Chapter 4 - THE FATHER'S SECRET
Robert Pierce closed the hospital door behind him.
Lucy moved closer to Olivia.
Ethan noticed.
So did Robert.
Robert looked older than he had in the chapel.
Not seventy-one.
Ninety.
“I didn't come here to hurt anyone.”
Ethan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That would be a nice change.”
“Ethan.”
“You knew.”
Robert said nothing.
“You knew Olivia was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lucy existed.”
Robert looked at the child.
“Yes.”
Lucy stared at him.
“Are you my grandfather?”
The question nearly broke the room.
Robert lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Lucy looked confused rather than angry.
“Then why didn't you ever come see me?”
Robert opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Ethan pointed toward the hallway.
“You don't get to stand there silently.”
Robert rubbed a hand across his face.
“Victoria came to me before Olivia gave birth.”
“And?”
“She had documents.”
“What documents?”
“Evidence that I had committed financial fraud.”
Ethan stared at him.
Robert continued.
“Twenty years ago, Pierce Industries was nearly bankrupt.”
Ethan knew about the crisis.
He had been sixteen.
Employees had been losing pensions.
Factories were closing.
“I moved money through offshore accounts.”
Robert's voice shook.
“I manipulated loan documents.”
“You committed fraud.”
“Yes.”
“Victoria knew?”
“Her father knew.”
Ethan understood.
“Hale Holdings.”
Robert nodded.
“Graham Hale discovered what I had done during the merger talks.”
“Why didn't he report you?”
“Because he wanted control of Pierce Industries.”
“And Victoria?”
“She wanted you.”
The statement was so simple it felt monstrous.
Robert looked toward Olivia.
“Victoria told me she could make the evidence disappear if Olivia disappeared too.”
Ethan's hands curled into fists.
“So you sold my daughter.”
“No.”
“You traded her.”
“I believed I was protecting thousands of employees.”
“You protected yourself.”
Robert flinched.
“You have every right to hate me.”
“Don't tell me what rights I have.”
Lucy began crying quietly.
Ethan immediately lowered his voice.
Olivia squeezed Lucy's hand.
Robert moved one step closer.
“I thought Olivia would take the money and build a new life.”
Olivia stared at him.
“You threatened to take my baby.”
Robert's face twisted.
“I was bluffing.”
“You made me believe you had judges and lawyers ready.”
“I was desperate.”
“You terrified a twenty-four-year-old woman holding a newborn.”
Robert looked away.
Ethan's anger sharpened.
“Did you intercept the letters?”
“Some.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
“Where are they?”
“I destroyed them.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
Ethan felt something inside him break.
“You sat with me after she disappeared.”
Robert said nothing.
“You watched me blame myself.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“For eleven years.”
Robert nodded.
“Yes.”
The door opened again.
Mason Reed entered carrying a leather briefcase.
He stopped when he saw Robert.
“I assume I'm walking into something worse than I expected.”
Ethan handed him the checks.
“Photograph everything.”
Mason scanned the first page.
His expression hardened.
“Where did these come from?”
“Olivia kept them.”
Mason looked at Robert.
“You know about this?”
Robert sat down.
“I know enough.”
Mason immediately took out his phone.
“I'll call an investigator.”
“No police yet.”
Robert said it too quickly.
Everyone looked at him.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Robert swallowed.
“Because if Victoria realizes Olivia is speaking, she may destroy whatever evidence still exists.”
Mason nodded slowly.
“He has a point.”
Ethan hated that.
Mason continued.
“We preserve everything first.”
Olivia suddenly gasped.
The heart monitor changed rhythm.
Lucy jumped up.
“Mom?”
A nurse rushed in.
Then another.
Ethan stepped back as doctors entered.
“Everyone out.”
Lucy refused to move.
“Mom.”
Ethan lifted her gently into his arms.
She was eleven, but in that moment she felt like a much younger child.
He carried her into the hallway while medical staff surrounded Olivia.
Robert followed.
Lucy buried her face against Ethan's chest.
“She's going to die.”
Ethan held her tighter.
“No.”
“You don't know that.”
She was right.
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
He repeated it anyway.
“She's not leaving you alone.”
Thirty feet away, a woman in dark medical scrubs turned the corner.
She looked briefly toward room 417.
Then toward Ethan.
She immediately pulled out her phone.
Ethan didn't notice her.
Neither did Mason.
But Robert did.
His face went white.
He stepped forward.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
Robert pointed down the corridor.
The woman disappeared through a stairwell door.
May you like
Robert whispered one name.
“Victoria.”
