Chapter 10 - The monastery stood on a hill two hours outside the city.Rain fell heavily as Nathan and Maggie climbed the stone steps.
No lights burned in the windows.
A bell rang once.
Then stopped.
Nathan knocked.
An elderly nun opened the door.
She looked at him.
Her expression changed instantly.
“Nathan.”
“You know me.”
“I knew your mother.”
“Sister Elena?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
The nun looked over Nathan's shoulder.
“Come inside.”
They entered a dark chapel.
The nun locked the doors.
“She knew this day would come.”
Nathan's chest tightened.
“My mother is alive.”
The nun nodded.
“She was.”
Nathan froze.
“Was?”
Sister Elena looked at Maggie.
“You haven't told him.”
“Told me what?”
The nun crossed herself.
“Your mother died three months ago.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
The pain was strange.
He had spent hours believing she was alive.
Now grief returned.
Only this time, it was mixed with rage.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because she asked us not to.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed you were being watched.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“I was.”
Sister Elena reached into her robe.
She handed him a letter.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Nathan opened it.
My son,
He stopped.
Not "Nathan."
Not "my child."
My son.
He kept reading.
I lied because I had to. Marcus protected you when Thomas died. He gave you his name because Thomas could not.
Nathan's eyes burned.
But the greatest lie was not your identity. It was the book.
Nathan looked up.
“Where is it?”
Sister Elena pointed toward the chapel altar.
A stone panel opened.
Inside was a black leather ledger.
Nathan stared.
“The original.”
“Yes.”
He reached for it.
Sister Elena stopped him.
“Your mother wanted you to know one thing first.”
“What?”
“You were never meant to inherit the organization.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then what?”
“Destroy it.”
Maggie looked at the nun.
“How?”
Sister Elena took out another document.
“It is not a book.”
Nathan opened it.
It was a map.
A network of companies.
Bank accounts.
Trusts.
Political foundations.
Shell corporations.
At the center was a name.
VALE INTERNATIONAL TRUST
Nathan stared.
“That's my company.”
“No,” Sister Elena said.
“It's the organization that owns your company.”
Nathan realized what he was seeing.
His empire wasn't an empire.
It was a cage.
Sister Elena continued.
“Marcus built Vale International. Arthur turned it into something else.”
“And now?”
“Now Arthur wants Nathan to take control.”
Nathan looked up.
“Why me?”
“Because the trust recognizes your blood.”
Nathan went silent.
Maggie took the ledger.
“There's something else.”
She opened the first page.
Every name had a symbol beside it.
Most were black.
One was gold.
Nathan saw the gold mark beside his own name.
“What does it mean?”
Sister Elena whispered,
“Controller.”
Nathan stepped backward.
“That's impossible.”
“You have already inherited it.”
“How?”
“Your father transferred control before he disappeared.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Then Arthur can't control the trust.”
Sister Elena looked at him.
“No.”
“Good.”
“He doesn't need to.”
Nathan waited.
“He only needs to convince you to sign.”
A church bell rang outside.
All three froze.
Sister Elena whispered,
“He found us.”
The monastery doors exploded open.
Gunmen flooded the hallway.
Maggie pulled Nathan behind the altar.
Sister Elena grabbed the ledger.
“Go!”
Nathan shook his head.
“I'm not leaving you.”
She pushed the book into his hands.
“Your mother believed you would come.”
Gunfire erupted.
Stone shattered around them.
Sister Elena fell.
Nathan caught her.
“Stay with me!”
Blood stained her robe.
She looked at him.
Then whispered,
“Your mother wasn't the only woman who survived that night.”
Nathan stared.
“Who else?”
Sister Elena smiled faintly.
“Thomas's daughter.”
Maggie went completely still.
Nathan turned toward her.
“You have a daughter?”
Maggie's face drained of color.
Before she could answer, an explosion rocked the chapel.
May you like
The windows shattered.
And the ledger disappeared from Nathan's hands.
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