds like him.”

Nathan shook his head.

“You never knew him.”

“No.”

“But my mother did.”

Dominic picked up Isabella’s letter.

“She told me to trust actions, not blood.”

Nathan looked away.

That hurt him.

Dominic saw it.

“Why keep Mia alive?”

Nathan’s voice changed.

“She found the hidden room.”

“She saw Claire and me arguing.”

“She recorded us.”

“Claire wanted her gone permanently.”

Mia stared.

Nathan swallowed.

“I told Claire I handled it.”

“I put Mia in the cellar.”

“I planned to get her out the next night.”

“Samuel changed the security rotation.”

“I couldn’t reach her without exposing myself.”

Dominic stepped closer.

“You expect forgiveness because you chose a smaller cruelty?”

“No.”

Nathan looked up.

“I expect nothing.”

Then he glanced toward the ceiling.

“But you need to move Harper.”

Mia stiffened.

“Why?”

“Samuel knows Mia is alive.”

Nathan’s voice became urgent.

“He knows Harper matters to her.”

Dominic looked toward Daniel.

Daniel was already reaching for his radio.

Nathan leaned forward.

“And Dom…”

Dominic stopped.

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