Chapter 4 - The Missing CarMargaret’s suitcase was gone.
So was her car.
Nathan called her.
Straight to voicemail.
He called again.
Nothing.
Claire stood in the hallway holding Sophie.
“She ran.”
Nathan looked at the nursery camera.
The green light was off.
“When did that stop working?”
Claire looked confused.
“It was on yesterday.”
Nathan opened the home-security app.
Nursery camera disconnected at 4:12 p.m.
User:
MARGARET-B.
His mother had admin access because he had given it to her after Sophie was born.
Nathan called the police.
Claire did not want to.
Then she looked at the guardianship petition.
“Call them.”
An officer arrived twenty minutes later.
Claire described the confrontation.
Nathan described what he had witnessed.
The officer photographed the documents and advised Claire to be medically checked because she had been struck against the crib.
At urgent care, the doctor found no serious injury, only bruising and a mild scalp injury.
Nathan sat beside Claire while Sophie slept in a carrier.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire looked at him.
“For what part?”
The question hurt.
“For not seeing it.”
Claire looked down.
“I kept trying to make your mother like me.”
“You didn’t need to.”
“I thought I did.”
Then Nathan’s phone buzzed.
The DNA lab emailed the chain-of-custody documents.
The sample labeled NATHAN BROOKS had been submitted in person.
Nathan had never been there.
Security camera stills were attached.
A man wearing a baseball cap had delivered it.
Nathan zoomed in.
He knew that face.
Grant Hale.
His mother’s longtime financial adviser.
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Grant had access to the Brooks family trust.
Then Claire whispered:
“Nathan.”
She was staring at the guardianship petition.
“What?”
“There’s another attachment.”
He scrolled.
A trust document appeared.
SOPHIE BROOKS — BENEFICIARY ACTIVATION UPON VERIFIED PATERNITY.
Nathan read the next line.
If Sophie was legally recognized as his daughter, she would inherit twenty-five percent of Brooks Holdings.
Margaret’s voting control would drop below fifty percent.
May you like
Nathan finally understood.
This was never only about Claire.
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