Chapter 13 - NATHAN'S FINAL LIENathan sat across from me in a secure interrogation room.
He looked exhausted.
I placed the file on the table.
"Tell me everything."
He stared at it.
"You don't want to know."
"I already know too much to be afraid."
He looked down.
"I knew about Lily."
"I know."
"I knew your mother survived."
I swallowed.
"I know."
"And I knew Evelyn had been watching you."
My hands tightened.
"What else?"
He finally looked at me.
"I was supposed to kill you."
Silence.
The words landed harder than any physical blow.
"When?"
"Three years ago."
"Why didn't you?"
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Because by then I loved you."
I almost laughed.
"You loved me while sleeping with Celeste?"
"Yes."
"You let her abuse me."
"I know."
"You allowed me to believe I was losing my mind."
"I know."
"You watched me suffer."
He nodded.
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because every time I tried to stop Evelyn, someone I loved disappeared."
He told me the truth about Celeste.
She wasn't his mistress.
Not originally.
She had been assigned to monitor him.
She was Evelyn's enforcer.
But Celeste had eventually betrayed Evelyn because she wanted the empire for herself.
Nathan had been trapped between two women.
One wanted control.
The other wanted survival.
And in the middle was me.
I looked at him.
"You still hurt me."
"I know."
"You don't get to erase that."
"I know."
Then he pushed the file toward me.
"There's one more thing."
Inside was a bank account.
A personal account.
Not Ashford.
Not Vale.
Mine.
The balance was enormous.
I stared.
"Where did this come from?"
Nathan swallowed.
"Your grandfather."
I looked at the numbers.
"I thought he died before I was born."
"He did."
"The account was created when?"
"Twenty years ago."
The same year Lily was born.
I looked at Nathan.
"Why?"
He whispered:
"Because your grandfather knew Evelyn would come for Lily."
"And he prepared an inheritance."
For the first time, I realized something.
My family hadn't simply been surviving.
They had been preparing.
For decades.
Then the door opened.
Dad walked in.
He placed another folder on the table.
"This one is for you."
I opened it.
Inside was a contract.
The signature belonged to Evelyn.
But the beneficiary was Nathan.
I stared.
"What is this?"
Dad looked at Nathan.
"He wasn't just working for Evelyn."
Nathan went pale.
"He owned thirty percent of the council."
I stared at my husband.
"Did you?"
Nathan said nothing.
Then he finally nodded.
"Yes."
The room went silent.
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because I was trying to become powerful enough to destroy them."
Dad shook his head.
"That is not how the story started."
Nathan lowered his gaze.
"No."
I stood.
"Then tell me how it started."
Nathan looked directly into my eyes.
"When I first met you, I didn't love you."
My heart sank.
"I chose you because you were the easiest way into Vale Dominion."
Then he smiled bitterly.
"But I never expected to become the man who would one day kneel in front of you."
He pushed one final photograph across the table.
It showed Nathan, Evelyn, and Victor.
But in the background stood another person.
My father.
And he was shaking hands with Evelyn.
I stared at the photograph.
May you like
Dad had lied again.
And this time, I knew exactly what I had to do.
