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 6
The bus ride to Pittsburgh lasted nearly four hours.
Nathan sat beside Elena while Emma slept against her mother’s shoulder.
Rain streaked the windows.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Finally Elena said:
“You don’t have to do this.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I know.”
“You could go back to New York.”
“I could.”
“Your old life is still there.”
Nathan smiled.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Elena studied him.
“You really left everything?”
“Almost.”
“Why?”
Nathan thought about Vanessa.
His father’s funeral.
The endless meetings.
The people who smiled because of his last name.
“I wanted to know if anyone would choose me without the money.”
Elena looked down.
“And did you find your answer?”
“Not yet.”
She smiled faintly.
“Maybe you won’t like it.”
“I’ll take the risk.”
When they reached Pittsburgh, they walked six blocks to the old Cole Enterprises building.
The company had moved years earlier.
The original building was abandoned.
Its windows were boarded.
A security fence surrounded it.
Nathan looked at the old sign.
His father’s name had been removed.
Only rust remained.
Elena pulled out the key marked 47.
“There.”
A small metal door beneath the loading dock.
Nathan inserted the key.
It opened.
Inside was a narrow corridor.
At the end was a storage room.
Rows of old filing cabinets covered the walls.
Nathan found drawer 47.
Inside was an envelope.
His father’s handwriting.
Nathan opened it.
Nathan,
If you’re reading this, then I failed to protect you.
Nathan stopped.
Elena stood beside him.
He continued.
There are people inside my company who have been stealing from it for years. They are not interested in money anymore. They want control.
The next paragraph made Nathan’s stomach tighten.
Thomas is alive.
Nathan looked at Elena.
His father’s letter continued.
I couldn’t expose him without putting you at risk.
Nathan swallowed.
Then:
David Mercer knows where the evidence is.
Another line:
Trust the woman who doesn’t trust you.
Nathan looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
He read the final sentence.
If you ever meet Elena Mercer, don’t tell her you are my son.
Nathan slowly looked up.
“You knew.”
Elena shook her head.
“I knew your father.”
“But he warned me about you.”
“No.”
Nathan showed her the letter.
She read it.
Her face changed.
“Your father thought I was involved.”
“Were you?”
She looked at him.
“No.”
“Then why did he warn me?”
“Because David didn’t trust anyone.”
Nathan folded the letter.
“What was in the ledger?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“Politicians. Judges. Private investigators.”
Nathan frowned.
“For what?”
“To bury evidence.”
Suddenly footsteps echoed outside.
Elena froze.
“Someone’s here.”
Nathan closed the drawer.
They moved behind a row of cabinets.
Two men entered.
One was Victor Shaw.
The other was older.
Nathan recognized him immediately.
Thomas Cole.
His uncle.
Nathan stared.
Thomas looked at the drawer.
“It’s gone.”
Victor nodded.
“Then he’s here.”
Thomas sighed.
“I told Edward his son would eventually come looking.”
Victor asked:
“What do we do?”
Thomas looked around.
“Find him.”
Nathan held Elena’s hand.
She whispered:
“Don’t move.”
But Emma woke.
“Mama?”
The sound echoed through the room.
Victor turned.
“Search the building.”
Nathan knew they were trapped.
He looked around.
Then noticed an old maintenance door.
He pulled Elena and Emma through it.
They ran down a narrow staircase.
Behind them, footsteps followed.
They reached the basement.
No exit.
Elena pointed toward a ventilation shaft.
“Too small.”
“For me.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You go first.”
“No.”
“Take Emma.”
Elena hesitated.
Nathan lifted the grate.
“Go.”
She climbed inside.
Emma followed.
Nathan climbed after them.
Behind them, the basement door slammed open.
Victor shouted:
“Nathan!”
Nathan crawled faster.
A gunshot struck the metal grate behind him.
They emerged into an alley.
A taxi stopped nearby.
Nathan waved.
“Drive!”
They piled inside.
As the taxi pulled away, Nathan looked back.
Thomas stood in the doorway.
He wasn’t angry.
He was smiling.
Nathan felt a chill.
His uncle shouted something.
Nathan couldn’t hear it.
But Elena could.
Her face went pale.
“What did he say?”
She whispered:
“He said…”
Nathan waited.
“He said, ‘Ask her who Emma’s father really is.’”
