Chapter 2 - The Hidden Protection Nathan Left Behind
Richard stood frozen beside Nathan's desk.
His phone was still pressed against his ear.
I could not hear the voice on the other end.
But I could see the fear spreading across his face.
And that scared me more than anything else.
Because my father was not a man who scared easily.
For my entire life, Richard Vale had been the person who walked into a room and expected everyone else to move.
He was the person who never apologized.
The person who always had a plan.
But now, standing inside my house, looking at my husband's desk like it had suddenly become dangerous, he looked different.
He looked like someone who had just realized he had made a terrible mistake.
I held my phone tighter.
"Samantha?"
"I'm here," she answered.
"What is happening?"
"Elena, I need you to listen carefully."
Her voice was calm, but I could hear urgency underneath it.
"Do not confront your father. Do not go inside. Stay where you are until emergency services arrive."
I looked at the open front door.
Richard was still inside.
The same man who had pushed his pregnant daughter onto a concrete porch.
The same man who was now searching through the belongings of the husband I had just buried.
"I need to know what Nathan left behind."
Samantha paused.
Then she said something I would never forget.
"Nathan knew your father might try something like this."
My heart stopped.
"What do you mean?"
"Your husband came to my office six months ago."
I stared at the house.
Six months.
Nathan had been alive.
We had been planning for our baby.
We had been choosing names.
We had been laughing about whether our child would inherit my stubbornness or his patience.
And during all of that...
He had been preparing for something.
"What did he tell you?"
Samantha lowered her voice.
"He said, 'If Elena ever has to call you because of my family, don't assume it's a misunderstanding.'"
My throat tightened.
Nathan knew.
Not everything.
But enough.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he didn't want you living in fear."
I closed my eyes.
That was exactly like Nathan.
He always carried the heavy things himself.
Even when he shouldn't have.
A memory came back.
A few months before his accident, Nathan had been sitting at the kitchen table late at night.
I had walked downstairs and found him looking at documents.
When I asked what he was doing, he smiled and closed the folder.
"Just making sure my girls are protected."
At the time, I thought he was talking about me and the baby.
Now I wondered how much he had hidden.
A loud noise came from inside the house.
Something fell.
I opened my eyes.
Richard had knocked over one of Nathan's desk drawers.
"He found something," I whispered.
"Elena, don't move."
But I couldn't stop watching.
Richard dropped to his knees and began searching through the papers scattered across the floor.
Bianca stood near the doorway.
For the first time since arriving, she didn't look confident.
She looked nervous.
"Richard," she whispered.
"What are you doing?"
He ignored her.
That was when I realized something.
Bianca knew he was trying to take the house.
But she didn't know everything.
She wasn't the person controlling the situation.
She was just waiting for the result.
Samantha interrupted my thoughts.
"Elena, I need to ask you something."
"What?"
"Did your father bring a folder with him?"
"Yes."
"Did it have a blue label?"
I looked toward the kitchen table.
The folder was still there.
Blue label.
"Yes."
Samantha became silent.
Then she exhaled.
"That confirms it."
"Confirms what?"
"Richard wasn't planning a simple property dispute."
I felt a chill.
"What was he planning?"
"He filed paperwork claiming he was acting as Nathan's estate representative."
"But he isn't."
"No."
Her voice became firm.
"He has no legal authority."
I looked at Richard.
"He thinks he does."
"That's because someone helped him create false documents."
I swallowed.
"Who?"
Samantha didn't answer immediately.
And that frightened me.
"Elena..."
"What?"
"Before Nathan died, he discovered someone inside the family had been accessing private information."
My stomach tightened.
"Someone inside the family?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"I don't know yet."
The words should have comforted me.
They didn't.
Because suddenly I realized something.
My father didn't just come for my house.
He came prepared.
He knew about Nathan's estate.
He knew about the documents.
He knew exactly where to look.
Someone had given him information.
Someone close to us.
I looked at the wedding photo sitting on the bookshelf.
Nathan was smiling in it.
Holding my hand.
Protecting me.
Even after he was gone.
A sudden movement caught my attention.
Richard had stopped searching.
He was staring at something in his hand.
A small black box.
My breath caught.
"Samantha..."
"What?"
"I think he found something."
"What does it look like?"
I watched my father slowly open the box.
"It's small."
"Elena, listen to me."
Her voice became sharper.
"Whatever is inside that box, your father cannot take it."
"Why?"
"Because Nathan specifically told me that box could only be opened under one condition."
I stared through the window.
"What condition?"
Samantha didn't answer.
Then I saw Richard's expression change.
The anger disappeared.
The confidence disappeared.
He looked terrified.
"Elena..."
"What?"
"Can you see if there is a name on the box?"
I looked closer.
The box was old.
Black leather.
Small enough to fit in one hand.
There was a silver engraving on the top.
My heart started beating faster.
Because I knew that handwriting.
Nathan's handwriting.
But it wasn't my name.
It wasn't Richard's.
It was someone else's.
I whispered the name.
"Samantha..."
"Tell me."
I couldn't look away.
"It's addressed to..."
The front door suddenly moved.
A shadow appeared behind Richard.
Someone had entered the house.
Richard turned around.
His face went pale.
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Because the person standing behind him was the last person he expected to see.
And they were holding a document with Nathan's signature on it.
