Chapter 12 - THE BOATHOUSE
Victoria was no longer just a cruel fiancée.
She was a murder suspect.
Police surrounded the boathouse before dawn.
Nathan insisted on going no farther than the command post.
Grace stayed with Lily and Emma at a secure apartment.
Victoria came out alone.
No weapon.
No red folder.
She surrendered with a strange smile.
"You're all looking at the wrong person."
Detective Ortiz asked, "Did you buy Richard Cole's medication?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Marcus told me it was for his uncle."
Nathan almost crossed the police line.
Victoria continued.
"I didn't know the dose. I didn't know what he planned. When I learned, he owned me."
"So you helped him hurt a child?" Nathan asked.
Her face changed.
"I thought if Grace left, Lily would be safe."
Grace, listening through Ortiz's phone, closed her eyes.
Victoria had turned cowardice into an excuse.
Police searched the boathouse.
The red folder was hidden under a floorboard.
Inside was Richard's private audit.
Forty-six million in theft.
Shell vendors.
Bribes.
A list of board members Marcus controlled.
And one page marked SUCCESSION RISK.
Nathan James Cole - biological issue.
Below Grace's name was another.
A woman Nathan had dated ten years earlier.
Beside it were two words.
CHILD POSSIBLE.
Nathan stared.
"What does that mean?"
Ortiz turned the page.
There was a birth certificate.
A nine-year-old boy in Indiana.
Father blank.
Mother: Rachel Monroe.
Nathan whispered, "I know her."
May you like
Grace looked at him through the video call.
And for the first time, the conspiracy around Lily might not have begun with Lily at all.
