Chapter 14 - THE LAST TRAP
The custody filing was fake.
But the signature was real.
Thomas had signed several blank legal pages months earlier while cooperating with investigators.
One had been stolen.
Daniel traced the filing to an attorney named Warren Pike.
Pike had worked for Charles Cole.
Then Richard Sterling.
Then Eleanor.
Nathan found him before federal agents did.
Pike sat alone in a hotel bar.
Nathan took the chair across from him.
“You filed against my daughter.”
Pike lifted his drink.
“Technically, Thomas did.”
“You forged it.”
“I used a signature.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Why?”
Pike smiled.
“Because everyone thinks the Sterlings were the top of the pyramid.”
Nathan stared.
“They weren’t?”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Pike set down the glass.
“Your mother.”
Nathan froze.
“My mother?”
“Margaret Cole arranged the marriage between Charles and herself.”
Nathan said nothing.
“She knew Thomas’s patent would make Charles rich.”
Nathan’s stomach turned.
“She helped steal it?”
“Yes.”
“And she knew I wasn’t Charles’s?”
“Yes.”
Nathan stood.
Pike continued.
“She also knew about Grace.”
Nathan slowly sat again.
“What did she do?”
Pike smiled.
“You should ask her.”
Nathan drove directly to his mother’s estate.
Margaret Cole was waiting.
Seventy-two years old.
Perfect posture.
Pearls.
No fear.
“You found Pike.”
Nathan stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“About Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“About Grace?”
“Yes.”
“About Lily?”
“Yes.”
Nathan felt like vomiting.
Margaret poured tea.
“You should sit.”
“I’d rather stand.”
She shrugged.
“Your father was weak near the end.”
“Charles wasn’t my father.”
“He raised you.”
“You stole my real father’s life.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“I gave you a better one.”
Nathan laughed.
“You actually believe that.”
“Yes.”
Grace entered behind him.
Margaret looked annoyed.
“You brought her.”
Grace walked in.
“No.”
She stared at Margaret.
“I followed him.”
Margaret looked at Grace.
“You always were stubborn.”
Grace’s voice shook.
“My father.”
Margaret said nothing.
“You knew he was innocent.”
“Yes.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Grace’s face hardened.
“You let him die in prison.”
“He threatened everything we built.”
“He threatened to tell the truth.”
Margaret sipped her tea.
“Same thing.”
Grace almost lunged at her.
Nathan caught her arm.
Margaret smiled.
“There.”
She looked at Nathan.
“That’s why women like her don’t belong in families like ours.”
Nathan’s face went cold.
“Families like ours?”
Margaret nodded.
“Power survives because somebody has the courage to protect it.”
Nathan pulled out his phone.
“Say that again.”
Margaret’s smile vanished.
Nathan placed the phone on the table.
Recording.
Connected live to Daniel and two federal agents outside.
Margaret stood.
“You little fool.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You taught me to protect the family.”
His voice hardened.
“So I am.”
Federal agents entered.
Margaret backed away.
For the first time in Nathan’s life, his mother looked afraid.
As agents cuffed her, she stared at him.
“You will regret this.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“I regret every day I spent trying to become worthy of you.”
Margaret’s face twisted.
“You’re throwing away your name.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Then toward the family photograph on the wall.
Charles.
Margaret.
Nathan.
A perfect lie.
He looked back at his mother.
“No.”
“I’m finally deciding what my name means.”
Agents led Margaret away.
Grace exhaled.
“It’s over.”
Nathan looked around the mansion.
Thirty-three years of lies filled every room.
He wanted to believe her.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Nathan answered.
“Tell me there isn’t another criminal relative.”
Daniel laughed.
“No.”
Pause.
“But there is one final document.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Daniel.”
“This one is good.”
Nathan opened them.
“What?”
“Charles changed his will the night before he died.”
Nathan waited.
Daniel continued.
“And he left Grace something.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
May you like
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Justice.”
