Chapter 9 - THE BILLIONAIRE EMPIRE BUILT ON STOLEN MONEY
Nathan did not defend himself.
That surprised me.
He sat inside the empty conference room staring at the documents.
Finally, he said, “How much?”
The investigator answered.
“About six million originally. With subsequent investments, it became part of the capital base for Drake Harbor.”
Nathan nodded once.
“Calculate what belongs to Bella’s family.”
The investigator blinked.
“Nathan—”
“All of it.”
I stared at him.
“You didn’t know.”
“That doesn’t make it mine.”
“Nathan.”
He turned toward me.
“The money came from your father. Vincent stole it. Then he put it in my hands so I’d be dependent on him.”
His voice hardened.
“He built my future using your family’s destruction.”
For the first time, I understood what Nathan’s anger looked like when it wasn’t aimed at another person.
It was aimed inward.
That frightened me more.
I sat beside him.
“You were eighteen.”
“I benefited.”
“You were manipulated.”
“Both can be true.”
Those words stayed with me.
Nathan spent the next two days opening financial records to independent auditors and federal investigators.
Men in his organization told him he was insane.
One lieutenant reportedly asked, “Do you want to lose everything?”
Nathan answered, “If it isn’t mine, yes.”
Something inside me shifted.
The man who had tried to control me with one white pill was forcing himself to learn the opposite lesson.
Power did not mean ownership.
Not of money.
Not of truth.
Not of me.
That evening, we stood on the balcony of his downtown apartment.
“I owe you an apology,” he said.
“For what now?”
“For the first night.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“I told myself you made a choice, so that made everything simple.”
“It wasn’t simple.”
“No.”
“I was grieving.”
“I know.”
“You’d been drinking.”
“I know.”
“And afterward, you tried to control what happened next.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
I appreciated that he didn’t argue.
“I don’t regret everything,” I admitted. “But I don’t want what happens between us to ever be about desperation again.”
Nathan looked directly at me.
“It won’t.”
He didn’t touch me.
He waited.
This time, I kissed him.
Not for $49,200.
Not because he was powerful.
Because I wanted to.
His phone rang before the moment could become anything more.
Luca.
Nathan answered.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
He put the call on speaker.
Luca’s voice came through.
“We got Daniel Carter’s old autopsy records.”
I froze.
My father had officially died in a warehouse fire.
Luca continued.
“The body identified as Daniel Carter wasn’t Daniel.”
I grabbed Nathan’s arm.
“What are you saying?”
A pause.
May you like
Then Luca answered.
“Bella’s father may still be alive.”
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