Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF A DAUGHTER
Nathan walked into Cole Holdings at 8:00 the next morning.
Every television in the lobby showed his face.
MILLIONAIRE CEO CAUGHT IN SECRET CHILD SCANDAL.
MAID CLAIMS COLE HEIR FATHERED CHILD.
KIDNAPPING INVESTIGATION ROCKS CHICAGO FAMILY.
Nathan stopped.
Grace’s mugshot was already on screen.
“How did they get that?”
Daniel looked furious.
“Leak from the police file.”
Nathan didn’t need to ask who had leaked it.
His phone buzzed.
The board meeting had started early.
Nathan entered the conference room.
Eleven directors waited.
At the far end sat Richard Sterling.
Victoria’s father.
Silver hair.
Black suit.
No emotion.
“Nathan.”
“Richard.”
Richard gestured toward the empty chair.
“Sit.”
Nathan remained standing.
“You’re trying to remove me from my own company.”
Richard folded his hands.
“We’re protecting shareholder value.”
“From my daughter?”
A few directors looked uncomfortable.
Richard smiled.
“From scandal.”
Nathan placed the DNA report on the table.
“She’s mine.”
Silence.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Nathan noticed.
“So you knew.”
Richard leaned back.
“Careful.”
“That’s what your daughter said.”
Nathan threw the burned document onto the table.
Richard’s expression changed for half a second.
Enough.
“What is the Termination of Claim Agreement?”
No one answered.
Nathan looked around.
“Anybody?”
An older director named Samuel Blake stared at the table.
Nathan pointed at him.
“Sam?”
Samuel swallowed.
“Ask your father.”
“He’s dead.”
“Then leave dead things buried.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
Richard stood.
“You have no idea what your father protected you from.”
“Try me.”
Richard walked closer.
“Grace Miller was never part of your future.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Your father did.”
“And now he’s dead.”
Richard smiled coldly.
“And you’re standing on everything he built.”
Nathan looked at the directors.
“What happens if Lily is recognized legally as my firstborn?”
No one answered.
Nathan slammed his palm on the table.
“What happens?”
Samuel finally spoke.
“Your father’s trust changes.”
Nathan stared.
“How?”
“The controlling shares transfer.”
“To who?”
Samuel looked terrified.
“To the first direct biological descendant of Nathan Cole.”
Nathan laughed once.
Disbelieving.
“So Lily.”
Samuel nodded.
Nathan stared at Richard.
“My four-year-old daughter controls Cole Holdings?”
“Through a guardian until she’s eighteen,” Richard said.
Nathan understood immediately.
“And who was supposed to be guardian?”
Richard said nothing.
Daniel leaned toward Nathan.
“Check the trust amendment.”
Nathan looked at Samuel.
“Who?”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“Victoria.”
The room went silent.
Nathan stared at Richard.
The entire marriage suddenly made sense.
Not love.
Not two powerful families joining together.
Control.
If Nathan married Victoria and had no known child, she would eventually become co-beneficiary.
But if a prior biological child existed, the structure changed.
Lily inherited controlling interest.
And if something happened to Nathan while Lily was still a minor…
Victoria could become guardian through marriage.
Nathan’s stomach turned.
“You weren’t planning to erase Lily.”
He looked at Richard.
“You were planning to control her.”
Richard smiled.
“You’re learning.”
Nathan walked across the table and punched him.
Richard collapsed backward.
Directors shouted.
Security rushed in.
Nathan grabbed Richard’s jacket.
“You came after my daughter.”
Richard wiped blood from his mouth.
“No.”
He smiled.
“You should ask your father who started this.”
Nathan froze.
Richard leaned closer.
“You think Charles Cole was protecting you?”
His bloody smile widened.
“He was protecting himself.”
That afternoon, Nathan returned home.
Grace was packing.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No.”
She zipped Lily’s bag.
“This is exactly why I stayed away.”
Nathan stepped in front of her.
“You’re not running again.”
“I’m trying to protect her.”
“So am I.”
Grace looked at him.
“You don’t know these people.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“They’re my family.”
“That doesn’t mean you know them.”
That sentence hit him harder than he expected.
Lily walked in holding a drawing.
Nathan crouched.
“What’s that?”
She proudly held it up.
Three stick figures.
One said MOMMY.
One said LILY.
The third said DADDY.
Nathan swallowed.
“Is that us?”
Lily nodded.
“You’re too tall.”
Grace laughed despite herself.
Nathan smiled.
Then the windows shattered.
A gunshot ripped through the room.
Nathan threw himself over Lily.
Grace screamed.
Another shot hit the wall.
Daniel dragged them behind the kitchen island.
“Everybody down!”
Nathan reached for his phone.
Outside, tires screamed.
A black SUV sped away.
Lily began crying.
Nathan looked at the bullet buried in the wall.
Then he saw something taped beneath the broken window.
A white envelope.
Daniel crawled over and removed it.
Inside was one photograph.
Grace.
Pregnant.
Five years earlier.
Someone had drawn a red X across her face.
May you like
On the back were six words.
YOU WERE WARNED THE FIRST TIME.
