CHAPTER 4 — THE NIGHT GRACE DISAPPEARED
CHAPTER 4 — THE NIGHT GRACE DISAPPEARED
The message remained on Nathan's screen.
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T HAVE ONE SECRET CHILD. HE HAD TWO.
He read it again.
Then again.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
Behind him, Lily stood on the staircase in her pink pajamas, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy?”
Nathan looked up.
She smiled sleepily.
“Are you coming?”
Nathan forced his expression to soften.
“Yes.”
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
“I’m coming.”
But as he climbed the stairs, one thought refused to leave his mind.
Two children.
Who was the second?
And why had someone gone to such extraordinary lengths to erase them?
The next morning, Nathan returned to the old study.
He hadn't slept.
Neither had Daniel.
The lawyer stood beside the desk with a stack of documents.
“The laboratory has suspended the test.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because the second genetic profile shouldn't be there.”
“Could it be contamination?”
“That was our first assumption.”
“And?”
Daniel shook his head.
“The lab repeated the analysis three times.”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“And?”
“The second profile is real.”
Nathan stared at him.
“Whose?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Then find out.”
“We're trying.”
Nathan turned toward the window.
Five years ago.
The night Grace disappeared.
Everything seemed to lead back to that night.
“What about the old records?”
Daniel opened another folder.
“I found something.”
Nathan turned.
“Grace's medical records.”
“From the hospital?”
“Yes.”
Daniel placed several pages on the desk.
“Grace was admitted five years ago.”
Nathan's heart began pounding.
“When?”
“Three days before she disappeared.”
Nathan stared at the date.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because the record was sealed.”
“By whom?”
Daniel pointed to the authorization.
Nathan read the name.
Edward Cole.
His father's.
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Get me everything.”
Five years earlier...
Grace stood in the rain outside the Cole mansion.
One hand rested protectively over her stomach.
She was twenty-six.
Terrified.
Excited.
And happier than she had ever been.
She had rehearsed the words all afternoon.
Nathan, you're going to be a father.
She imagined his face.
His smile.
His arms around her.
She imagined them building a nursery.
Choosing a name.
Getting married.
Starting a family.
She had no idea that by midnight, she would lose almost everything.
The mansion gates opened.
Grace stepped inside.
A security guard stopped her.
“Miss Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Cole is expecting you.”
Grace smiled.
“He is?”
The guard looked away.
“Yes.”
She walked toward the house.
But Nathan wasn't waiting for her.
His father was.
Edward Cole stood in the library.
His expression was cold.
Grace stopped.
“Where is Nathan?”
“He isn't here.”
She frowned.
“He said he wanted to see me.”
Edward gestured toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Grace remained standing.
“I'd rather wait for him.”
“He won't be coming.”
Something about his voice frightened her.
“Why?”
Edward looked at her stomach.
Grace instinctively covered it.
His eyes narrowed.
“So it's true.”
Grace's blood went cold.
“You knew?”
“I know everything that concerns my son.”
Grace swallowed.
“Nathan loves me.”
Edward's expression didn't change.
“He thinks he does.”
“He does.”
“Do you know what happens if Nathan marries you?”
Grace said nothing.
“He loses access to the family trust.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“My father established conditions.”
“I don't care about your money.”
Edward smiled coldly.
“You will.”
He placed a document on the desk.
Grace looked at it.
Her face changed.
It was a custody agreement.
Her name.
Nathan's name.
And an unborn child's name.
Grace looked up.
“What is this?”
“A warning.”
“You can't take my baby.”
“I don't need to.”
He leaned forward.
“All I need is evidence that you are unstable.”
Grace felt sick.
“I would never hurt my child.”
“You don't understand how courts work.”
Edward opened another folder.
Photographs.
Grace arguing with Nathan.
Grace crying.
Grace standing outside a nightclub.
Images deliberately taken out of context.
“They will see a young woman with emotional problems.”
Grace shook her head.
“You're threatening me.”
“No.”
Edward's voice remained calm.
“I'm explaining reality.”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“I love your son.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because you are a liability.”
Grace stared at him.
“A liability?”
“You will never understand what it means to carry the Cole name.”
“I don't want your name.”
“You already want my son's.”
Grace's voice trembled.
“He chose me.”
Edward's expression hardened.
“And I can make him believe you abandoned him.”
Grace left the mansion at 9:47 p.m.
She was crying.
She called Nathan.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
She sent a message.
Please call me. It's important.
She waited.
Nothing.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Grace answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice said:
“Get away from the Cole family.”
Grace froze.
“Who is this?”
“You don't know what you're involved in.”
“Where is Nathan?”
“Forget him.”
“I won't.”
The line went dead.
Grace stared at the phone.
Then she noticed a black SUV following her.
Her heart began pounding.
She accelerated.
The SUV followed.
She turned down another street.
It followed.
Grace reached for her phone.
She called Nathan again.
This time someone answered.
“Hello?”
Grace's breath caught.
“Nathan?”
Silence.
Then his voice.
“What do you want?”
Grace froze.
“What?”
“Stop calling me.”
She felt the world tilt.
“Nathan, what happened?”
“I don't want to see you anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because I know about the baby.”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“You should have told me sooner.”
“I was afraid.”
Nathan's voice sounded cold.
“I'm done.”
Grace stopped the car.
“What are you saying?”
“I don't want this.”
She pressed a hand against her stomach.
“You don't want our baby?”
“No.”
A long silence.
Then:
“Never contact me again.”
The call ended.
Grace stared at the phone.
She couldn't breathe.
She didn't know that Nathan wasn't alone when he made that call.
He was sitting in his father's office.
His father had put the phone on speaker.
And Nathan had just been shown a fabricated message supposedly sent by Grace to another man.
He believed she had been cheating.
He believed the baby might not be his.
He believed everything his father told him.
Because the truth had been carefully hidden.
At 11:12 p.m., Grace arrived at a small apartment belonging to her cousin.
She was shaking.
She packed a small bag.
She wanted to leave the city.
She wanted to protect her baby.
But before she could leave, someone knocked.
Three times.
Grace froze.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
Another knock.
She moved toward the door.
Then heard a voice.
“Grace.”
She knew it.
Richard.
Nathan's uncle.
She didn't open the door.
“What do you want?”
“We need to talk.”
“No.”
“You're in danger.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“Your family is the danger.”
Richard's voice softened.
“You don't know what Edward has done.”
“Then tell me.”
Silence.
Finally:
“He intends to take your baby.”
Grace stepped backward.
“Why?”
“Because the child changes the inheritance.”
Grace's hand moved protectively over her stomach.
“What inheritance?”
Richard didn't answer.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Grace.”
“Leave.”
Richard's voice changed.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Get away from me.”
Silence.
Then footsteps disappeared.
Grace waited.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Nothing.
She opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
But a white envelope lay on the floor.
Inside was a photograph.
Nathan.
Standing beside another woman.
The woman was pregnant.
Grace stared at it.
Her heart shattered.
She didn't know the photograph had been fabricated.
She didn't know the pregnancy belonged to someone else.
She only knew what she saw.
Nathan had apparently moved on.
So she made a decision.
She would disappear.
Not because she stopped loving him.
Because she believed he had stopped loving her.
At 1:06 a.m., Grace left the apartment.
She took only one suitcase.
Her unborn child.
And the hope that somewhere far away, she could build a life where no one could find them.
She never saw the black car waiting across the street.
She never saw the man watching her.
And she never knew her phone had been cloned.
Every message she sent was intercepted.
Every call was recorded.
Every location was tracked.
Grace drove north.
The black car followed.
Then another joined.
She noticed too late.
A vehicle suddenly pulled across the road.
Grace slammed the brakes.
Her car spun.
She hit the curb.
Her head struck the steering wheel.
For several seconds, everything went black.
When she woke, the driver's door was open.
Two men stood beside the car.
Grace screamed.
“Leave me alone!”
One grabbed her arm.
“Don't hurt the baby!”
She fought.
“Please!”
Then another voice came from behind them.
“Enough.”
Grace looked up.
Edward Cole.
He stood in the rain.
Calm.
Cold.
Holding an umbrella.
Grace stared at him.
“You…”
Edward looked at her.
“You were given a choice.”
Grace trembled.
“I chose my daughter.”
Edward shook his head.
“You chose to make this difficult.”
He gestured toward the men.
“Take her.”
Grace fought desperately.
“No!”
One man pulled her away.
Grace screamed:
“Nathan!”
Edward watched without emotion.
Then he said the words that would haunt her for years.
“He won't come.”
Grace was taken to a private clinic.
Not a hospital.
A place without signs.
Without records.
Without questions.
When she woke, she was in a white room.
A nurse stood beside her.
Grace immediately touched her stomach.
“My baby?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Your baby is alive.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Thank God.
Then the nurse continued:
“But there are complications.”
Grace looked up.
“What complications?”
“You were unconscious for several hours.”
“Where am I?”
The nurse didn't answer.
Grace tried to sit up.
“I need to leave.”
“You can't.”
“Why?”
The door opened.
Edward entered.
Grace stared at him.
“You're a monster.”
Edward ignored the insult.
“You will give birth here.”
“No.”
“You will disappear.”
“No.”
“You will never contact Nathan.”
Grace shook her head.
“He'll find me.”
Edward smiled.
“He already believes you left him.”
Grace's face crumpled.
“What did you do?”
“I told him the truth.”
“You lied.”
“No.”
Edward placed a document on the bedside table.
“Nathan signed this.”
Grace looked down.
Her hands shook.
It was a statement.
Nathan supposedly declared that he wanted nothing to do with her.
Grace stared at his signature.
She didn't know it had been obtained under false pretenses.
She didn't know Nathan had never seen the full document.
She only knew what she believed.
Nathan didn't want her.
She looked at Edward.
“I hate you.”
He walked toward the door.
“One day, you'll understand.”
Grace whispered:
“I will find my way back to him.”
Edward stopped.
“No.”
He turned.
“You won't.”
Five years later...
Nathan sat in the same study.
The past felt like a nightmare.
He stared at the photograph of Grace.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Alone.
He now understood.
She hadn't abandoned him.
She had been hunted.
He picked up the phone.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“I need every record connected to that clinic.”
“We found it.”
Nathan's head snapped up.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Daniel hesitated.
“That's the strange part.”
“What?”
“The clinic was registered under a company.”
“Whose?”
“Cole Holdings.”
Nathan froze.
His own company.
His own family's money.
His own name.
He whispered:
“Who signed the registration?”
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“Your father.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Then he heard something behind him.
He turned.
Lily stood in the doorway.
She was holding the stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy?”
Nathan walked toward her.
“Yes?”
“Why are you sad?”
He crouched.
“Because I made a mistake.”
Lily touched his face.
“Mommy says everybody makes mistakes.”
Nathan smiled sadly.
“Your mother is right.”
She hugged him.
He held her tightly.
Then Lily whispered:
“I remember that place.”
Nathan froze.
“What place?”
“The white room.”
His heart stopped.
“You've been there?”
Lily nodded.
“I was little.”
“What happened?”
She looked toward the window.
“Mommy was crying.”
Nathan's voice trembled.
“Who was there?”
Lily thought for a moment.
Then said:
“Grandpa.”
Nathan's blood turned cold.
“My father?”
She nodded.
“He told Mommy to be quiet.”
Nathan stared at his daughter.
“And then?”
Lily hugged her rabbit.
“He took the baby.”
Nathan couldn't breathe.
“What baby?”
Lily looked confused.
“The other baby.”
Silence.
Nathan slowly stood.
Daniel had just entered the room.
He heard the last sentence.
“What other baby?”
Lily looked at both men.
Then whispered:
“Mommy had two babies.”
Nathan's world tilted.
Grace had never told him.
The DNA mystery.
The sealed medical records.
The secret clinic.
The inheritance.
Everything suddenly connected.
But one question remained.
Where was the second child?
Nathan picked up his phone.
“We're going back to that clinic.”
Daniel nodded.
“And Grace?”
Nathan looked toward the city.
“We get her out first.”
His voice hardened.
“And then we find the child my family stole.”
But neither man noticed the figure standing outside the study door.
Victoria.
She had heard everything.
And for the first time since Nathan discovered Lily, genuine terror appeared in her eyes.
May you like
Because she knew exactly who the second child was.
And she knew where that child had been for the last five years.
