Chapter 11 - Elias
Nathan stared at the screen.
He could not process the name.
Elias Ward.
His father’s attorney.
His mother’s attorney.
His attorney.
The man who had helped him rescue Grace.
The man who had protected Lily.
The man currently controlling the release of Ledger Nine.
Nathan whispered.
“No.”
Samuel laughed.
“You finally found the joke.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“Nathan.”
His phone rang.
Elias.
Nathan stared at the screen.
Samuel smiled.
“Answer.”
Nathan did.
Elias sounded calm.
“You opened the archive.”
Nathan said nothing.
Elias sighed.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan’s face changed.
“You killed my mother.”
Silence.
Then Elias answered.
“Yes.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Nathan almost dropped the phone.
“Why?”
“Because she asked me to.”
Samuel laughed loudly.
Nathan stared.
“What?”
Elias continued.
“She was dying.”
“Samuel’s doctors had kept her sedated for years.”
“She had irreversible organ damage.”
“She escaped.”
“She found Grace.”
“She found me.”
Nathan could barely breathe.
“She asked you to poison her?”
“No.”
Elias’s voice broke.
“She asked me to make sure Samuel could never take her alive again.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
Elias whispered.
“It isn’t.”
Nathan gripped the phone.
“What did you do?”
“I gave her medication.”
“She knew what it would do.”
“You killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Then you buried it.”
“Yes.”
“You let me mourn an empty coffin.”
Elias cried quietly.
“I was ashamed.”
Nathan shouted.
“You were a coward!”
Elias did not argue.
“Yes.”
Samuel grabbed Grace.
He placed a gun against her side.
Nathan turned.
Samuel smiled.
“Family therapy later.”
He pointed toward the server console.
“Transfer the archive.”
Nathan lowered the phone.
Elias heard the movement.
“Nathan, Samuel cannot leave with that archive.”
Nathan stared at Samuel.
“I know.”
Elias continued.
“The moment the archive opened, I triggered publication.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Samuel’s face changed.
Elias spoke clearly.
“Every file is being transmitted to independent journalists.”
Samuel lunged toward the server.
Transfer bars appeared.
12%.
23%.
35%.
Samuel screamed.
He fired at the server rack.
Sparks erupted.
The upload continued.
Victoria kicked Samuel behind the knee.
He fell.
Grace ran.
Nathan tackled Samuel.
The gun slid across the floor.
Victoria reached it first.
She pointed it at her father.
Samuel froze.
Victoria’s hands shook.
“Don’t move.”
Samuel smiled.
“You won’t shoot me.”
Victoria cried.
“You made me hurt people.”
“No.”
“You wanted my approval.”
Victoria’s face crumpled.
Samuel continued.
“You maintained the ledger because you loved power.”
“Stop.”
“You threatened Grace because you wanted Nathan.”
“Stop.”
“You raised that hockey stick because somewhere inside, you enjoyed finally controlling the woman you feared.”
Victoria screamed.
“Stop!”
Her finger tightened.
Nathan looked at her.
“Victoria.”
She glanced at him.
Nathan spoke slowly.
“If you shoot him now, he owns the last thing you become.”
Victoria shook.
Samuel smiled.
“You hear him?”
“He still thinks you can be saved.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“I didn’t say that.”
Victoria stared.
Nathan continued.
“You will answer for what you did to Grace.”
“You will answer for Lily.”
“You will answer for every record you maintained.”
Victoria cried.
“But you answer alive.”
Her arms slowly lowered.
Samuel lunged.
The gun fired.
Grace screamed.
Samuel stumbled.
Blood spread across his abdomen.
Victoria stared at the weapon.
“I didn’t…”
Samuel collapsed.
Nathan kicked the gun away.
Elena’s team stormed the room.
They restrained Samuel.
He was alive.
Barely.
Margaret entered moments later.
She saw her husband bleeding.
Then her daughter.
Margaret crossed the room.
She slapped Victoria.
Everyone froze.
Victoria stared.
Margaret grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace.
Victoria began sobbing.
Nathan looked away.
Some families only learned tenderness after ruining everything else.
The server reached 100%.
Publication complete.
Samuel laughed weakly from the floor.
“You think that fixes it?”
Nathan crouched.
“No.”
Samuel coughed.
“You’ll lose the company.”
“Probably.”
“Your name.”
“Maybe.”
“Your fortune.”
Nathan looked toward Grace.
Then at Lily’s photograph on his phone.
“Keep going.”
Samuel’s smile faded.
Nathan stood.
Federal agents arrived twenty minutes later.
Not local police.
Elias had contacted the Justice Department before the broadcast.
Captain Reed was arrested before midnight.
Judge Andrew Vale was taken from his home.
Six Cole Meridian executives were detained.
Three state officials resigned before dawn.
Nathan walked outside at 1:12 a.m.
Grace followed.
Rain was falling.
Nathan stopped beneath the concrete overhang.
Grace stood beside him.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Finally Grace said.
“What happens now?”
Nathan laughed softly.
“I have no idea.”
Grace looked at him.
“That might be the first honest thing anyone in your family has said in thirty years.”
Nathan almost smiled.
Then his phone buzzed.
A text from Elena.
LILY IS ASKING FOR YOU.
Nathan immediately started walking.
Grace caught his hand.
He stopped.
She looked at him.
“You can’t become her father in one night.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to make mistakes.”
“I know.”
“She will be angry sometimes.”
“I know.”
“She hates peas.”
Nathan blinked.
“What?”
Grace smiled for the first time since the kitchen.
“She hates peas.”
Nathan nodded seriously.
“Important intelligence.”
Grace laughed.
The sound hit him harder than any revelation.
Then her expression became quiet.
“Nathan.”
“Yes?”
“She already loves you.”
Nathan swallowed.
Grace released his hand.
“That’s the dangerous part.”
He frowned.
Grace looked toward the rain.
“Children forgive faster than adults.”
Nathan understood.
She was not talking about Lily.
She was talking about herself.
Before he could answer, another message arrived.
Elias.
PLEASE COME TO MY OFFICE BEFORE THEY ARREST ME.
Nathan stared.
Grace read it.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan’s expression hardened.
“Because my mother said there was one final truth.”
Grace frowned.
“She already told you Elias killed her.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“The video cut off.”
Grace stared.
Nathan remembered Evelyn’s recording.
Her mouth had kept moving for a fraction of a second before Samuel fired at the server.
There had been more.
Nathan looked at Grace.
May you like
“And I need to know what my mother was trying to say next.”
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