Chapter 4 - THE BOX UNDER THE FLOOR
Nathan arrived at Northstar headquarters at 8:52 the next morning.
He had not changed clothes.
His tie was gone, his white shirt was wrinkled, and exhaustion darkened the skin beneath his eyes.
But when the elevator doors opened onto the executive floor, every conversation stopped.
Employees stepped aside.
Nathan walked through them without slowing.
Lauren met him outside the boardroom.
“Graham brought five outside directors in person.”
“Good.”
“He also invited Sterling’s representatives.”
Nathan stopped.
“Why?”
“To pressure you.”
Nathan glanced through the glass.
Graham Cole sat near the center of the table.
Sixty-one years old.
Silver hair.
Tailored navy suit.
Perfect posture.
Walter Cole’s younger brother had spent his entire life appearing civilized.
Nathan suddenly wondered how many ugly things had been hidden beneath that polished exterior.
“Marcus?”
“Waiting downstairs.”
“Any movement on the SUV?”
“Sentinel claims it was stolen from their garage.”
Nathan smiled faintly.
“How convenient.”
“Marcus thinks the theft report was filed after the accident.”
“More convenient.”
Lauren touched his arm.
“Nathan, do not accuse Graham without evidence.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked at her.
She had known him too long.
“Yes.”
Nathan entered the boardroom.
Graham leaned back.
“There he is.”
Nathan ignored him and took his seat.
Sterling’s chief executive, Robert Sterling, looked annoyed.
“Nathan, we lost a full day yesterday.”
“My apologies.”
“An eight-billion-dollar acquisition does not stop because of personal inconvenience.”
Nathan met his eyes.
“A sixteen-year-old was nearly killed.”
Robert blinked.
Graham sighed.
“And this is precisely the issue.”
Nathan looked toward his uncle.
Graham folded his hands.
“Yesterday, our CEO abandoned the most important transaction in Northstar’s history because of a telephone call from a stranger.”
“A child.”
“A stranger.”
Nathan said nothing.
Graham continued.
“Now we learn you spent the night at Lakeshore Medical rather than reviewing final acquisition documents.”
Nathan leaned back.
“Did you have me followed?”
The question was quiet.
Graham’s expression did not change.
“Excuse me?”
“How did you know where I spent the night?”
Several directors looked between them.
Graham smiled.
“You arrived in yesterday’s clothes.”
“Interesting answer.”
“Nathan.”
“No. Keep going.”
Graham’s smile thinned.
“You are emotional.”
“My daughter was hit by a car.”
Silence.
Real silence.
Robert Sterling slowly lowered the pen in his hand.
Graham’s face changed for less than a second.
Nathan saw it.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Then it vanished.
“Your daughter?” Graham asked.
Nathan watched him carefully.
“Apparently.”
The room erupted in questions.
Nathan raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
“I learned yesterday that I have a sixteen-year-old biological daughter.”
Graham stared at him.
“She is currently hospitalized.”
One director whispered, “My God.”
Nathan continued.
“Which means the Sterling transaction is postponed until further notice.”
Robert Sterling stood.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
“We have a signed exclusivity agreement.”
“You have an agreement requiring board approval. You do not have approval.”
Graham’s voice hardened.
“This company cannot be managed according to your personal crises.”
Nathan turned slowly toward him.
“I agree.”
Graham frowned.
“That is why I think we should discuss conflicts of interest.”
Nathan reached inside his jacket.
For one beautiful second, Graham’s confidence faltered.
Nathan placed nothing dramatic on the table.
Only the DNA report.
“I have a daughter.”
Graham looked at the paper but did not touch it.
“Congratulations.”
Nathan studied him.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“I’m shocked.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You’re many things, Uncle Graham. Shocked isn’t one of them.”
Lauren shifted near the wall.
Daniel gave Nathan a warning look.
Nathan ignored both.
“Did you know Rachel Bennett was pregnant?”
Graham’s face became perfectly still.
There it was.
A tiny pause.
Two seconds.
Then—
“I barely remember the woman.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“That wasn’t my question.”
“You dated many women.”
“Not Rachel.”
Graham looked around the room.
“This is inappropriate.”
“Did you visit her apartment seventeen years ago?”
Graham stood.
“I will not participate in this.”
Nathan smiled.
“Then sit down.”
Graham’s eyes narrowed.
“You do not give me orders.”
“At Northstar?”
Nathan leaned back.
“I do.”
The meeting ended without a removal vote.
Not because Graham changed his mind.
Because Nathan controlled enough voting shares to block an immediate action without formal notice.
But Nathan knew the battle had started.
When he returned to the hospital, Emma was sitting up.
She looked pale but alert.
Sophie was beside her eating pancakes.
Nathan entered carrying two paper bags.
Sophie brightened.
“You came back.”
The words hit him harder than they should have.
“I said I would.”
Emma watched him.
“You went to work?”
“For ninety-seven minutes.”
“Very specific.”
“I’m a specific person.”
Sophie pointed toward one bag.
“What’s that?”
“Clothes.”
“For Emma?”
“For both of you.”
Sophie immediately opened it.
Emma frowned.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I know.”
“That stuff looks expensive.”
Nathan glanced at Sophie, who was holding up a sweater with delight.
“Lauren bought it.”
“Who’s Lauren?”
“The person who actually runs my life.”
For the first time, Emma laughed.
It lasted only a second.
Nathan wanted to hear it again.
He sat beside her.
“The test came back.”
Emma’s expression changed.
Nathan placed the report on the table.
She didn’t touch it.
“You’re my father.”
“Yes.”
Emma stared at him.
“How do you feel?”
Nathan considered lying.
Instead he said, “Angry.”
Emma’s face hardened.
“Of course.”
“Not at you.”
She looked up.
“I’m angry because somebody took sixteen years from us.”
Something in Emma’s eyes broke.
“My mom tried.”
“I know.”
“She really tried.”
“I know.”
Tears gathered along Emma’s lashes.
Nathan kept his voice steady.
“I believe her.”
Emma turned away quickly.
Nathan let her.
After several minutes, she whispered, “I need the box.”
“Where is it?”
“At our apartment.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You’re not going.”
“I have to.”
“Marcus can get it.”
“Who’s Marcus?”
“My security director.”
“No.”
“Emma—”
“No strangers.”
Nathan stopped.
She was frightened.
Not stubborn.
Frightened.
“Okay.”
Emma looked at him.
“We go together.”
“You have two fractured ribs.”
“I can walk.”
“The doctor disagrees.”
“She said no marathons.”
Nathan sighed.
“You sound exactly like Rachel.”
Emma’s expression softened.
“What was she like when she was young?”
Nathan looked out the window.
“Brave.”
Emma waited.
“Stubborn.”
She smiled.
“Cheap coffee.”
“What?”
“She believed every problem in the world could be solved by bad coffee.”
Emma laughed weakly.
“She still did.”
Nathan smiled.
For one moment, Rachel felt close.
That afternoon, Dr. Chen reluctantly allowed Emma a short supervised trip from the hospital, provided she used a wheelchair and returned within two hours.
Nathan took both girls.
Marcus followed in another vehicle.
Their apartment was in an aging three-story building in Albany Park.
Nathan stared at the chipped paint outside.
He had homes in Chicago, New York, London, and Aspen.
His daughter had grown up here.
He hated himself for noticing the difference.
Emma unlocked the door.
The apartment was small but warm.
Books filled every shelf.
Photographs covered the refrigerator.
Sophie ran inside.
Nathan remained near the doorway.
There were pieces of Rachel everywhere.
Her scarf on a hook.
A coffee mug on the counter.
A grocery list attached to the refrigerator.
Emma wheeled herself toward the back bedroom.
Nathan followed.
Rachel’s room was almost untouched.
Emma pointed toward the floor beside the bed.
“Move that nightstand.”
Nathan did.
Beneath it was a loose floorboard.
Emma lifted it.
Inside was a wooden box.
Nathan’s throat tightened.
She placed it on the bed.
“Open it.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“She wanted you to see it.”
He lifted the lid.
Sixteen envelopes were arranged by year.
Each had his name.
Nathan Cole.
Some had old addresses.
Some were addressed directly to Northstar.
Most had postal markings across them.
RETURN TO SENDER.
REFUSED.
UNDELIVERABLE.
Nathan picked up the first.
His hands shook.
The envelope had never been opened.
Emma whispered, “Read it.”
Nathan tore it carefully.
Rachel’s handwriting filled three pages.
Nathan,
I don’t know what your family told you.
I don’t know whether you will ever read this.
But I am pregnant.
Nathan stopped.
The words blurred.
He forced himself to continue.
Your uncle came to see me today.
He offered me money.
He said you wanted me gone.
I told him I didn’t believe him.
Then he showed me a letter with your signature.
Nathan looked up.
“What letter?”
Emma reached into the box.
“There.”
A photocopy.
Nathan took it.
The letter was brief.
Rachel, I don’t want a child. Take the settlement Graham offers you and leave.
At the bottom was Nathan’s signature.
Except it wasn’t.
Nathan stared at it.
Someone had copied his signature well.
Very well.
But Nathan knew every curve of his own name.
“This is forged.”
Emma looked at him.
“You’re sure?”
“Completely.”
Nathan continued reading Rachel’s letter.
If this really is what you want, tell me yourself.
I will not ask you for money.
I will not embarrass you.
But I will not make a decision about our baby because your family sends men to my apartment.
Nathan lowered the page.
His eyes burned.
Rachel had waited for him.
And he had never come.
Emma was crying silently.
Nathan reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
Marcus entered from the hallway.
“Nathan.”
His tone changed the room.
“What?”
Marcus held up his phone.
“We have a problem.”
Nathan stood.
“What happened?”
“I checked the hallway camera.”
Emma frowned.
“We don’t have cameras.”
“The building across the street does.”
Marcus turned the screen.
Video showed the apartment entrance.
At 2:18 that morning, a man in a baseball cap approached the door.
He tried the lock.
Then another man joined him.
They remained inside the building for eleven minutes.
Nathan looked toward the wooden box.
“They were searching for this.”
Marcus nodded.
“Probably.”
Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
Nathan answered.
“Nathan Cole.”
A distorted male voice spoke.
“You should have stayed in your boardroom.”
Nathan’s expression went cold.
“Who is this?”
“Give us the box.”
Nathan looked at Emma.
“No.”
A soft laugh.
“Then next time the driver won’t miss.”
The call disconnected.
Emma went pale.
Sophie grabbed her sister.
Nathan stared at the phone.
Then at the sixteen letters.
Someone had buried the truth for sixteen years.
Now they were willing to destroy anyone who uncovered it.
Nathan closed the wooden box.
“We’re leaving.”
Emma looked at him.
“Where?”
May you like
Nathan met her eyes.
“Somewhere they can’t reach you.”
