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 4
Nathan returned to Maggie’s before opening time.
Elena was already there.
She was sitting alone at a corner table with a folder in front of her.
When she saw him, she stood.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Nathan closed the door behind him.
“Who is Victor Shaw?”
Elena froze.
“How do you know that name?”
“Because he worked for my father.”
Her face changed.
Nathan stared.
“You knew.”
Elena looked toward the kitchen.
“Emma is at school.”
“Good.”
She took a breath.
“Your father knew my husband.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
“Elena’s husband,” he corrected himself.
“No. My husband.”
Nathan’s expression hardened.
“Who was he?”
“David Mercer.”
The name meant nothing.
Elena continued.
“He was an accountant for Cole Enterprises.”
Nathan stared.
“My father employed thousands of people.”
“David worked directly with him.”
“What did he do?”
“He discovered money was being moved through shell companies.”
Nathan felt cold.
“My father?”
“No.”
She pushed the folder toward him.
“Someone inside the company.”
Nathan opened it.
Financial records.
Invoices.
Transfers.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Victor Shaw.
Nathan looked up.
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“They told me David had stolen money.”
Nathan shook his head.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It didn’t to me either.”
She pulled out a photograph.
David stood beside Edward Cole.
Nathan recognized his father immediately.
“When was this?”
“Two weeks before David disappeared.”
Nathan looked closer.
His father was holding a folder.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you keep this?”
“Because David told me if anything happened, I should find you.”
Nathan stared.
“Why me?”
“He said your father trusted you more than anyone.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“My father barely talked to me.”
Elena looked at him.
“He talked about you.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were the only person in the family who still had a conscience.”
Nathan looked away.
His father had never said anything like that to his face.
Elena reached into the folder.
She pulled out another photograph.
This one showed a younger Nathan.
Standing beside his father.
At a charity event.
Nathan frowned.
“Why do you have this?”
“David kept it.”
“Why?”
“He said you were important.”
Nathan sat down.
“What are you hiding from me?”
Elena looked at the floor.
“I promised your father.”
“Promised what?”
“That I would keep you alive.”
Nathan stared.
“You think I’m in danger?”
“I know you are.”
“From Victor?”
“Victor works for someone else.”
“Who?”
Elena didn’t answer.
Nathan stood.
“I’m done being kept in the dark.”
She grabbed his wrist.
“Please.”
He looked at her hand.
She released him.
“Your father wasn’t the man everyone thought he was.”
Nathan frowned.
“He wasn’t perfect.”
“No.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“He was trying to expose the people inside his own company.”
Nathan stared.
“And David helped him.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“David disappeared.”
“And my father?”
“He was killed.”
Nathan swallowed.
“Accident.”
Elena looked at him.
“Was it?”
Nathan felt the room spin.
“You’re saying my father’s death wasn’t natural?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what do you know?”
Elena walked to the counter.
She pulled out a small key.
“David left this.”
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan took it.
On the key was a number.
47.
He stared.
“Forty-seven.”
Elena nodded.
“Your father once told David that if he ever needed to find the truth, he should start with forty-seven.”
Nathan looked at the wallet in his pocket.
Forty-seven dollars.
He suddenly remembered something.
His father had once told him:
“Sometimes the smallest number opens the biggest door.”
Nathan had thought it was a joke.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
That evening, Nathan returned to his room.
He emptied his wallet.
Forty-seven dollars.
He stared at the money.
Then he noticed something he hadn’t seen before.
The five-dollar bill had a handwritten mark near the serial number.
47B.
Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Your father chose poorly.”
Nathan said nothing.
“You’re looking for answers.”
“Yes.”
“Then ask Elena why her husband died.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
The voice continued:
“Then ask her what she did to survive.”
The call ended.
Nathan slowly lowered the phone.
Across town, Elena sat on the edge of her bed.
She opened the hidden compartment again.
This time she took out the old photograph.
On the back was a sentence written by David.
If Nathan ever comes looking, don’t tell him the truth until you know he can survive it.
Elena closed her eyes.
Because there was one part of the truth she had never told anyone.
Not even David.
