Chapter 9 - The Woman Grace Buried
Grace did not believe him.
Not at first.
Her mother had been dead for fifteen years.
Grace had attended the funeral.
She had stood beside an empty-looking casket while relatives whispered about the tragedy.
She had spent half her life missing a woman who had apparently been breathing the entire time.
Nathan showed her the ledger.
Grace read the payments twice.
Then she walked into the bathroom and became physically sick.
Nathan waited outside the door.
When she returned, her face was pale.
“Take me to Vermont.”
“You need rest.”
“Do not tell me what I need.”
Nathan nodded.
“You’re right.”
Grace looked away.
He understood her anger was larger than him.
But he was part of it.
His name was part of it.
His father was part of it.
That afternoon, Nathan, Grace, Lily, Samuel, and two federal agents flew north.
Lily sat beside Nathan on the plane.
She studied him quietly.
Nathan had negotiated billion-dollar contracts without nerves.
Now a four-year-old made him nervous by looking at him.
Finally Lily asked.
“Are you really my daddy?”
Grace closed her eyes.
Nathan crouched beside Lily’s seat.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come before?”
There was no business answer for that.
No legal phrasing.
No safe sentence.
“Because I didn’t know where you were.”
Lily looked at Grace.
“Mommy knew.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
Nathan answered before Grace had to.
“Mommy was protecting you.”
“From bad people?”
“Yes.”
Lily thought about this.
Then she handed Nathan her stuffed rabbit.
“You can hold Rosie.”
Nathan accepted it like a sacred object.
Grace watched him.
Something between them shifted.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But perhaps the beginning of trust.
The Vermont facility sat near a frozen lake surrounded by pine trees.
A doctor met them at the entrance.
“Eleanor Miller has been registered here under another name for fourteen years.”
Grace’s knees weakened.
“Why?”
The doctor looked uncomfortable.
“She suffered significant trauma.”
“Her memory was unstable.”
“Richard Cole paid for long-term private care.”
Nathan asked.
“Did he visit?”
“Every year.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
Richard had visited her mother.
While Nathan dated Grace.
While Grace became pregnant.
While Richard threatened her.
The cruelty seemed impossible to measure.
The doctor opened a private room.
An elderly woman sat by a window.
Her hair was white.
Her body looked fragile.
But when Grace entered, the woman turned.
Her eyes widened.
“Gracie?”
Grace stopped breathing.
No one moved.
Then Grace ran.
She dropped beside the chair.
Her mother touched her face.
“My baby.”
Grace broke.
Fifteen years of grief came out at once.
Nathan turned away to give them privacy.
Lily watched from the doorway.
Eleanor saw her.
“Who is that?”
Grace wiped her face.
“Mom.”
“This is Lily.”
Eleanor stared at the little girl.
Then her eyes moved toward Nathan.
Fear appeared instantly.
“No.”
She pulled Grace closer.
“No Cole.”
Nathan stepped backward.
“It’s okay.”
Eleanor shook her head violently.
“Richard promised.”
Grace held her.
“Mom, Richard is dead.”
Eleanor became still.
Then she whispered.
“Charles?”
“Alive.”
Eleanor’s eyes sharpened.
The confused elderly woman disappeared for one second.
In her place was someone who remembered everything.
“Then he’ll come.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“What does Charles want?”
Eleanor looked directly at him.
“Not your company.”
Nathan frowned.
“What then?”
“Your father found something under the Harrington accounts.”
“What?”
Eleanor’s voice dropped.
“Your money isn’t the empire.”
May you like
She gripped Grace’s hand.
“The names are.”
