Chapter 3 - FOUR WORDS FROM THE DEAD The emergency hearing began that evening.
Nathan had thirteen minutes before the judge decided whether Lily would be removed from Grace.
Then Marcus received a sealed envelope.
It had been recovered from Charles Cole's private files.
Nathan broke the seal.
Inside was a letter.
His father's handwriting.
The first sentence nearly stopped his heart.
Grace Mercer was pregnant with your child when I ordered her removal from your life.
Nathan read on.
Charles confessed to threats.
False medical records.
Financial pressure.
Harbor House.
He admitted Sebastian Vale knew.
He admitted Eleanor Vale knew.
He admitted the entire scheme had been designed to protect the merger between the Cole and Vale empires.
Then came the final revelation.
A brass key.
ARCHIVE LOCKER 17.
Nathan carried the letter into court.
The Vale attorneys attacked it as hearsay.
Marcus attacked them with the filing timestamp.
The custody petition had been submitted hours before the alleged emergency.
The judge ordered the server logs preserved.
Then the preliminary DNA result arrived.
99.9997% probability of paternity.
Nathan stared at the number.
His daughter.
Not a possibility.
Not a suspicion.
His.
The judge ruled Lily would remain with Grace.
Victoria was forbidden from contacting the child.
Nathan was granted structured parenting time.
For the first time, Nathan felt hope.
Then he stepped outside.
Cameras surrounded the courthouse.
A headline appeared on every phone.
COLE HEIR CAUGHT IN SECRET CHILD SCANDAL.
Below it was an old photograph of Grace.
A false caption called her a nightclub employee who had accepted money from Charles Cole.
Grace stared at it.
“I never worked there.”
Nathan looked toward Marcus.
“The locker.”
Marcus nodded.
“Your father knew we would need it.”
That night, Nathan and Marcus entered Union Station.
Archive Locker 17 was waiting.
May you like
But someone had already opened it.
And someone was still hunting for what was inside.
