Chapter 5 - THE HUSBAND WHO THOUGHT I WAS ALONE
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Nathaniel walked toward us without hurry.
No security.
No lawyers.
Just a dark coat and the same arrogant smile.
“Valerie.”
I stepped back.
“You found me.”
He laughed.
“I always knew where you were.”
Elliot stood beside me.
Nathaniel's expression changed.
“Elliot.”
“So you do know me,” Elliot said.
Nathaniel smiled.
“I've been looking for you for years.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
Elliot looked at me.
“He wants the trust.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What then?”
“Justice.”
I almost laughed.
“You tried to kill me.”
“You were never supposed to wake up.”
There it was.
An admission.
I looked at Elliot.
He nodded.
“You recorded it.”
Nathaniel's smile disappeared.
“How?”
I held up my phone.
“Cloud synchronization.”
He stared.
“You're bluffing.”
“No.”
I played the recording.
His own voice.
You really should have signed that offshore asset waiver, Val.
The marina became silent.
Nathaniel's face hardened.
“You've been planning this.”
“Yes.”
“Since the crash?”
“Since before.”
He stepped closer.
“Why?”
I smiled.
“Because I know you.”
“You think you can destroy me?”
“No.”
I pulled out a second phone.
“I already did.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“Federal investigators have the full financial map.”
Nathaniel's eyes flicked toward Elliot.
Elliot said:
“And the Glass House files.”
Nathaniel cursed.
Then he reached inside his coat.
Elliot moved faster.
A gun appeared.
Nathaniel froze.
“Don't.”
I stared at the weapon.
“I don't want you dead.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“Then you're weaker than I thought.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I want you alive.”
“Why?”
“So you can testify.”
His face went pale.
“You think I'll cooperate?”
“I don't need you to.”
Elliot stepped forward.
“We have the evidence.”
Nathaniel looked at him.
“You don't.”
Elliot smiled.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“My brother.”
Nathaniel frowned.
“Which brother?”
Elliot pointed at me.
“Valerie.”
I stared.
“What?”
He explained.
My father had deliberately made me the keeper of the final key.
Not a document.
Not a password.
My forensic accounting knowledge.
I was the only person capable of reconstructing the entire network.
The reason my father had trained me as an auditor.
The reason he had insisted I learn every system.
The reason Nathaniel had married me.
He needed access to my mind.
I looked at him.
“You never understood why Dad let you marry me.”
Nathaniel stared.
“He didn't trust you.”
I nodded.
“He trusted me.”
Nathaniel backed away.
Then blue lights appeared at the marina.
Federal agents.
Nathaniel looked at me.
“You called them.”
“Yes.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You think this is over?”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“It starts now.”
He was arrested.
But one question remained.
Who killed my father?
Elliot looked at me.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He handed me an old photograph.
My mother.
My father.
Nathaniel's father.
And a fourth person.
A woman.
My father's chief legal adviser.
My stomach dropped.
I knew her.
She had attended every major family event.
She had advised my father for twenty years.
She had signed our wedding documents.
She had even helped me plan my wedding.
Her name was:
Eleanor Price.
I stared.
“What did she do?”
May you like
Elliot answered:
“She wrote the poison order.”
