Chapter 14 - Nathan Finally Confesses
Before going to Virginia, I visited Nathan one last time.
I needed to know how much he knew.
He looked worse than before.
His company had lost nearly half its market value.
Three lenders had declared default.
Two governments suspended contracts.
Prosecutors were preparing fraud, conspiracy, obstruction, and assault charges.
Nathan stared at me through the glass partition.
“You won.”
“No.”
I said.
“This isn’t a game.”
“It always was to your father.”
I studied him.
“Did you know Celeste was Victor Sloane’s daughter before Blackthorn?”
“Yes.”
The confession barely surprised me.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan pressed his palms against the table.
“She promised me control of Meridian.”
I laughed quietly.
There he was.
The man I had married.
Not manipulated.
Not hypnotized.
Greedy.
“She told me I could become more powerful than your father.”
Nathan continued.
“She said Vale Dominion had manipulated markets and governments for decades.”
“So you decided to join a secret intelligence network.”
“I decided to protect myself.”
“You stole hundreds of millions.”
“I needed leverage.”
“You assaulted me.”
His expression collapsed.
“That had nothing to do with Victor.”
“No.”
I said.
“It didn’t.”
Nathan looked down.
For the first time, neither of us could blame Celeste.
He had chosen cruelty because he enjoyed the certainty it gave him.
“You hated that I questioned you.”
I said.
“Yes.”
“You hated that Celeste admired your worst instincts.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me afraid.”
His voice became almost inaudible.
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Then remember that.”
He looked up.
“When you are sentenced.”
“Remember Celeste did not make you become this.”
“You did.”
Nathan’s eyes filled with something I once would have mistaken for regret.
Maybe it was.
It no longer mattered.
As I reached the door, he spoke again.
“Claire.”
I stopped.
“There’s one more thing.”
I turned.
“The pendant.”
My hand instinctively moved toward my collarbone, though the recording device was now in evidence.
“What about it?”
“I knew it was a recorder.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“Celeste told me.”
My blood chilled.
“You knew that night was being recorded?”
“Yes.”
“Then why continue?”
Nathan’s eyes met mine.
“Because she said the recording would trigger your father.”
I understood.
Blackthorn had been staged.
Not the cruelty.
That had been Nathan’s choice.
But the timing.
The staff dismissal.
The security shutdown.
The two hundred lashes.
The phone.
Celeste wanted my father to move publicly.
She wanted raids.
Freezes.
Board panic.
She wanted Ashford Global weakened immediately.
“You were bait.”
I whispered.
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“So were you.”
I left without answering.
Outside, Agent Torres waited.
“Did he give us anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
I looked toward the detention building.
“The truth.”
“Nathan was never the mastermind.”
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“He wasn’t even the weapon.”
“He was the fuse.”
