Chapter 5 - The Secret Nate Couldn't Tell Me
Police surrounded Khloe's building.
Edward was gone before they arrived.
But he had left something behind.
An envelope.
My name was written across it.
Detective Reynolds brought it to the hospital after technicians cleared it.
Inside was a photograph.
Me.
Leaving the hospital six years earlier.
Another photograph.
Me at a medical conference.
Another.
Nathaniel and me outside our house.
Edward had been watching us for years.
The final item was a photocopy of a contract.
My forged signature appeared at the bottom.
Vale Biomedical Holdings.
I read the date.
Eight years earlier.
Three months after my wedding.
I looked at Nathaniel.
“You knew about this.”
His face answered before he did.
“Yes.”
Everything inside me went quiet.
“How long?”
“Not everything. Not at first.”
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
I walked away from his bed.
He tried to speak.
I raised one hand.
“No.”
Seven years.
Not three months.
Not a recent mistake.
Seven years.
“You let me live inside a crime with my name attached to it for seven years.”
“I thought Dad handled it.”
Robert looked stunned.
“Me?”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“Mom told me you did.”
Robert turned toward Susan.
She began crying.
And finally the oldest lie surfaced.
Susan had known Edward was alive for years.
He first contacted her shortly after our wedding.
He was broke.
Desperate.
And already involved in fraudulent medical ventures.
He learned about my career through Susan.
He realized my credentials could give his companies legitimacy.
Susan gave him copies of documents from our home.
She claimed she thought he only wanted proof of family assets for a loan.
Later, when she understood the truth, she was too frightened to expose him.
So she lied.
Then Nathaniel discovered one forged contract.
Susan told him Robert had quietly resolved it.
Nathaniel believed her.
Years passed.
The fraud continued.
Robert knew none of it.
Neither did I.
“You protected Edward,” Robert said.
Susan shook her head violently.
“I protected you.”
“No. You protected yourself from admitting what you'd done.”
Susan covered her face.
I understood then why Nate had hidden my career from his parents so aggressively.
His insecurity was real.
But there was another reason.
Susan had encouraged it.
The less the family discussed my professional life, the less likely anyone was to discover companies were using my name.
I felt physically sick.
Detective Reynolds took Susan's statement.
By midnight, authorities had warrants connected to Edward's financial network.
But Edward remained missing.
Nathaniel improved enough to sit upright.
I stood beside the window.
“Hannah.”
I turned.
“I'll sign whatever you need.”
“For what?”
“Divorce.”
The word landed softly.
“I don't want one,” he said. “But I understand if you do.”
I walked toward him.
“Do you know what hurts most?”
He shook his head.
“I spent years making myself smaller because I thought it made you comfortable.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I know.”
“I stopped talking about cases. Promotions. Awards. I let your mother believe I filed paperwork.”
“I know.”
“And every time you let her say something condescending about me, you knew the truth.”
“Yes.”
“That's betrayal too, Nate.”
“I know.”
I believed his regret.
Regret wasn't repair.
Not yet.
The next morning, Detective Reynolds called.
They had located one of Edward's vehicles.
Abandoned near the river.
Inside was a laptop.
The files revealed a scheduled transfer.
Midnight.
Thirty-eight million dollars.
If completed, the money would move through several international accounts.
The authorization credentials belonged to me.
“They're planning to make it look like you approved the transfer,” Reynolds said.
“Can we stop it?”
“We can freeze known accounts.”
“Known?”
“Edward has backups.”
Khloe studied the transaction.
Then pointed toward a verification field.
“He needs a physical security token.”
Nathaniel's face changed.
“What?”
“The token.”
He looked at me.
“I've seen it.”
“Where?”
“At my mother's house.”
Susan stared at him.
“No.”
“You have Dad's old brass safe.”
Robert frowned.
“What safe?”
Susan went white.
Nathaniel continued.
“Edward gave you something three weeks ago.”
Susan backed away.
Robert whispered, “Susan.”
She ran.
Detective Reynolds followed.
We reached the elevator corridor.
Susan stopped.
Not because Reynolds caught her.
Because someone was standing at the far end.
Gray coat.
Silver hair.
A familiar face from the security footage.
Edward Vale smiled.
May you like
Then lifted one hand.
In it was a small black security token.
