Chapter 5 - NATHAN TRIES TO COME HOME

Nathan was released from Blackthorn Manor shortly after sunset.

The financial investigation remained active, but prosecutors had not yet filed charges requiring detention.

He left through a side entrance wearing yesterday’s clothes.

Reporters surrounded his vehicle.

He said nothing.

Two hours later, he arrived at the hospital.

My father’s security officers stopped him near the private elevator.

Nathan demanded to speak with me.

He claimed he was concerned for my condition.

He claimed the events at the manor had been misunderstood.

He claimed Celeste had manipulated him.

I watched through a security camera as he repeated the lies.

“Amelia is my wife,” he said.

“She needs me.”

The guard did not move.

Nathan looked directly into the camera mounted above the elevator.

He knew I could see him.

“Please.”

That word nearly made me laugh.

Nathan had once told me that powerful men never begged.

Now he stood in a hospital corridor begging the woman he had tried to erase.

I asked the guard to send him away.

Nathan refused to leave.

Then he took a sealed envelope from his jacket.

“Give her this.”

The guard delivered it to Rebecca.

Inside was a handwritten note.

Amelia,

Celeste deceived both of us.

I know you believe I cannot be forgiven.

You are right.

I am not asking for forgiveness.

I am asking for ten minutes to explain Project Meridian.

Your father is lying to you.

Your mother did not die because of Victor Lang.

She died because of Elias Vale.

Nathan.

My hands went cold.

My father read the letter once.

Then he placed it on the table.

“He is trying to divide us.”

“Is the accusation completely false?”

“Yes.”

The answer came too quickly.

My father saw my doubt.

“Amelia, your mother’s death destroyed me.”

“That is not an answer.”

“I did not kill her.”

“Did your decisions place her in danger?”

He turned away.

Silence answered more effectively than words.

Rebecca watched us carefully.

“This conversation may be exactly what Nathan wants.”

“I know.”

I picked up the hospital phone.

My father faced me.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving Nathan ten minutes.”

“No.”

“You taught me never to ignore information because I disliked the source.”

My father stepped closer.

“Nathan is dangerous.”

“He is also frightened.”

“Frightened men are often the most dangerous.”

I called the security desk.

Nathan was escorted into a monitored conference room.

He appeared on a secure screen.

His tie was gone.

His hair was uncombed.

A bruise darkened one side of his wrist where an officer had restrained him.

He looked nothing like the polished chief executive featured on magazine covers.

“Ten minutes,” I said.

Nathan leaned toward the camera.

“Celeste is Victor Lang’s daughter.”

“We know.”

He blinked.

“She was using me to access Vale accounts.”

“We know that too.”

His expression tightened.

“Then you know your father financed the Meridian shipments.”

My father stepped into view.

Nathan smiled.

“There he is.”

“Be careful,” my father said.

Nathan laughed.

“You can threaten me after the federal agents finish searching your own records.”

I interrupted.

“What are Meridian shipments?”

Nathan looked at me.

“Officially, humanitarian equipment.”

“Unofficially?”

“Technology, financial records, and people.”

“What people?”

“Witnesses.”

The room became quiet.

Nathan continued.

“Victor built an evacuation network.”

“If a powerful client needed someone removed from a country, Meridian moved them.”

“Some disappeared voluntarily.”

“Others did not.”

I felt sick.

“And Ashford Global transported them?”

“Celeste controlled the routes.”

“You signed the contracts.”

“I didn’t know at first.”

“But you continued after you discovered the truth.”

Nathan looked away.

That was the closest thing to a confession he had given.

“What does this have to do with my mother?”

“She found the first Meridian ledger.”

“She was going to turn it over to regulators.”

“My father already told me.”

Nathan shook his head.

“Ask him why she was alone on the boat.”

I turned toward my father.

He did not speak.

Nathan leaned closer.

“Elias was supposed to meet her.”

“He canceled.”

“Victor’s men followed her instead.”

My father closed his eyes.

The truth emerged slowly.

He had not killed my mother.

But he had failed to protect her.

“Why did you write that he caused her death?” I asked.

“Because Celeste has the recording of their final argument.”

Nathan looked toward my father.

“Lillian told him that his obsession with controlling Vale Dominion was blinding him.”

“She said people were going to die.”

“Elias told her to stop interfering.”

My father’s face had lost its color.

Nathan continued.

“The next morning, she was dead.”

The ten-minute clock reached zero.

Before the screen went dark, Nathan spoke again.

“Celeste knows where the original Meridian ledger is.”

“She also knows you have the key.”

I looked at him.

“How?”

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