Chapter 8 - THE GRANDMOTHER WHO HID THE TRUTH
Mrs. Ellis didn't deny what Richard Carter said in the recording.
That frightened me more than anything.
She sat slowly.
Her hands folded in her lap.
"There's something I haven't told you."
I stared at her.
"Apparently, that's becoming a family tradition."
Adrian looked toward Rebecca.
"Let's hear the explanation."
Mrs. Ellis took a long breath.
"I approved the original Harbor program."
My stomach dropped.
"You approved taking children?"
"No!"
Her voice cracked.
"I approved financial assistance for mothers who couldn't afford medical care. I approved housing. Counseling. Scholarships."
"Then what happened?"
"My husband died."
She looked down.
"Edward had been the one overseeing daily operations. After his death, the board convinced me that everything was continuing normally."
Rebecca opened a notebook.
"Who controlled the board?"
Mrs. Ellis hesitated.
"Victor Voss and a man named Nathaniel Cross."
Adrian frowned.
"Cross?"
Mrs. Ellis nodded.
"Nathaniel Cross was the foundation's chief financial officer."
My pulse quickened.
"Why haven't we heard his name before?"
"Because he disappeared eighteen years ago."
Rebecca leaned forward.
"Disappeared?"
Mrs. Ellis nodded.
"After a federal inquiry began, Nathaniel resigned and vanished."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Was he prosecuted?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the inquiry was closed when several key witnesses withdrew their statements."
I stared.
"That sounds convenient."
Mrs. Ellis looked at me sadly.
"It was."
Then she reached into her handbag.
A small photograph emerged.
It showed Catherine, my biological mother, standing beside a young man with dark hair.
They were smiling.
The man held a baby blanket.
I touched the photograph.
"Who is he?"
Mrs. Ellis hesitated.
"Your biological father."
My breath caught.
For twenty-eight years, I'd believed I had no living biological parents.
Now I was staring at a man whose face I had never seen.
"What's his name?"
Mrs. Ellis closed her eyes.
"Nathaniel Cross."
The room tilted.
I looked at Adrian.
Then back at Mrs. Ellis.
"The man who ran Project Harbor?"
She nodded.
My stomach turned.
"You mean my father helped run the organization that took me away from my mother?"
Mrs. Ellis began crying.
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
Suddenly, the little kindness test at the restaurant felt very different.
I had thought I was buying lunch for an embarrassed old woman.
Instead, I'd walked into a family history filled with lies, missing children, and powerful men who treated human lives like financial assets.
"Why did you come to the restaurant?" I asked.
Mrs. Ellis wiped her eyes.
"Because someone told me you worked there."
"Who?"
She hesitated.
"Richard Carter."
My mouth fell open.
"Richard?"
She nodded.
"He contacted me three weeks ago."
I looked toward Rebecca.
"You said he disappeared."
Mrs. Ellis whispered, "He did."
"Then how did he contact you?"
She removed a folded note from her purse.
The handwriting matched Richard's letter.
Margaret, the truth is finally coming out. Protect Sophie. Cross is back in Chicago.
My heart hammered.
"Richard is alive?"
Mrs. Ellis nodded.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Marcus checked the caller identification.
His expression changed.
"Boss."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
Marcus swallowed.
May you like
"The call is coming from your father's old private number."
Victor Voss had been dead for six years.
