Chapter 4 - The Price of Looking Away
Daniel spread the documents across Nathan's desk at 8:10 the next morning.
"How bad?"
"Worse than I thought."
Nathan remained standing.
Daniel pointed to invoices.
Cole Property Group had paid contractors for repairs that were never completed.
Some invoices were inflated.
Others appeared entirely fabricated.
Mark Ellis had approved many of them.
Nathan flipped through page after page.
"How much?"
"We're still calculating."
"Estimate."
"At least two million over four years."
Nathan stared through the windows.
Two million dollars stolen.
But the money wasn't what enraged him.
The money had been taken from maintenance budgets.
Broken heaters stayed broken.
Mold remained untreated.
Windows remained unlocked.
And Lily sewed pillow covers beneath a leaking ceiling while Nathan's company reported acceptable operating expenses.
"Call legal."
"Already did."
"External forensic accountants."
"Done."
"Mark's access?"
"Suspended."
Nathan turned.
"Not suspended. Terminated."
"Nathan, legal recommends—"
"Then legal can recommend quickly."
Within hours, Mark Ellis was escorted from the building.
He denied everything.
He blamed contractors.
Accounting.
Middle managers.
Anyone except himself.
Nathan watched him leave without satisfaction.
Because Mark had exploited a system Nathan created.
Cut costs.
Protect margins.
Don't ask unnecessary questions.
Nathan couldn't fire himself.
He could only change what came next.
Sarah remained hospitalized for another week.
Nathan visited every day.
Sometimes for ten minutes.
Sometimes hours.
Lily began expecting him.
On the third day, she handed him something.
A small square of fabric.
Nathan examined it.
"What is it?"
"A handkerchief."
"People still use these?"
Lily frowned.
"My mom says they do."
Nathan smiled.
"Then your mom is obviously right."
"I made it."
Nathan's smile faded.
"For me?"
She nodded.
The stitching wasn't perfect.
One corner leaned slightly.
Nathan folded it carefully and put it into his jacket pocket.
"Thank you."
Lily looked proud.
It was the first time he'd seen her look entirely like a child.
Nathan kept the handkerchief.
Years later it would still be in his desk.
When Sarah was discharged, she expected to return to 4B.
Nathan drove them himself.
But when they reached Mercer Street, Sarah stared.
Scaffolding covered part of the building.
Workers moved through the halls.
Fresh wiring.
New plumbing.
Window repairs.
Sarah looked at Nathan.
"What did you do?"
"What you told me."
"I told you to fix things."
"I'm fixing things."
"All of this?"
Nathan shrugged.
"You were persuasive."
Apartment 4B wasn't ready.
Nathan had arranged temporary accommodation in another renovated unit nearby.
Sarah objected immediately.
"I can't afford this."
"It's the same rent."
"I can't afford the old rent."
Nathan opened his mouth.
Sarah pointed at him.
"Don't say free."
He closed it.
Lily giggled.
Nathan looked at her.
"Whose side are you on?"
"Mom's."
"Obviously."
Sarah's smile disappeared when she saw a wheelchair waiting.
"I can walk."
"You nearly died eight days ago."
"I can still walk."
Nathan looked at Lily.
"Your mother is stubborn."
"I know."
Sarah gave both of them a look.
Nathan suddenly realized they were behaving like something dangerously close to a family.
The thought unsettled him.
He had avoided families.
Avoided dependence.
Avoided anyone who could leave.
His relationships lasted months.
Sometimes weeks.
Work was safer.
Buildings didn't die.
Contracts didn't abandon you.
Except now a seven-year-old waited for him every afternoon.
And her mother had begun looking at him as though she could see through the expensive suit.
One evening Sarah asked, "Why aren't you married?"
Nathan almost dropped his coffee.
"That's subtle."
"I'm sick, not polite."
He laughed.
"No particular reason."
"That's a lie."
Nathan glanced toward Lily, asleep on the couch.
Sarah waited.
Finally he said, "My father left."
Sarah's expression softened.
"I was six."
"I'm sorry."
"My mother spent the rest of her life trying to keep us afloat."
Nathan rubbed his hands together.
"I decided money would fix everything."
"Did it?"
Nathan looked around.
At Sarah.
At Lily.
"No."
Sarah nodded.
"Money solves many problems."
"That's what I thought."
"It pays rent. Buys medicine. Puts food on tables. Anyone who says money doesn't matter has probably never gone without it."
Nathan looked at her.
"But?"
"But it can't sit beside a frightened child in a hospital."
Nathan became quiet.
"It can't promise not to disappear," Sarah added.
Nathan knew exactly what she meant.
He visited the old tailoring shop from Sarah's photograph.
It was vacant.
The landlord recognized the Bennett name.
"She loved this place."
Nathan walked inside.
Dust covered the counters.
A faded outline remained where the sign had hung.
"Why'd she leave?"
"Medical bills."
Nathan stood in the center.
An idea formed.
He didn't tell Sarah.
Not yet.
Instead, he made an offer on the property.
Three days later, he owned it.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Mark expanded.
Other executives were implicated.
Contractors had paid kickbacks.
Nathan ordered every record released to investigators.
His board objected.
The scandal could damage the company.
Nathan answered simply:
"It should."
News eventually broke.
COLE PROPERTY GROUP INVESTIGATES MAINTENANCE FRAUD.
Reporters waited outside headquarters.
Nathan's public-relations team prepared a statement filled with safe corporate language.
He threw it away.
At the press conference Nathan stood before cameras.
"The residents deserved better."
A reporter asked, "Were you aware of the conditions?"
"No."
"Then why accept responsibility?"
Nathan paused.
"Because I owned the buildings."
The clip spread online.
Some praised him.
Others called it damage control.
Nathan didn't care.
He went back to Mercer Street.
That evening he found Lily sitting on the steps.
"Why are you outside?"
"Mom's sleeping."
Nathan sat beside her.
She held a piece of fabric.
"Are you sewing again?"
"Just practicing."
Nathan inspected her fingers.
Healing.
Good.
Lily looked at him.
"Are you really a millionaire?"
Nathan smiled.
"Who told you?"
"Mrs. Alvarez."
"Mrs. Alvarez talks too much."
"She says you own lots of houses."
"Buildings."
"Why?"
Nathan considered.
"Because I thought owning things meant I was successful."
"Are you successful?"
He almost gave the automatic answer.
Yes.
Instead he asked, "What do you think?"
Lily thought very seriously.
"You helped Mom."
Nathan swallowed.
"So maybe."
He laughed quietly.
"That's a tough performance review."
Lily leaned against his arm.
Nathan went completely still.
She trusted him.
Sarah's warning returned.
Don't disappear.
Nathan stared down the hallway.
"I bought something today."
"What?"
"A surprise."
"For Mom?"
"Mostly."
"When does she get it?"
"When she's strong enough."
Lily smiled.
Then she asked the question Nathan wasn't prepared for.
"Will you still come when Mom gets better?"
Nathan looked down.
Lily's expression was serious.
She had already learned that help often had expiration dates.
Nathan answered carefully.
"If you want me to."
"I do."
"Then yes."
She held out her little finger.
Nathan stared.
"Pinky promise."
He hooked his finger around hers.
"Pinky promise."
Neither noticed Sarah standing quietly in the doorway behind them.
May you like
She had heard everything.
And for the first time since Nathan Cole knocked on Apartment 4B demanding rent, Sarah began to wonder whether the man who had entered their lives was becoming something none of them had planned for.
