Chapter 2 - FIVE YEARS EARLIER
Five years earlier, Nathan had been twenty-nine and stupid enough to believe love could survive money.
Grace Bennett worked nights at St. Matthew’s Hospital.
Nathan spent his days learning the family business under his father, Charles Cole.
They had almost nothing in common.
That was why Nathan loved her.
Grace never cared about his last name.
She made him eat takeout on park benches.
She laughed when he showed up in a thousand-dollar suit.
She called his father “Mr. Cole” even after Charles repeatedly told her to call him Charles.
Nathan planned to propose.
Grace planned to tell him she was pregnant.
Neither got the chance.
Charles Cole summoned Grace to his office first.
He placed an envelope on the desk.
Inside was a check for two million dollars.
Grace pushed it back.
“I don’t want your money.”
Charles leaned into his chair.
“You will.”
“No.”
“You’re pregnant.”
Grace froze.
Charles smiled without warmth.
“You thought I wouldn’t find out?”
Grace covered her stomach instinctively.
“You don’t get to talk about my baby.”
“My son is not throwing away his future because of a nurse with student loans.”
“I love him.”
Charles laughed.
“You love what he represents.”
Grace stood.
“I’m telling Nathan everything.”
Charles pressed a button on his desk.
A lawyer entered.
Then another man placed a file beside Grace.
Inside were photographs of Grace’s mother.
Her apartment.
Her younger brother leaving college.
A copy of her nursing license.
Charles spoke calmly.
“If you contact Nathan, your mother loses her house.”
Grace stared at him.
“If you fight me, your brother’s scholarship disappears.”
“You’re insane.”
“If you reveal the pregnancy, my attorneys will prove you are financially unstable.”
Grace’s face drained.
“You can’t take my child.”
“I can bury you in court until you can’t afford groceries.”
Grace shook with rage.
Then the office door opened.
Helena Ashford stepped inside.
Grace recognized her immediately.
Victoria’s mother.
Charles poured Helena a drink.
Grace suddenly understood.
“You’re arranging something.”
Helena smiled.
“Nathan and Victoria have known each other since childhood.”
“He doesn’t love her.”
“He will learn.”
Grace looked at Charles.
“You’re selling your own son.”
Charles’s expression hardened.
“I’m protecting his future.”
Grace walked out without taking the check.
Three nights later, someone broke into her apartment.
Nothing valuable was stolen.
Only the ultrasound photograph.
The next morning, Grace received a message.
Next time, we take the baby.
She disappeared that afternoon.
Nathan spent months searching.
Charles told him Grace had accepted the money.
Nathan believed him.
Not because he wanted to.
Because the alternative was admitting his own father was capable of destroying the woman he loved.
Now, five years later, Grace sat in Nathan’s kitchen while a doctor examined her injured shoulder.
Nathan stood across from Victoria.
“You knew what my father did.”
Victoria shook her head.
“Not all of it.”
“But you knew Grace was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Lily existed.”
Victoria hesitated.
“Yes.”
Nathan stared at her.
“And you were going to marry me anyway.”
Victoria’s voice hardened.
“This marriage was never just about us.”
Nathan gave a humorless laugh.
“There is no us.”
Victoria’s face changed.
“You can’t cancel the wedding.”
“Watch me.”
“You’ll lose control of Cole Industries.”
Nathan went still.
“What?”
Victoria slowly smiled.
“Our marriage is tied to the voting trust.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask your attorneys.”
She picked up her purse.
“And while you’re doing that, ask what happens to your inheritance if Lily is legally recognized.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Victoria opened the door.
Then she looked back.
“Your daughter doesn’t just threaten me, Nathan.”
“She threatens every person who built your life.”
The door closed.
Nathan turned toward Grace.
Grace looked terrified.
“What?”
Nathan asked.
Grace swallowed.
“There’s something else you need to know.”
Nathan waited.
Grace looked toward Lily.
May you like
Then back at him.
“Your father came to see me the night Lily was born.”
