Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Knew Everything
Nicholas refused to believe it.
Ellie recognized the reaction because it was exactly the one she'd had about her father.
“No.”
One word.
A wall.
Ethan studied the ledger.
“It may not be what it looks like.”
Nicholas snapped the book shut.
“Nothing about this is what it looks like.”
They returned to the penthouse through a secure entrance.
Nicholas immediately called his mother.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The bakery was closed.
Her apartment empty.
For the first time, Nicholas lost control.
Not dramatically.
No shouting.
No breaking furniture.
He simply stopped moving.
Ellie understood that was worse.
“She knows,” he said.
“Maybe.”
“She knew about Anthony's notes.”
“Yes.”
“She had access to the storage room.”
“Yes.”
“She could have planted the fake page.”
“Yes.”
Nicholas looked at her.
“You're supposed to tell me I'm wrong.”
“I'm supposed to tell you what I see.”
“And what do you see?”
Ellie hesitated.
“A mother who kept a dangerous secret for six years.”
Nicholas looked away.
“That isn't the same as betraying you.”
Before he could respond, the penthouse intercom rang.
Ethan answered.
His face changed.
“She's downstairs.”
Nicholas's mother entered fifteen minutes later.
She carried no bag.
No coat despite the cold.
She looked exhausted.
Nicholas placed the ledger on the table.
“Explain.”
She looked at it.
Then at Ellie.
“You found Daniel's room.”
Nicholas stiffened.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
“Anthony?”
Her eyes filled.
“I knew he was investigating.”
“You let me believe he was paranoid.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Nicholas laughed once without humor.
“Everybody keeps using that excuse.”
His mother's voice sharpened.
“Because it worked.”
Silence.
She opened the ledger.
“The signatures aren't authorizations.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“What are they?”
“Confirmations.”
She explained.
After Anthony began investigating, Daniel realized the network was too large to expose all at once.
They created a secret record.
Every transaction had to be independently confirmed.
Victor tracked money.
Daniel tracked people.
Nicholas's mother tracked properties.
“You were helping them?”
“Yes.”
Nicholas sat down.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because after Anthony died, your father ordered everyone to stop.”
“Why?”
“He knew someone inside the family companies was responsible.”
“Victor?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Nicholas frowned.
“Then who?”
She looked toward the ledger.
“The person Victor was protecting.”
Ethan began turning pages.
Shell companies.
Transfers.
Initials.
Then one repeating code:
N.P.
Nicholas stared.
“My initials.”
His mother nodded.
“That was deliberate.”
Someone had been building a financial trail that could eventually be attributed to Nicholas.
The plan wasn't merely to remove him.
It was to destroy everything around his name first.
“So who is behind it?”
Ellie asked.
Nicholas's mother looked toward the windows.
“A man named Sebastian Vane.”
Nicholas immediately recognized the name.
A billionaire developer.
Public philanthropist.
Family friend.
The man who had delivered the eulogy at Anthony's funeral.
Nicholas went cold.
“Sebastian?”
“He created the network twenty years ago.”
“Why?”
“Control.”
The word hung in the room.
Not revenge.
Not anger.
Control.
Sebastian used companies, loans and investments to make powerful people financially dependent on him.
Anthony discovered it.
Daniel collected proof.
Victor was forced to cooperate after Sebastian threatened his family.
Nicholas's mother remained inside the network to preserve evidence.
“And the car?” Nicholas asked.
“I don't know.”
The apartment suddenly seemed too quiet.
Ethan looked at his phone.
“We do.”
He showed them a message.
Victor had finally contacted him.
Three words:
I WANT OUT.
Nicholas arranged a meeting.
Public location.
No threats.
No confrontation.
Victor arrived looking twenty years older.
He sat across from Nicholas in an empty private dining room.
Ellie remained nearby.
Victor looked at her.
“You're the waitress.”
“Yes.”
“You ruined everything.”
Nicholas's expression hardened.
Victor raised both hands.
“I mean their plan.”
He looked at Nicholas.
“The valet was supposed to frighten you.”
Ellie frowned.
“Frighten?”
“They wanted you to believe someone close to you was trying to remove you. Then they planned to feed you evidence pointing toward Ethan.”
“The fake note,” Nicholas said.
Victor nodded.
“Sebastian wanted you isolated.”
“Why?”
“Because Friday morning you were scheduled to sign control of three development companies into a new holding structure.”
Nicholas remembered.
A deal.
Nine months of negotiations.
Sebastian had encouraged it.
“If I signed?”
“Sebastian gained indirect control.”
Nicholas stared.
“And if I refused?”
Victor looked toward Ellie.
“They would make it look as though you were running the entire financial network.”
Ellie understood.
Nicholas either surrendered his companies or became the fall guy.
The vehicle incident had been psychological pressure.
Not the final move.
Nicholas leaned forward.
“Where is Sebastian?”
Victor hesitated.
Then looked at Ellie.
“He already has what he wanted.”
“What?”
“You.”
Ellie frowned.
Victor continued.
“Daniel contacted you.”
Nicholas stood.
“How do you know?”
“Because Sebastian has been searching for Daniel for twelve years.”
Ellie's blood went cold.
“He didn't care about Nicholas's car,” Victor said.
“He cared about finding out who would react.”
Nicholas understood.
Ellie had reacted.
Daniel had contacted her.
Sebastian now knew Daniel was alive.
Nicholas immediately called Ethan's technical team.
Too late.
Daniel's phone signal had just activated.
Queens.
Then disappeared.
Ellie's phone vibrated.
A message.
From her father.
Only six words:
DON'T COME. FINISH WHAT I STARTED.
Nicholas read it.
Ellie grabbed her coat.
“No.”
Nicholas blocked the doorway.
“My father is alive.”
“Yes.”
“And someone is looking for him.”
“Yes.”
“Move.”
Nicholas stared at her.
Then slowly stepped aside.
“I'm coming.”
Ellie's voice softened.
“I know.”
And for the first time since they met, Nicholas realized Ellie wasn't someone he needed to protect from his world.
May you like
She had already chosen to walk into the truth herself.
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