Chapter 8 — The Deal Nathan Was Desperate to Hide
Chapter 8 — The Deal Nathan Was Desperate to Hide
I spent the entire night staring at the five words written beneath the coordinates.
Ask him who betrayed him.
I couldn't stop thinking about them.
My mother had given me the original birth certificate.
My father had supposedly died before I could remember him.
My grandfather had supposedly died years ago.
Adrian claimed my grandfather was alive.
Nathan claimed his father was alive.
The Black Account contained hundreds of millions of dollars.
And somehow, all of it led back to one question.
Who had betrayed my father?
At 5:30 in the morning, I finally stopped trying to sleep.
I made coffee.
I didn't drink it.
Instead, I opened my laptop and searched Nathan's company records.
I had spent years believing I knew everything about my husband.
I knew his favorite restaurant.
I knew how he took his coffee.
I knew which watch he wore when he wanted investors to take him seriously.
I knew how he smiled when he was lying.
Or at least I thought I did.
But I didn't know the man I had married.
That was becoming painfully obvious.
I opened the corporate database.
Nathan's company had dozens of subsidiaries.
Most appeared legitimate.
Luxury retail.
Real estate.
Jewelry distribution.
Private investments.
Then I noticed something strange.
A company called Northstar Holdings.
It had been created eleven years ago.
The listed owner was Nathan.
But the registered director was someone else.
R. Whitmore.
Robert.
I stared at the screen.
Robert wasn't merely my family's lawyer.
He had been Nathan's business partner for more than a decade.
I opened the financial statements.
Northstar had received millions in loans.
Then transferred those funds to another company.
Vale Strategic Partners.
Vale.
Nathan's family name.
My stomach tightened.
I kept digging.
Three days before my wedding, Northstar had transferred $8.4 million to Vale Strategic Partners.
The transaction description was:
Consulting and restructuring services.
I laughed bitterly.
There was no consulting.
It was a transfer.
A hidden one.
And I knew exactly why.
Someone had been moving money out of the company long before I ever discovered the forged signature.
At 7:12, Nathan called.
I almost ignored him.
Then I answered.
“Where are you?”
He sounded nervous.
“Why?”
“Because Robert is looking for you.”
“That isn't my problem.”
“It is if he knows about the account.”
I went silent.
“How much does Robert know?”
“Enough.”
“What does he know?”
“He knows you have the key.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“That's a lie.”
“Emma…”
“You've lied to me for years.”
“I know.”
“Then start telling the truth.”
He was silent.
Finally, he said:
“Meet me.”
“No.”
“You need to hear this from me.”
“I don't trust you.”
“You shouldn't.”
That answer surprised me.
Nathan continued.
“But there are things you don't know.”
“Such as?”
“The deal.”
“What deal?”
“The deal your mother made with my father.”
My blood went cold.
“What are you talking about?”
“I can't explain it over the phone.”
“Then explain it now.”
“Meet me.”
“Where?”
“Your old apartment.”
I froze.
The apartment where Nathan and I had lived before we became wealthy.
Before the jewelry stores.
Before the luxury cars.
Before the lies.
“When?”
“An hour.”
Then he hung up.
The old apartment looked smaller than I remembered.
The paint was peeling.
The hallway smelled like old carpet.
The elevator still made the same horrible noise.
Nathan was waiting inside.
He looked nothing like the man who had once stood beside me at our wedding.
He looked tired.
Afraid.
Human.
I almost hated him more for that.
“You came.”
“Talk.”
He closed the door.
Then he placed a folder on the table.
“This is what I tried to hide.”
I didn't touch it.
“Why?”
“Because if you knew, you'd never forgive me.”
“I already don't.”
He looked down.
“I deserve that.”
“Open it.”
He did.
The first page was a contract.
I recognized my name.
Emma Elizabeth Harper.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
Except it wasn't mine.
Again.
I pointed at it.
“This is the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Who created it?”
“Robert.”
“Who approved it?”
“My father.”
“Who signed it?”
Nathan looked at me.
“You didn't.”
I stared at him.
“Then why is my signature there?”
“Because they copied it.”
“How?”
“From your marriage documents.”
I felt sick.
“They had access to my passport.”
“Yes.”
“My driver's license.”
“Yes.”
“My bank records.”
“Yes.”
“Who gave them access?”
Nathan didn't answer.
I already knew.
“My mother.”
He nodded.
“She gave Robert everything.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because she believed she was protecting you.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
He turned another page.
A second contract.
This one dated twelve years ago.
I read it.
Then looked up.
“What is this?”
“The original agreement.”
“Between whom?”
“Your mother and my father.”
I read the names again.
Elizabeth Harper.
Adrian Vale.
The contract was short.
Only six pages.
But the final paragraph made my hands shake.
In exchange for the protection and continued concealment of Emma Harper's identity, Elizabeth Harper agrees to transfer financial authority over the Harper Trust upon Emma's twenty-ninth birthday.
I looked at Nathan.
“She agreed to give them control of my Trust?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I slammed the folder shut.
“No.”
“Emma—”
“No.”
I stood.
“You're telling me my mother sold my inheritance.”
“She traded control for protection.”
“Protection from who?”
“My father.”
I stared at him.
“Why would your father want me?”
Nathan looked away.
“Because he believed your father had stolen something from him.”
“What?”
“The original ledger.”
I remembered.
The Trust ledger.
The document Jonathan had supposedly taken.
“What's in it?”
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“Everyone.”
“Everyone involved in the Black Account?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't Jonathan expose them?”
“Because the ledger wasn't just financial.”
I frowned.
“What else?”
“Birth records.”
I froze.
“Like mine.”
“Yes.”
“And the names of other children?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan swallowed.
“Because your grandfather used those children as legal beneficiaries.”
I felt sick.
“How?”
“He transferred assets into their names.”
“Why?”
“To conceal ownership.”
“Then when they became adults…”
“They inherited the money.”
“Exactly.”
“Then what's wrong with that?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Most of those children didn't know the money existed.”
My stomach tightened.
“They were being used.”
“Yes.”
“Like me.”
“Yes.”
I sat down.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked:
“Why Friday?”
Nathan looked at the floor.
“Because Friday is your birthday.”
“I know.”
“And the Trust becomes fully yours.”
“I know.”
“There's another clause.”
“What clause?”
“If the beneficiary refuses control, the assets revert to the secondary trustee.”
“Who?”
“Robert.”
I stared.
“So if they could make me look mentally unstable…”
Nathan nodded.
“They could take control.”
“If they could prove I signed the transfer voluntarily…”
“Yes.”
“If they could prove I was an unreliable wife…”
“Yes.”
“And if I lost my shares…”
“They'd have enough voting power to remove you completely.”
I felt a chill.
“The jewelry store.”
Nathan looked at me.
“What about it?”
“You knew I would confront you there.”
He didn't answer.
“You knew I might lose control.”
“I didn't know you'd come.”
“But you wanted me there.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me angry.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me to look unstable.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“You wanted me to react.”
“Yes.”
“And then you hit me.”
He looked at me.
“I lost control.”
“No.”
My voice became cold.
“You didn't.”
He stared.
“You did exactly what you were supposed to do.”
Nathan's face fell.
“I didn't plan that.”
“But you used it.”
He didn't deny it.
“You had the cameras.”
“Yes.”
“You had witnesses.”
“Yes.”
“You thought the recording would make me look dangerous.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“You were building a case against me.”
“I was trying to make the transfer look legitimate.”
“You were trying to destroy me.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
I opened the next document.
It was a financial agreement.
Nathan's company would receive $40 million once my shares were transferred.
I looked at him.
“How much were you supposed to get?”
“Forty million.”
“And my father?”
“Twenty.”
“Robert?”
“Ten.”
“My mother?”
Nathan looked away.
“How much?”
“Nothing.”
I frowned.
“She didn't want money.”
“Then what did she want?”
Nathan's voice became quiet.
“You.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She wanted you protected.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“She knew what your grandfather had done.”
“And?”
“She knew what Jonathan discovered.”
“And?”
“She knew the man hunting him was still alive.”
I stared.
“My grandfather.”
Nathan nodded.
“She thought the only way to keep you safe was to give the Trust to people powerful enough to fight him.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So she gave it to the people trying to steal it.”
“Yes.”
“Brilliant.”
“I never said it was right.”
“Then why did you agree?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Because my father threatened to kill her.”
Silence.
I sat back down.
“Your father threatened my mother?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she tried to expose him.”
I stared.
“Then why did she continue working with him?”
“Because she was trapped.”
I remembered my mother's face the previous night.
The fear in her eyes.
The way she'd said:
I didn't want you to find out this way.
Maybe she hadn't been protecting herself.
Maybe she had been protecting me.
But that didn't excuse what she had done.
Nathan pulled another document from the folder.
“This is the part nobody knows.”
“What?”
He handed it to me.
It was a private agreement between Nathan and Robert.
I read it.
Then read it again.
My hands started shaking.
“What is this?”
“A contingency.”
“For what?”
“For your death.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“If you died before Friday, the Trust would automatically transfer to Robert.”
My stomach turned.
“And the insurance?”
“Forty-five million.”
“Who receives it?”
“Robert.”
I stared at Nathan.
“Why would you agree to this?”
“I didn't.”
“Your signature is here.”
“It was forged.”
I froze.
“You're saying someone forged your signature too?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at the document.
The handwriting looked almost identical to the forged signature on my transfer.
I whispered:
“Robert.”
Nathan nodded.
“That was when I realized I wasn't in control either.”
I stood.
“Why tell me now?”
“Because I don't want to die.”
“That isn't enough.”
“I want out.”
“You don't get to walk away.”
“I know.”
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“You helped them.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to take my company.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you loved me.”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“I did love you.”
I looked at him.
“That doesn't make this better.”
“I know.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Protection.”
I laughed.
“You want me to protect you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would I?”
“Because if Robert discovers I gave you these documents, he'll kill me.”
The room went silent.
I believed him.
That frightened me.
Before I left, Nathan grabbed my wrist.
“Emma.”
I turned.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“The deal wasn't really about your shares.”
I stared at him.
“What was it about?”
He looked terrified.
“Your birthday.”
“Why?”
“Because when you turn twenty-nine, you become the legal owner of the Black Account.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“The account doesn't just contain money.”
I waited.
“It contains a transfer instruction.”
“What kind?”
Nathan's voice dropped.
“A transfer of ownership.”
“Ownership of what?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“The entire Harper empire.”
I couldn't breathe.
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Who is the beneficiary?”
Nathan hesitated.
“That's the problem.”
“Who?”
He whispered:
“Jonathan Harper.”
My heart stopped.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“But he's missing.”
“Exactly.”
“If he's alive…”
“Then on your birthday, control of the entire empire can legally transfer to him.”
I stared.
“Unless…”
Nathan looked at the forged contract.
“Unless you transfer the Trust first.”
Everything became clear.
They didn't need my money.
They needed my signature to prevent my father from reclaiming what my grandfather had stolen from him.
Nathan wasn't trying to take my inheritance.
He was trying to stop me from giving it back.
I left the apartment at sunset.
I sat in my car for several minutes without starting the engine.
My entire life had been built around a lie.
My father was dead.
My grandfather was dead.
My mother was protecting me.
Nathan loved me.
The Harper fortune belonged to my family.
Every one of those statements was collapsing.
Then my phone rang.
Michael.
“Where are you?”
“With Nathan.”
Silence.
“Did he tell you about the deal?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know why you can't go to the estate.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“I have to find Jonathan.”
“Emma…”
“Dad.”
He went silent.
I had never called him that so naturally.
“Is Jonathan alive?”
“I believe he is.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he contact you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My heart raced.
“What did he say?”
Michael's voice became quiet.
“He said the man behind everything is not your grandfather.”
I froze.
“Then who?”
“He gave me a name.”
“What name?”
Michael hesitated.
Then:
“Elizabeth.”
My mother's name.
I couldn't speak.
“No.”
“Emma…”
“My mother isn't behind this.”
“I didn't say she was.”
“Then what did he mean?”
“I don't know.”
My phone vibrated.
Another message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
My mother.
Standing beside Jonathan.
And behind them…
Nathan.
The photograph was dated eleven years ago.
The same year Nathan and I met.
Underneath it were six words:
Your mother knew he was alive.
I stared at the image.
Then another message appeared.
Ask her why she introduced you to Nathan.
My hands went cold.
Because suddenly, the marriage I thought had begun with a chance meeting…
might have been planned from the beginning.
And if that was true, then Nathan had never been the man who entered my life by accident.
He had been sent there.
May you like
And the woman who opened the door for him…
was my mother.
