Chapter 4 — The Fiancée With a Hidden Past
Chapter 4 — The Fiancée With a Hidden Past
Victoria Hayes had never been afraid of money.
She had grown up surrounded by it.
Money bought houses.
Money bought lawyers.
Money bought silence.
And, if used correctly, money could even buy a future.
For years, Victoria had believed Nathan Cole's future belonged to her.
She had planned the wedding.
Chosen the estate.
Approved the guest list.
Selected the flowers.
Even chosen the room where she would eventually give birth to the first Cole heir.
She had imagined herself standing beside Nathan while photographers captured their perfect smiles.
The Cole name behind her.
The Hayes empire beside it.
Everything she had ever wanted would finally be hers.
Then Lily had been born.
And Victoria's perfect future had suddenly acquired a four-year-old obstacle.
An obstacle she had known about since the beginning.
Four years earlier, Victoria sat across from Nathan's father in his private office.
She had been twenty-eight.
Elegant.
Calm.
Completely certain of herself.
Nathan's father placed a photograph on the desk.
A newborn baby.
Wrapped in a pale pink blanket.
Victoria looked at it.
“That's her?”
“Yes.”
“Grace's daughter?”
He nodded.
“And Nathan knows?”
“No.”
Victoria looked at the photograph again.
“Does he know Grace was pregnant?”
“He knows she disappeared.”
“That's not what I asked.”
The older man stared at her.
“No. He doesn't know.”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“Then everything is still possible.”
His expression hardened.
“You misunderstand.”
“How?”
“Your marriage to Nathan depends on this child remaining invisible.”
Victoria's smile disappeared.
“Why?”
“Because of the succession agreement.”
She knew about the agreement.
But she hadn't realized how serious it was.
“The child inherits?”
“Yes.”
“Not Nathan?”
“Eventually.”
Victoria leaned back.
“And if Nathan marries me?”
“Your family gains influence.”
“And if he has a child with me?”
“Then the Hayes family becomes part of the succession structure.”
Victoria looked at the photograph again.
“So this little girl is in my way.”
Nathan's father didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Victoria understood.
That was the moment she first decided Lily had to disappear.
Not necessarily die.
Not at first.
She only needed the child removed.
A distant relative.
A private boarding school.
A foreign country.
Anything.
As long as Lily never stood beside Nathan.
As long as Nathan never learned the truth.
As long as the Cole-Hayes merger continued.
Victoria believed she was being practical.
She didn't think of herself as cruel.
Cruel people enjoyed suffering.
Victoria simply believed certain people were obstacles.
And obstacles were meant to be removed.
Five years earlier, before Lily was born, Victoria had never met Grace.
She had only heard stories.
The unstable girlfriend.
The woman who wanted Nathan's money.
The woman who refused to understand her place.
That was the story Nathan's father had told her.
Victoria believed it.
Then she saw Grace for herself.
She was standing outside a clinic.
Pregnant.
Alone.
Victoria watched from inside a black sedan.
Grace carried a small paper bag.
She looked exhausted.
Victoria lowered the window.
“Grace Bennett?”
Grace stopped.
She looked around.
“Who are you?”
“Victoria Hayes.”
Grace's face changed.
“You're marrying Nathan.”
“Eventually.”
Grace said nothing.
Victoria stepped out.
“I think we should talk.”
Grace looked at her stomach.
Then at Victoria.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your father-in-law.”
Grace's expression hardened.
“He has no right.”
“Perhaps.”
Victoria opened her handbag.
She took out a check.
Grace stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Enough money to disappear comfortably.”
Grace laughed.
“You think I'm selling my baby?”
“I'm giving you a way out.”
“I don't need one.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You will.”
Grace's eyes narrowed.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
Victoria smiled.
“It's advice.”
Grace tore the check in half.
Then she dropped the pieces at Victoria's feet.
“I love Nathan.”
Victoria's expression remained calm.
“So do I.”
Grace walked away.
Victoria watched her go.
That was the first time she realized Grace wasn't going to cooperate.
And that meant the problem would require something stronger than money.
Back in the present, Nathan sat across from Victoria.
They were in the same house where they had once planned their wedding.
Now the room felt like a courtroom.
Grace was upstairs with Lily.
Two security officers stood outside.
Robert had instructed Nathan not to confront Victoria alone.
Nathan ignored him.
He needed answers.
“You knew about Lily.”
Victoria stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
“For four years.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Grace was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was watching her.”
“Yes.”
“And you still agreed to marry me.”
Victoria looked up.
“I loved you.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Stop saying that.”
“It's true.”
“No.”
“You don't get to decide what I felt.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You were paid five million dollars the day Lily was born.”
Victoria froze.
“Who told you?”
Nathan smiled bitterly.
“So it's true.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What was the money for?”
She didn't answer.
“What did you do?”
“I didn't hurt her.”
Nathan's voice became cold.
“That wasn't my question.”
Victoria looked at him.
“I helped hide her.”
“From me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Nathan laughed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
“Your father.”
“That isn't the whole truth.”
Victoria looked away.
Nathan leaned forward.
“You were never afraid of my father.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You were afraid of losing the empire.”
Her silence answered him.
Victoria finally spoke.
“My father and your father made an agreement.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't know all of it.”
“What don't I know?”
“The marriage wasn't about money.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then what was it about?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“The Cole Foundation.”
Nathan stared.
“The foundation?”
Victoria nodded.
“It controls billions in charitable assets.”
Nathan knew.
But he had never been directly involved.
“It also controls voting rights in several companies.”
He understood.
“So the marriage…”
“Would combine the voting structures.”
Nathan leaned back.
“My father and your father were going to control everything.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily threatened that.”
“Yes.”
“Because she was the legal heir.”
Victoria nodded.
“But there was another reason.”
Nathan waited.
Victoria looked toward the staircase.
“Your father knew Lily had something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
“What did he think she had?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Evidence.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“Evidence of what?”
Victoria shook her head.
“Something that happened before she was born.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“You've been involved for four years and you don't know?”
“I wasn't told everything.”
“Then what were you told?”
Victoria looked at him.
“That Lily had to disappear before she was old enough to remember.”
Nathan felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because your father believed she might one day tell someone what she saw.”
Nathan stared.
“She was a baby.”
“I know.”
“She couldn't see anything.”
“I know.”
“Then what was he afraid of?”
Victoria whispered:
“Someone had already told him she would.”
Nathan stood.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“Who told my father?”
Victoria's lips trembled.
“His private investigator.”
“Name.”
“I don't remember.”
“Victoria.”
She closed her eyes.
“Ethan Cross.”
Nathan froze.
The name meant something.
He had heard it before.
His father had once mentioned a man called Ethan Cross.
A former intelligence officer.
A private security consultant.
Someone who had worked for the Cole family.
Nathan looked toward Robert.
“Find him.”
Robert immediately left the room.
Victoria watched.
Then she whispered:
“He's dead.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
“Ethan Cross died two years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Nathan stared.
“Was it an accident?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Victoria hesitated.
“He was my mother's security adviser.”
Nathan stared.
“Your mother?”
Victoria nodded.
“My mother wasn't just a socialite.”
“What was she?”
Victoria looked at him.
“She ran the Hayes family's private intelligence network.”
Nathan felt a chill.
“You were raised around this.”
“Yes.”
“You knew how to manipulate people.”
“Yes.”
“You knew how to erase records.”
“Yes.”
“You knew how to make people disappear.”
Victoria looked down.
“Yes.”
Nathan suddenly understood why she had been so calm all these years.
She hadn't grown up like him.
She had grown up in a world where secrets were currency.
Victoria stood.
“You think I'm the worst person in this story.”
Nathan said nothing.
“You're wrong.”
“Why?”
“Because I tried to stop it.”
Nathan stared at her.
“When?”
“The night Lily was born.”
Nathan frowned.
“What did you do?”
“I went to the hospital.”
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To see Grace.”
Victoria swallowed.
“I thought if I saw her, I could convince her to give Lily up.”
“And?”
“She refused.”
“What happened?”
“I saw Lily.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“What did you think?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“She was tiny.”
Nathan waited.
“She had your eyes.”
Silence.
“I held her.”
Nathan stared.
“You held my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Victoria wiped her eyes.
“I couldn't do it.”
“What?”
“I couldn't make them take her.”
Nathan looked confused.
“Then why did you keep helping my father?”
Victoria's face hardened again.
“Because by then it was too late.”
“How?”
“My father knew I had met Grace.”
“And?”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“My brother.”
Nathan froze.
“Your brother?”
Victoria nodded.
“He was twenty-two.”
“What happened?”
“He was arrested for something he didn't do.”
Nathan understood.
“Your family arranged it.”
“My father did.”
“And used him to control you.”
“Yes.”
Victoria sat down.
“For four years, I did everything they asked.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You still tried to destroy Grace.”
“I did.”
“You still tried to get rid of Lily.”
“I did.”
“You still planned to marry me.”
“Yes.”
“Then don't ask me to feel sorry for you.”
“I don't.”
Victoria looked at him.
“I want you to understand.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I understand enough.”
Upstairs, Lily woke.
Grace heard her.
She went into the hallway.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Is Daddy downstairs?”
Grace nodded.
“Yes.”
“Is he mad?”
“No.”
“Is he leaving?”
Grace froze.
“No.”
Lily looked at her.
“Promise?”
Grace knelt.
“I promise.”
But she couldn't make the promise confidently.
Because she knew Nathan's family.
She knew what power could do.
She knew how quickly truth could become dangerous.
Downstairs, Nathan's phone rang.
Robert.
“We found Ethan Cross's records.”
“What do you have?”
“His death certificate.”
“Accident?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
Robert hesitated.
“His body was never identified by DNA.”
Nathan went silent.
“What?”
“The body was burned.”
Nathan's stomach tightened.
“Then how did they identify him?”
“Dental records.”
“Who confirmed them?”
A pause.
“Victoria's father.”
Nathan looked toward Victoria.
She heard the answer.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Nathan ended the call.
“What?”
Victoria stood.
“No.”
“What is it?”
She shook her head.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“Ethan Cross isn't dead.”
Nathan stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because he called me six months ago.”
Nathan felt the room shift.
“What did he say?”
Victoria looked terrified.
“He said…”
She swallowed.
“He said Lily was the reason he had been ordered to disappear.”
Nathan's heart pounded.
“Who ordered him?”
Victoria stared toward the stairs.
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
She whispered:
“He said your father wasn't the one giving orders.”
Nathan's blood ran cold.
“Then who was?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Nathan stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
“She wasn't dead when Lily was born.”
Nathan stared.
His mother had supposedly died when he was twenty-three.
A heart condition.
A private funeral.
No autopsy.
No questions.
He had never questioned it.
Because his father had told him she died peacefully.
Victoria whispered:
“Your mother was alive.”
Nathan backed away.
“No.”
“She knew about Grace.”
“No.”
“She knew about Lily.”
“No.”
“She was the one who wanted the child removed.”
Nathan shook his head.
“My mother loved me.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Maybe.”
“Then why?”
“I don't know.”
Nathan looked toward the staircase.
Grace was standing there.
She had heard everything.
Her face was pale.
“Your mother came to me.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
Grace's voice trembled.
“She came to the hospital.”
“When?”
“The night Lily was born.”
Nathan stared.
“What did she say?”
Grace looked toward Lily's bedroom.
“She told me your father was only half of the problem.”
Nathan felt the floor disappear beneath him.
“What did she want?”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“She wanted to see Lily.”
“And?”
Grace whispered:
“She said something I'll never forget.”
“What?”
Grace looked directly at Nathan.
“She said, ‘If my son ever finds out what this child is carrying, he will come looking for me.’”
Nathan's heart pounded.
“What was Lily carrying?”
Grace shook her head.
“I never understood.”
“Then why did she disappear?”
“I thought she meant a secret.”
Nathan looked at Lily's closed bedroom door.
Then at Victoria.
Then at the old photograph.
Something connected all three.
His father.
His mother.
Victoria.
Grace.
Lily.
And a secret buried five years ago.
Nathan walked upstairs.
He entered Lily's room.
The little girl was awake.
She looked at him.
“Daddy?”
Nathan smiled.
“Yes.”
She held out her arms.
He picked her up.
For several seconds, he simply held her.
Then Lily whispered something against his shoulder.
“Grandma told me not to tell.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Grace appeared in the doorway.
“What did you say, sweetheart?”
Lily looked at them.
“Grandma.”
Nathan's blood went cold.
“Which grandma?”
Lily pointed toward the window.
“The one in the picture.”
Nathan followed her finger.
On the dresser stood an old photograph.
His mother.
Eleanor Cole.
The photograph had been taken years before her supposed death.
Lily stared at it.
“She came to see me.”
Nathan couldn't breathe.
“When?”
Lily shrugged.
“Before Mommy took me away.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace's face was white.
“You never told me this.”
“I thought she was dreaming.”
Nathan picked up the photograph.
His mother smiled from it.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Alive.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written a date.
The date Lily was born.
And beneath it, six words:
She knows what her father did.
Nathan stared at the message.
Then he understood.
His mother had not simply known about Grace.
She had known about the entire conspiracy.
And if Lily had seen her—
then the greatest lie Nathan had ever believed was not that Grace abandoned him.
It was that his mother had died.
Nathan held Lily tighter.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Are you okay?”
Nathan looked at his daughter.
Then at Grace.
Then at the photograph.
“No,” he whispered.
“But I will be.”
Because for the first time, Nathan wasn't investigating his father's secrets anymore.
He was investigating his mother's.
And somewhere in the city, a woman who was supposed to have been dead for nine years was watching the news.
A photograph of Nathan and Lily appeared on the television.
The woman slowly reached for the remote.
She turned the screen off.
Then she picked up a phone.
“It's begun,” she said.
A man's voice answered.
“Should we move her?”
The woman looked at the photograph of Lily.
“No.”
“Why?”
She smiled coldly.
“Because now Nathan knows she exists.”
May you like
A pause.
“And that's exactly what I wanted.”
