Chapter 10 - NATHANIEL'S REAL NAME
Evelyn called Nathaniel before we left the lake house.
He didn't answer.
The twins were with his housekeeper and security team.
That should have reassured me.
It didn't.
We flew back to Boston before dawn.
Nathaniel was waiting in the kitchen.
He looked exhausted.
Evelyn walked straight toward him.
“What's your father's name?”
He closed his eyes.
That was answer enough.
“Nate.”
“My legal father was Edward Grant Carter.”
“Legal father?”
Nathaniel sat down.
“My biological father was Julian Moretti.”
The room went silent.
I had spent half the flight preparing myself to hate him.
Instead, he looked ashamed.
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“Since I was twenty-six.”
“You knew we were related when Evelyn arrived?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell her?”
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
Evelyn stepped back from him as if struck.
“You lied to me for three years.”
“I withheld one fact.”
“One fact?”
His voice broke.
“My father is dangerous, Evelyn.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
I didn't believe him.
Apparently Evelyn didn't either.
“Nate.”
He looked at her.
“Where is Julian?”
Nathaniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“He contacted me eight months ago.”
My body tightened.
“What did he want?”
“The twins.”
I moved toward him.
Nathaniel stood immediately.
“Not like that.”
“Explain quickly.”
“He wanted DNA.”
“Why?”
“He believed one of the twins might carry a hereditary condition from his side of the family.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What condition?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.”
I stared at him.
My father had died from a heart attack.
At least that's what we had been told.
Nathaniel opened a medical folder.
“Julian has the mutation. So did your father.”
“Do I?”
“Your records were tested years ago without your knowledge.”
I looked at Mother.
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
“You're negative,” Nathaniel said. “Which means the twins cannot inherit it from you.”
“Then why did Julian care?”
“Because he didn't believe they were yours.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“My entire life seems to revolve around Moretti men questioning who fathered whose children.”
Nathaniel lowered his voice.
“Julian thought the twins were mine.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because someone sent him photographs of Evelyn and me before the twins were born.”
The same tactic used against me.
Someone wanted both brothers to believe Evelyn had betrayed them.
“Who sent them?”
Nathaniel slid an envelope across the table.
Inside was the original photograph and a letter.
The handwriting wasn't familiar.
But the signature was.
Helen Price.
My mother's assistant.
Victoria's loyal shadow.
Except she had never been loyal to Victoria.
She had been working for Julian for decades.
Then Nathaniel said the worst part.
“Helen disappeared from police custody three hours ago.”
“How?”
“She had help.”
“From who?”
Nathaniel looked toward the stairs, where Grace and Noah were sleeping.
“From the federal agent who has secretly been investigating your family for five years.”
My stomach dropped.
“Name.”
Nathaniel answered quietly.
“Special Agent Daniel Reed.”
May you like
Marcus went pale.
Because Daniel Reed was his older brother.
