Chapter 2 - THE FATHER WHO REMEMBERED EVERYTHING
"My father can't speak."
The words came out louder than I intended.
Roman Costa watched me carefully.
"He hasn't spoken clearly since his stroke," I continued. "I've visited him almost every day for three years."
"I know."
"You don't know anything about my father."
Roman didn't argue.
Instead, he opened a video on his phone.
The screen showed my father's room at St. Catherine's Care Center.
My father lay in bed beneath a pale blue blanket.
His silver hair was thinner than I remembered.
A nurse stood beside him.
"Dad?" I whispered.
In the recording, the nurse leaned closer.
"Mr. Whitmore, can you tell me what you're trying to say?"
My father's lips moved.
At first, there was only a faint sound.
Then a whisper.
"Preston."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The nurse leaned closer.
"What about Preston?"
My father struggled to breathe.
Then forced out three words.
"Don't trust him."
I covered my mouth.
Roman paused the video.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
My father had spent three years struggling to communicate.
And the first name he'd managed to say clearly belonged to the man who destroyed our family.
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone at the care facility sent it to my security chief."
"Why?"
"Because your father asked for me."
I stared at him.
"That's impossible."
Roman reached for another document.
It was a handwritten note.
The letters were crooked and uneven.
But I recognized my father's handwriting.
ROMAN COSTA. BLUEPRINT. BASEMENT.
I sank into the chair opposite him.
My father had never mentioned Roman Costa.
Not once.
Roman sat across from me.
"Your father designed the structural foundation of a private commercial building my family financed twelve years ago."
"What building?"
"The old Halcyon Tower project."
I remembered that name.
My father's company had nearly gone bankrupt during construction.
Then, unexpectedly, it had received enough investment money to survive.
Dad had called it a miracle.
Roman continued.
"Three years ago, your father discovered that the original architectural plans had been altered."
"Altered how?"
"An entire underground section had been removed from the official records."
I stared at him.
"What was inside?"
Roman's jaw tightened.
"We don't know."
"Then why does Preston care?"
"Because the missing plans may prove who stole your father's company."
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A message from the care facility.
I opened it.
Miss Whitmore, your father's medical condition has changed. Please call immediately.
My hands began shaking.
Roman noticed.
"What happened?"
I called the nurse.
She answered on the second ring.
"Sloan, I'm glad you called."
"Is Dad okay?"
A pause.
Then she whispered:
"Someone came here claiming to be his legal guardian."
My stomach dropped.
"Who?"
The nurse hesitated.
"Preston Hayes."
I stood so quickly my chair nearly fell.
"He's not my father's guardian!"
The nurse's voice trembled.
"That's what I tried to explain."
May you like
Then she said something that made the room spin.
"But he brought a court order authorizing your father's transfer."
