CHAPTER 12 THE MAN NATHAN CALLED FATHER
00:03:58.
The vault alarm screamed.
Red lights flashed across the walls.
Everyone was shouting.
But Nathan heard only one sentence.
“You'll discover who your father really is.”
He stared at Eleanor.
“My father?”
Richard, still bleeding, looked away.
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Mom…”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Not here.”
“You said not to open the file.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is it here?”
“Because Alexander wanted you to find it.”
Nathan glanced toward the red folder.
“Why?”
Eleanor's face was filled with fear.
“Because he knew you would never stop searching.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“What is in it?”
Eleanor whispered:
“The truth about your birth.”
Richard suddenly grabbed Nathan's sleeve.
“Leave it.”
Nathan looked down at his father's bloody hand.
“You're afraid of this file too.”
Richard didn't answer.
Nathan slowly pulled away.
“Then I'm opening it.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Nathan, please.”
He picked up the folder.
The cover was old.
The paper had yellowed around the edges.
At the bottom was a date.
October 14, 1986.
Nathan stared.
“That was the year I was born.”
Eleanor nodded.
He opened it.
The first document was a hospital record.
PATIENT: ELEANOR COLE
DELIVERY: MALE
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: UNKNOWN
Nathan's eyes stopped.
“Unknown?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Nathan looked at Richard.
“You're not my biological father.”
Silence.
Richard couldn't meet his eyes.
Nathan's voice became almost inaudible.
“Are you?”
Richard whispered:
“No.”
The word destroyed something inside Nathan.
He stared at the man who had raised him.
The man he had called Dad his entire life.
“You knew.”
Richard nodded.
“Since the day you were born.”
Nathan stepped backward.
“Then who is my father?”
Eleanor began crying.
Richard looked toward her.
“Tell him.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“You tell him.”
Richard swallowed.
“I can't.”
Nathan slammed the folder onto the table.
“WHO?”
The alarm continued.
00:03:04.
Eleanor finally spoke.
“Your father was Thomas Cole.”
Nathan froze.
He slowly turned toward the man standing across the vault.
Thomas.
His uncle.
His father's brother.
Nathan stared.
“No.”
Thomas's face was expressionless.
Eleanor nodded.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked at Richard.
“You knew your brother was my father?”
Richard nodded.
“I did.”
Nathan's voice cracked.
“And you raised me anyway?”
Richard looked at him.
“You were my son.”
“Not by blood.”
“By choice.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You don't get to say that after everything.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
Nathan turned toward Thomas.
“Is it true?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Are you my father?”
Thomas looked at Eleanor.
Then Richard.
Finally, he said:
“Yes.”
Grace stared.
Nathan's face went blank.
For twenty years, he had believed Richard Cole was his father.
He had spent his entire life trying to earn Richard's approval.
And now he discovered the man who raised him wasn't his biological father.
The man he had hated was actually his uncle.
And the man who had been secretly fighting the family from the shadows was his biological father.
Nathan's voice trembled.
“Why?”
Thomas answered quietly.
“Because your mother loved me.”
Richard looked away.
Nathan stared at Thomas.
“You were brothers.”
“Yes.”
“And you…”
Thomas nodded.
“Your father knew.”
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
“He knew before the wedding.”
Nathan looked at Richard.
“And you stayed?”
Richard nodded.
“Because Eleanor was pregnant.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“You stole your brother's child.”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at Nathan.
“I saved him.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You hid him.”
Richard turned.
“I protected him from Alexander.”
Thomas's voice became cold.
“You erased me from his life.”
“Because Alexander would have killed you.”
Thomas laughed.
“He tried.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both men went silent.
Nathan looked at Eleanor.
“Why did you marry Richard?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Alexander ordered it.”
Nathan froze.
“He forced you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas refused to join the Board.”
Nathan looked at Thomas.
“And Richard?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“Richard agreed.”
Nathan stared.
Richard whispered:
“I thought I could protect you from inside.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You became one of them.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
“I loved her.”
Eleanor looked at Richard.
“I know.”
Nathan felt sick.
Everything he believed about his family was collapsing.
Then he remembered something.
“Lily.”
Everyone looked at him.
Nathan turned toward Grace.
“What does this mean for Lily?”
Grace's face tightened.
“She is still your daughter.”
Nathan nodded.
But Eleanor suddenly shook her head.
“No.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
Eleanor's voice trembled.
“Lily isn't just your daughter.”
Nathan frowned.
“What else?”
“She carries Thomas's genetic marker.”
Thomas froze.
Richard stared.
Grace's face went pale.
Nathan's breathing stopped.
“How?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“Because the marker came from your biological line.”
Nathan understood.
Thomas was his father.
Therefore, the inherited marker in Nathan came from Thomas.
And Lily had inherited it from Nathan.
But there was more.
Eleanor whispered:
“That's why Alexander is terrified of her.”
Nathan looked toward Lily.
The little girl was holding Grace's hand.
She didn't understand.
Nathan walked over.
He crouched.
“Lily.”
She looked up.
“Yes, Daddy?”
Nathan smiled through tears.
“Nothing changes.”
Lily smiled.
“Promise?”
Nathan pulled her into his arms.
“Promise.”
Then the vault shook violently.
A massive explosion sounded somewhere above.
00:01:47.
Edward shouted:
“We have to go!”
Nathan stood.
But Eleanor didn't move.
“Mom?”
She looked at the red folder.
“There is one more page.”
Nathan grabbed it.
“What?”
Eleanor stared at him.
“The truth about Lily's birth.”
Grace's face changed.
“What truth?”
Eleanor handed Nathan the page.
He read it.
His eyes widened.
SUBJECT L-19
NATURAL CONCEPTION CONFIRMED.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: NATHAN COLE.
Nathan exhaled.
“She is mine.”
Grace began crying.
But beneath that line was another.
MATERNAL LINE: UNKNOWN.
Nathan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor's face went pale.
Grace stared at the document.
“That's impossible.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
Grace shook her head.
“I gave birth to Lily.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does it say maternal line unknown?”
No one answered.
Nathan looked toward Eleanor.
“Mom?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with fear.
She whispered:
“Because Grace wasn't the woman who gave birth to Lily.”
Grace froze.
Nathan stared.
“What?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“The woman who gave birth to Lily…”
She looked at Grace.
“…was your sister.”
Nathan's blood ran cold.
“Emily?”
Eleanor nodded.
Grace stumbled backward.
“No.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Then who are you?”
Grace's face crumbled.
“I don't know.”
The alarm screamed.
00:59.
And from somewhere beyond the vault door came a woman's voice.
A voice Grace recognized immediately.
“Grace…”
She froze.
It was her own voice.
Calling her name.
May you like
Then the door slammed shut.
And the lights went completely black.
