Chapter 4 — Natalie’s Last Warning
Chapter 4 — Natalie’s Last Warning
The photograph slipped from Dominic's fingers.
It landed face-up on the library floor.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Marcus seemed to have forgotten that he was holding a gun.
The man in the photograph stood behind Catherine with one hand resting casually on Dominic's father's shoulder.
Dominic knew that face.
He had spent his childhood believing that face belonged to a ghost.
His father's younger brother.
Richard Mercer.
Dead at twenty-nine.
That was what Catherine had told him.
That was what the death certificate said.
That was what every family record confirmed.
Yet there he was.
Alive.
Standing beside Catherine.
Standing beside Dominic's father.
And apparently still alive when the photograph was taken.
Brooke stared at the picture.
“You knew.”
Dominic slowly looked at her.
“What?”
“You knew he was alive.”
Her voice trembled.
Marcus immediately turned toward her.
“Brooke.”
She ignored him.
“You knew.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know Richard?”
Brooke didn't answer.
Dominic took a step toward her.
“How?”
She looked away.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“This conversation is over.”
Dominic smiled coldly.
“No.”
He picked up the photograph.
“It's just beginning.”
A gunshot exploded through the library.
The bullet struck the wooden cabinet beside Dominic.
Natalie screamed.
Emma pulled Noah behind the desk.
Dominic lunged toward Marcus.
They collided.
The weapon fell.
Brooke ran.
Dominic grabbed Marcus by the collar.
“Where is my uncle?”
Marcus slammed his elbow into Dominic's ribs.
Dominic staggered.
Marcus reached for the gun.
Emma kicked it beneath the desk.
“Run!”
Dominic looked toward Natalie.
“Take Noah!”
Natalie grabbed her son.
Emma opened the hidden door behind the bookshelf.
They disappeared into the service corridor.
Dominic followed.
Behind them, Marcus shouted.
“You can't hide from the truth!”
Dominic glanced back.
“No.”
He pulled the door shut.
“I'm going to make you tell it.”
They reached the underground passage beneath the eastern wing.
Noah was crying silently.
Natalie held him against her.
Dominic stopped.
“Is everyone okay?”
Natalie nodded.
Emma was breathing heavily.
“I think so.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You saved us.”
Emma shook her head.
“You would've done the same.”
“No.”
He looked at the keyless safe.
“I should have protected all of you before this happened.”
Natalie stepped forward.
“This isn't your fault.”
“It is.”
“No.”
Her voice became firmer.
“You trusted the wrong people. That's different.”
Dominic stared at her.
She had tears in her eyes.
“But there's something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
Natalie looked toward the tunnel.
“Before Mom died, she warned me about Brooke.”
Dominic froze.
“What did she say?”
Natalie hesitated.
“She told me never to confront her.”
“Why?”
“Because Brooke wasn't afraid of losing the wedding.”
Dominic frowned.
“What was she afraid of?”
Natalie whispered:
“Being exposed.”
They entered the old wine cellar.
Natalie locked the door.
Dominic turned toward her.
“Tell me everything.”
Natalie sat down.
For several seconds, she stared at the floor.
Then she began.
“Six weeks after Mom died, Brooke came to see me.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“What did she want?”
“To talk.”
“About the trust?”
“No.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Then what?”
“She asked me about Dad.”
Natalie looked at him.
“She wanted to know whether he had ever told me about Richard.”
Dominic felt his stomach tighten.
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Then why would she ask?”
“Because she already knew.”
“Know what?”
“That Richard was alive.”
Silence.
Emma whispered:
“How?”
Natalie shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic paced across the cellar.
“Did she say where he was?”
“No.”
“Did she mention Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She said Marcus had been protecting Richard for years.”
Dominic stopped.
“Protecting him from what?”
Natalie's eyes filled with tears.
“From you.”
Dominic stared at his sister.
“Why would Richard need protection from me?”
“Because your father blamed you.”
“For what?”
Natalie looked away.
“I didn't understand it then.”
“Understand what?”
“Dad believed you knew too much.”
Dominic's face tightened.
“I was seventeen.”
“I know.”
“What could I possibly have known?”
Natalie swallowed.
“You saw something the night Uncle Richard disappeared.”
Dominic went still.
“No.”
Natalie nodded.
“You did.”
“I don't remember.”
“You were seventeen.”
“I remember that night.”
“Do you?”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Rain.
A broken window.
His father's voice.
His mother crying.
And someone walking through the back door.
A man.
Tall.
Bleeding.
Dominic opened his eyes.
“Richard.”
Natalie nodded.
“He came home.”
The memory returned like a knife.
Dominic had been seventeen.
He remembered waking to shouting.
He remembered descending the stairs.
He remembered seeing his father standing in the hallway.
And beside him—
Richard.
Blood on his shirt.
A gunshot wound in his shoulder.
Catherine had been crying.
His father had been screaming.
Richard had looked directly at Dominic.
Then said:
“Don't trust him.”
Dominic had thought he meant their father.
But now he wasn't sure.
He looked at Natalie.
“What happened after?”
“You left.”
“I don't remember.”
“You were sent to boarding school the next morning.”
“Why?”
“Dad said you were in danger.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Richard?”
Natalie's voice dropped.
“Mom helped him disappear.”
Dominic stared.
“My mother saved him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she tell us he was dead?”
“Because Dad wanted him dead.”
Dominic sat down.
Everything he believed about his childhood was collapsing.
His father's death.
His mother's fear.
Richard's disappearance.
The trust.
Brooke.
Marcus.
They were all connected.
But one question remained.
“Why did Brooke know?”
Natalie looked at him.
“Because she wasn't the first person to search for Richard.”
“Who was?”
“Dad.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“My father?”
“He spent years trying to find him.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard took something.”
“What?”
Natalie shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic looked toward Emma.
She was staring at him.
“What?”
Emma spoke softly.
“Maybe Catherine's trust.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust didn't exist back then.”
Emma frowned.
“Then what did Richard take?”
Dominic looked at the photograph.
His father's hand rested on Richard's shoulder.
Catherine stood behind them.
And Dominic noticed something he'd missed.
Richard was holding a small black book.
On its cover was a silver symbol.
The same symbol engraved on Noah's key.
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“The ledger.”
Natalie looked at him.
“What ledger?”
“The original Mercer ledger.”
“What is that?”
Dominic didn't know.
But Marcus did.
Because when Dominic mentioned the word, Emma noticed the security microphone in the corner.
A tiny red light turned on.
Someone was listening.
Marcus's voice came through the speaker.
“You should stop asking questions.”
Dominic stood.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“Where is Brooke?”
“Safe.”
“Where is Richard?”
Silence.
Dominic smiled.
“You're afraid of him.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Marcus laughed.
“Your mother spent twenty-five years protecting a monster.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“You mean Richard?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
A pause.
Marcus said:
“Your father.”
The speaker went dead.
Nobody spoke.
Natalie slowly sat down.
Dominic looked at her.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Mom hide everything?”
Natalie whispered:
“Because she wanted us to have normal lives.”
Dominic looked at Noah.
A nine-year-old boy who had been dragged into a war he never asked for.
He understood.
Catherine had tried to protect her children.
And now the consequences of her secrets had reached her grandchildren.
Dominic walked toward Natalie.
“You should leave.”
She looked up.
“What?”
“You and Noah.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere outside Newport.”
“No.”
“Natalie.”
“I've run before.”
She stood.
“I won't run again.”
“This isn't about courage.”
“Yes, it is.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“You always think protecting people means sending them away.”
Dominic said nothing.
“But I'm your sister.”
Her voice cracked.
“If you're going into this, I'm going with you.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I can't lose you.”
Natalie's eyes filled with tears.
“You already almost did.”
Noah stepped forward.
“Mom?”
Natalie turned.
“Yes?”
“Are we going home?”
Natalie looked at Dominic.
He answered.
“Yes.”
Noah nodded.
“Good.”
Then he looked at his uncle.
“But Brooke won't let us.”
Dominic crouched.
“She doesn't decide that.”
Noah whispered:
“She said she does.”
Dominic froze.
“What else did she say?”
Noah hesitated.
“She said Grandma made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She said Grandma trusted the wrong son.”
Dominic stared.
“Which son?”
Noah looked frightened.
“She didn't say.”
Dominic stood.
His mind raced.
Catherine's warning.
The photograph.
Richard.
The ledger.
Brooke's secret.
His father's death.
Then Emma spoke.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
She held up her phone.
A security alert.
Someone had entered the eastern cottage.
Dominic looked at the timestamp.
Three minutes ago.
“Who?”
The system identified the intruder.
BROOKE HARRINGTON.
Dominic's face hardened.
“She's looking for something.”
Natalie shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“She already knows where it is.”
Dominic looked at her.
“How?”
“Because she asked me once.”
“What did she ask?”
Natalie whispered:
“Where Mom kept the blue diary.”
They returned to the cottage.
The door was open.
Furniture had been overturned.
Drawers were pulled out.
Pictures lay shattered across the floor.
Brooke had searched everything.
But something caught Dominic's attention.
The fireplace.
One brick had been removed.
Inside was a small metal box.
He pulled it out.
Natalie stared.
“That was Mom's.”
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a blue diary.
His heart pounded.
He turned the first page.
Catherine's handwriting.
I have finally understood who betrayed this family.
Dominic read on.
It was not Richard.
He turned the page.
It was not Marcus.
Another.
And it was never Brooke.
Dominic stopped.
Natalie looked at him.
“What?”
He continued reading.
Brooke is only a pawn.
Emma whispered:
“Then who is controlling her?”
Dominic turned another page.
The final entry was dated two days before Catherine's death.
If Dominic discovers the truth, tell him this:
He read the next sentence aloud.
“The person he trusts most is the person who will betray him.”
Dominic's heart sank.
Natalie looked at him.
“Who does he trust?”
Dominic thought of everyone.
Emma.
Richard.
Marcus.
Natalie.
His security team.
His lawyer.
Then one name came to mind.
The person who had stood beside him through every crisis.
The person who knew every family secret.
The person Catherine had trusted.
Dominic whispered:
“Richard Vale.”
Emma frowned.
“Your attorney?”
Dominic nodded.
“He's known everything.”
Natalie stepped backward.
“Then we have to call him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if Catherine suspected him…”
Dominic closed the diary.
“…he may already know we're reading it.”
The phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Dominic looked at the screen.
RICHARD VALE.
Nobody moved.
The phone rang again.
Then again.
Dominic answered.
“Richard.”
Silence.
Then his attorney spoke.
“You found the diary.”
Dominic's blood ran cold.
“How did you know?”
Richard sighed.
“Because Catherine told me where she hid it.”
Dominic looked at Natalie.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You spoke to my mother yesterday?”
Another silence.
Then Richard said:
“Dominic, listen carefully.”
“What?”
“Get Natalie and Noah out of the house.”
“Why?”
“Because Brooke isn't your greatest problem.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Richard's voice became urgent.
“You don't understand.”
“Then tell me.”
“I've just received confirmation.”
“Of what?”
Richard whispered:
“Richard Mercer is alive.”
Dominic stared.
“I know.”
“No.”
Richard's breathing changed.
“The man you saw in the photograph…”
A pause.
“…isn't Richard.”
Dominic's blood turned cold.
“Then who is he?”
Richard whispered the answer.
“Your father's twin.”
The call ended.
Natalie covered her mouth.
Emma stared at Dominic.
And somewhere outside the cottage, a car engine started.
Dominic ran to the window.
A black SUV disappeared down the road.
On the back seat was Brooke.
Beside her sat an elderly man.
Dominic couldn't see his face.
But he knew one thing.
The man was holding Catherine's stolen key.
And as the SUV disappeared into the rain, Dominic finally understood why his mother had written her final warning.
May you like
The greatest danger wasn't the person trying to destroy the family.
It was the person who had been pretending to protect it.
