Chapter 4 - Nathan Comes Home
Nathan crossed the foyer slowly.
Nobody spoke.
His attention remained fixed on Elena.
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.”
Elena answered quietly.
“But the baby is moving.”
Nathan immediately moved toward her.
Vanessa stepped between them.
“Nathan, listen to me.”
He stopped.
Vanessa reached for his arm.
He pulled away before she could touch him.
“I said listen.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Elena planned this.”
Nathan looked toward Detective Ruiz.
“Is that true?”
Ruiz answered carefully.
“Your wife cooperated with us.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“For how long?”
“Three months.”
Nathan looked back at Elena.
“You’ve been investigating someone inside our home for three months and never told me?”
Elena felt the question like a knife.
“I couldn’t.”
“I’m your husband.”
“And Vanessa had access to your office.”
Nathan frowned.
Elena continued.
“She knew things nobody outside your executive team should have known.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“There.”
“Do you hear her?”
“She’s trying to make you suspicious of everyone.”
Nathan ignored her.
“What things?”
Elena glanced toward Ruiz.
He placed another folder on the table.
“Confidential acquisition numbers.”
“Board correspondence.”
“Personal trust documents.”
Nathan’s eyes darkened.
“Those files were locked.”
“Someone photographed them.”
Ruiz slid a picture toward him.
Nathan stared.
The photograph showed Vanessa inside his private study at 2:13 in the morning.
She was standing beside his open safe.
Vanessa immediately shook her head.
“That picture was manipulated.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You told me you had never been inside that study.”
“I hadn’t.”
“The picture says otherwise.”
“I was looking for Elena.”
“At two in the morning?”
Vanessa’s composure cracked.
“She was acting suspiciously.”
Nathan picked up another photograph.
It showed Vanessa meeting with Gregory Pike, a former Howard Industries financial officer who had been fired for embezzlement.
Nathan’s expression changed completely.
“You know Pike?”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
The officer moved subtly to block it.
“No.”
Nathan held up the photograph.
“Then who is this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re sitting across from him.”
Vanessa’s voice rose.
“People sit near strangers in restaurants.”
Ruiz pressed a key on the laptop.
Audio began playing.
Gregory Pike’s voice came first.
“Once Nathan signs the restructuring, the voting shares move.”
Vanessa answered.
“And Elena?”
“She becomes the problem.”
Vanessa’s recorded voice turned cold.
“Then remove the problem.”
Nathan went perfectly still.
Elena watched him.
The room felt smaller.
Vanessa looked desperately toward him.
“That’s edited.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Nathan.”
Nothing.
“I love you.”
That finally made him move.
Nathan turned toward her.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“You loved access.”
Vanessa looked as though he had slapped her.
Nathan continued.
“You loved knowing where I traveled.”
“You loved entering rooms because my family trusted you.”
“You loved hearing conversations you were never supposed to hear.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“You think she loves you?”
She pointed toward Elena.
“She doesn’t even trust you enough to tell you any of this.”
Nathan looked at Elena again.
Pain appeared behind his anger.
Vanessa saw it.
May you like
And she smiled.
Because even cornered, she had found the one wound Elena had not protected.
