The Billionaire Vanished With Forty-Seven Dollars to Find a Woman Who Would Love Him Poor, but the Woman He Found Was Hiding a Secret of Her Own
Chapter 11
The medical facility stood at the edge of a forest.
Its windows were broken.
Its walls were covered with vines.
But inside, everything was strangely clean.
The FBI agents moved through the corridors.
Nathan followed Elena.
“David!”
Her voice echoed.
No answer.
They entered the basement.
A single room remained locked.
The agent broke the door.
Inside was a bed.
A table.
A chair.
And a man sitting beside the window.
Elena stopped breathing.
“David?”
The man turned.
His hair had gone gray.
His face was thinner.
But it was him.
David.
Elena ran.
They embraced.
Emma screamed:
“Daddy!”
David looked at her.
For several seconds, he couldn’t speak.
Then he dropped to his knees.
Emma ran into his arms.
Nathan watched.
He understood immediately.
Whatever their bloodlines were, whatever secrets existed, this was her father.
The man who had raised her.
David looked at Nathan.
“You’re Edward’s son.”
Nathan nodded.
“He talked about you.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were stubborn.”
Nathan laughed through tears.
“That sounds like him.”
David smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Did you find the ledger?”
Nathan nodded.
David closed his eyes.
“Then it’s almost over.”
“What happened?”
David looked at Elena.
“I tried to protect you.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was taken.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“They threatened Emma.”
Elena cried.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Who was behind everything?”
David looked at him.
“Thomas.”
“We know.”
“No.”
David shook his head.
“Thomas was only part of it.”
Nathan frowned.
“Who else?”
David pointed toward the wall.
There was a photograph.
A man Nathan recognized.
His former fiancée’s father.
William Grant.
Nathan froze.
“Vanessa’s father?”
David nodded.
“He financed the network.”
Nathan felt sick.
“Why?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Billions.”
Nathan stared.
“Then why did he want to marry Vanessa to me?”
David smiled sadly.
“To gain access to your father’s remaining assets.”
Nathan suddenly understood the engagement.
The merger.
The legal documents.
The pressure.
Vanessa hadn’t simply wanted him.
Her family had wanted control of Cole Enterprises.
David continued.
“Your disappearance disrupted their plan.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“They thought I was dead?”
“No.”
“They knew where I was?”
David nodded.
“That’s why Victor followed you.”
Nathan looked at Victor.
Victor had been protecting them.
“Then who sent the photograph?”
David shook his head.
“Not Victor.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
David pointed toward Elena.
She looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
David said:
“The person who warned you was trying to help.”
Nathan remembered the message.
You should have stayed in New York.
Maybe it hadn’t been a threat.
Maybe it had been a warning.
Then Nathan’s phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“What do you want?”
Her voice trembled.
“Nathan.”
He said nothing.
“I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?”
“My father.”
Nathan looked at David.
“He’s behind this.”
“Yes.”
“I found documents.”
“What documents?”
“Payments.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Where are you?”
“Bellwood.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to tell you the truth.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“Everyone wants to tell me the truth now.”
Vanessa cried.
“Please.”
Nathan hung up.
David looked at him.
“You should go.”
“Why?”
“Because she may be telling the truth.”
Elena frowned.
“After everything?”
David nodded.
“She may be another person trapped by her family.”
Nathan looked at Elena.
She understood.
They returned to Bellwood.
Vanessa was waiting outside Maggie’s.
She looked nothing like the woman Nathan remembered.
No designer coat.
No jewelry.
No makeup.
Just fear.
She handed Nathan a folder.
“I found this in my father’s office.”
Nathan opened it.
Inside were financial records.
And one photograph.
It showed William Grant meeting Thomas Cole.
Nathan looked at Vanessa.
“Why help me?”
She cried.
“Because I finally realized something.”
“What?”
“I loved the life you could give me.”
She paused.
“But I never knew you.”
Nathan looked at her.
“And now?”
“Now I do.”
Nathan closed the folder.
“I can’t give you the life you wanted.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“To make sure you get the life you deserve.”
Then she handed him one final document.
A bank transfer.
Forty-seven dollars.
Sent six years earlier.
From Edward Cole.
To Elena Mercer.
Nathan stared.
His father had been paying Elena.
Not to spy on him.
To protect her.
And the amount was exactly forty-seven dollars.
