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 9
Nathan couldn’t move.
His name appeared on the ledger beneath a handwritten heading:
Protected Child — Nathan Cole.
Elena covered her mouth.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan turned the page.
There were dates.
Then his birth year.
His mother’s name appeared beside a series of coded entries.
Nathan stared.
“I was adopted?”
Elena stepped closer.
“No.”
“But my name is here.”
“Maybe your father was protecting you.”
Nathan kept reading.
A note appeared:
Nathan must never learn the identity of his biological father.
His hands shook.
“Who?”
Elena didn’t answer.
Nathan looked at her.
“Who is my biological father?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said Thomas might be Emma’s father.”
“Yes.”
“And now my father isn’t my father?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan slammed the ledger shut.
“I need answers.”
He opened it again.
A photograph fell out.
His mother.
Edward.
And another man.
Nathan recognized him.
Thomas.
On the back:
The three people who started it.
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Nathan grabbed Elena’s hand.
“Someone’s here.”
They hid inside the study.
The door opened.
Victor entered.
He was alone.
He walked directly to the fireplace.
He found the safe.
Empty.
Victor smiled.
“He found it.”
Nathan watched from the shadows.
Victor took out his phone.
“He has the ledger.”
A voice answered.
Nathan couldn’t hear the words.
Victor replied:
“No. Elena is with him.”
A pause.
Then:
“Then use the daughter.”
Nathan’s blood froze.
Victor left.
Nathan waited.
Elena whispered:
“They know where Emma is.”
Nathan immediately called the school.
No answer.
He called Maggie’s.
No answer.
Then Elena’s phone rang.
The school principal.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
Elena answered.
“What happened?”
“Emma was picked up.”
Elena went pale.
“By whom?”
“A man claiming to be her uncle.”
Nathan grabbed the phone.
“What’s his name?”
The principal hesitated.
“Thomas Cole.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
The hunt began again.
They drove across Manhattan.
Nathan called every contact he had.
Former executives.
Private investigators.
Security contractors.
For the first time since leaving New York, he used his wealth.
Within thirty minutes, he had ten vehicles searching.
But Elena stopped him.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
“You’re doing exactly what they expect.”
“They have Emma.”
“They want you angry.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Nathan stared.
“She’s a child.”
“I know.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“Think.”
Nathan forced himself to breathe.
He looked at the ledger.
“What does 47B mean?”
Elena pointed to the entries.
“Look.”
Every major transaction ended with 47B.
Nathan realized something.
“It isn’t a location.”
“What is it?”
“A code.”
“For what?”
He studied the numbers.
Then remembered his father’s old company.
Every internal department had a code.
47B.
Family Protection Division.
Nathan stared.
“My father had a department protecting witnesses.”
Elena nodded.
“And children.”
“Where?”
Nathan checked the ledger.
One address appeared repeatedly.
A small town in Vermont.
Nathan looked at Elena.
“That’s where they took Emma.”
They drove through the night.
At 4:30 a.m., they reached an old farmhouse.
No lights.
No vehicles.
Nathan stepped out.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, children’s toys covered the floor.
Photographs lined the walls.
Dozens of children.
Some were smiling.
Some looked frightened.
Elena stopped.
“This was the network.”
Nathan found a basement door.
They descended.
At the bottom was a room filled with documents.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You finally understand.”
Nathan turned.
Thomas stood in the doorway.
Emma was beside him.
She wasn’t crying.
She was holding his hand.
Nathan’s heart stopped.
“Let her go.”
Thomas smiled.
“I will.”
He looked at the ledger.
“But first, you need to know the truth.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“What truth?”
Thomas looked at Elena.
“She isn’t the only one whose identity was hidden.”
He pointed at Nathan.
“Neither are you.”
