Chapter 3 - FIVE YEARS AGO
Nathan locked the study door.
Grace stood near the window while Lily slept on the sofa under Emma's coat.
"Start at the beginning," Nathan said.
Grace gave a bitter smile.
"You mean the part where you don't remember me?"
He did not answer.
Five years earlier, Nathan had spent six months in Milwaukee after walking away from Cole Capital following a fight with his father. He had used his middle name, James, rented a plain apartment, and told almost no one who he was.
Grace had been working nights at a diner while finishing nursing school.
They met during a snowstorm.
They spent four months together.
Then Nathan's father had a heart attack.
Nathan left in the middle of the night after a call from Marcus.
"I texted you," Nathan said.
"No, you didn't."
"I called."
"No."
Grace pulled an old phone from her bag.
She had kept it because some grief refuses to become trash.
There were messages from her to Nathan.
I'm pregnant.
Please call me.
I don't want money. I need to know if you're coming back.
Every message showed delivered.
None showed a reply.
Nathan opened his own archived account.
No messages from Grace.
Then he found something worse.
His security settings had been changed during those exact months.
Authorized administrator: Marcus Hale.
Nathan sat very still.
Grace whispered, "I thought you chose not to answer."
"I didn't know."
Lily stirred on the sofa.
Nathan stared at her small face.
"Why did Victoria know?"
Grace looked toward Emma.
Emma placed a folder on the desk.
"Because six weeks ago, I found this in Victoria's bedroom safe."
Inside was a private DNA report.
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Probability of paternity: 99.98%.
Father: Nathan James Cole.
