Chapter 6 - The Secret Nathan Died Protecting
The storage facility alarm began ringing before James and I reached the door.
A loud, sharp sound.
The kind that made every instinct inside me scream to run.
But I didn’t move.
Because inside that building was the truth Nathan had died protecting.
And someone else wanted it.
James grabbed my arm.
“Fay, we need to leave.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“This isn’t a discussion.”
“Yes, it is.”
I pulled my arm away.
“For months, everyone has been making decisions for me.”
My voice shook.
“My parents. Dr. Voss. Maybe even Nathan.”
The last words hurt.
But they were true.
Nathan had protected me.
But he had also hidden things from me.
And now I needed the truth.
“I’m done being the person everyone protects without asking.”
James stared at me.
For a moment, he didn’t say anything.
Then he nodded.
“Stay behind me.”
We moved back into the storage unit.
The door remained open.
The hallway outside was empty.
Too empty.
The alarm continued.
Echoing.
Warning us.
James grabbed the laptop and Nathan’s files.
I held the envelope with my name on it.
Then we heard footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Coming closer.
James immediately turned off the light.
We stood in darkness.
My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure whoever was outside could hear it.
The footsteps stopped.
Right outside the unit.
Someone was there.
Waiting.
I held my breath.
Then a voice spoke.
“Fay.”
My blood turned cold.
Because I knew that voice.
I stepped forward.
James grabbed my shoulder.
“No.”
But I already knew.
The person standing outside wasn’t a stranger.
It was someone I had known my entire life.
The light from the hallway moved across the floor.
A shadow appeared.
Then my father stepped into view.
Gerald Whitmore.
He looked older than he had that morning.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like the weight of every lie he had carried had finally caught up with him.
“Dad?”
The word came out before I could stop it.
He looked at me.
His eyes filled with something I couldn’t identify.
Regret.
Fear.
Maybe both.
“Fay, listen to me.”
I laughed quietly.
A bitter sound.
“That’s what everyone says before they explain why they lied.”
His face tightened.
“I never wanted this.”
“You were part of it.”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
“I was trying to stop it.”
I stared at him.
“Then why were you talking to Dr. Voss?”
His expression changed.
A small crack.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, he looked defeated.
Then he stepped closer.
James moved between us.
“Stay where you are.”
Gerald looked at him.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
James’ voice was cold.
“Then explain.”
My father looked at me.
Not James.
Me.
“Your mother knows more than she told you.”
I felt my stomach twist.
Of course.
Patricia.
There was always another layer.
“What does that mean?”
Gerald swallowed.
“Your grandmother left something behind.”
I remembered Nathan’s words.
Something your mother took from your grandmother.
“What?”
“A document.”
“What kind of document?”
He looked away.
“That’s not the important part.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
My voice became stronger.
“You don’t get to do that anymore.”
He looked at me.
“You don’t get to give me half the truth and expect me to trust you.”
Silence.
Then he whispered:
“Your grandmother discovered what Patricia’s family had been doing.”
I frowned.
“My mother’s family?”
Gerald nodded.
“This started before you were born.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“How long?”
“Decades.”
I looked at James.
He looked just as surprised.
Gerald continued.
“Your grandmother found financial records. Hidden accounts. Names of people who had been manipulating families like ours for years.”
“Families like ours?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because people with money and influence don’t always steal money.”
A pause.
“Sometimes they steal control.”
I thought about Dr. Voss.
The questions.
The evaluation.
The plan.
They weren’t trying to take Nathan’s inheritance.
They were trying to take me.
My choices.
My independence.
My identity.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
My father looked down.
And that answer hurt more than any lie.
“Because I was afraid.”
I stared at him.
“My father was afraid?”
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“I thought I could control the situation.”
A bitter smile crossed my face.
“Everyone keeps thinking they can control everything.”
Gerald looked at the floor.
“I thought if I cooperated, I could keep you safe.”
“By helping them?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“By staying close enough to know what they were planning.”
I wanted to believe him.
That was the worst part.
A part of me still wanted my father to be telling the truth.
Because no matter how old I became, some part of me was still the little girl who believed her father could fix anything.
“What happened to Nathan?”
Gerald went silent.
James watched him carefully.
“That’s the question you’ve been avoiding.”
Gerald looked at me.
“Nathan discovered the document.”
My heart stopped.
“He found it?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Gerald looked toward the open hallway.
Like he was afraid someone else might hear.
“Then he realized Patricia wasn’t working alone.”
The air changed.
“Who was she working with?”
Gerald didn’t answer.
He looked terrified.
Not nervous.
Not worried.
Terrified.
“Dad.”
His voice dropped.
“The person behind this has been watching your family for years.”
I felt a chill.
“Who?”
Before he could answer, the lights in the storage facility went out.
Complete darkness.
Someone had cut the power.
James immediately pulled me backward.
“Stay down.”
A sound came from the hallway.
A door closing.
Slowly.
Someone had entered.
Gerald whispered something.
Something I almost didn’t hear.
“He found us.”
James looked at him.
“Who?”
No answer.
Then a phone vibrated.
Not mine.
Not James’.
My father’s.
He looked at the screen.
And the color disappeared from his face.
“What?”
I moved closer.
“Who is it?”
Gerald didn’t respond.
He just handed me the phone.
A message.
From an unknown number.
One sentence.
You should have listened when I told you to stay away from Nathan’s files.
My hands went cold.
Because underneath the message was a photograph.
A photograph taken inside the storage facility.
Taken moments ago.
It showed me.
James.
My father.
And the person standing behind us.
May you like
I slowly lifted my eyes toward the darkness behind me.
Because the photograph had been taken from inside the room.
