Chapter 9 - ARTHUR’S CONFESSION
Arthur survived.
The bullet entered below his collarbone and missed the major artery by less than an inch.
Agents found him in Nathan’s study.
Unarmed.
Victoria had fired twice.
One bullet hit Arthur.
The second entered the wall.
Sophie had been in the hallway.
That alone guaranteed Victoria would not be walking out of custody anytime soon.
Claire and Thomas Harrison arrived overnight.
When Sophie saw them, she ran.
“Mommy!”
Claire dropped to her knees.
Sophie crashed into her arms.
Thomas wrapped both of them in his embrace.
I watched from twenty feet away.
And understood something important.
DNA can explain biology.
It cannot automatically create parenthood.
Whatever Sophie’s blood said, those were her parents.
I had no intention of taking her away.
Not then.
Not ever.
Victoria was arrested.
Kidnapping.
Unlawful imprisonment.
Child endangerment.
Assault.
Evidence tampering.
The list grew every hour.
Arthur was transported to a trauma center.
Before surgery, he requested to speak with me.
Against Marcus’s advice, I went.
Arthur looked twenty years older beneath hospital lights.
“You look like hell,” I said.
He smiled faintly.
“You always were direct.”
“I learned today my wife slept with my brother for three years.”
His smile vanished.
“I suspected.”
“You still slept with her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved her.”
I almost laughed.
“That word is getting very cheap.”
Arthur looked toward the ceiling.
“I thought I could save her.”
“From what?”
“Margaret.”
“Victoria made her own choices.”
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
“I spent years blaming Margaret for everything Victoria became. Eventually I realized enabling someone is not saving them.”
“Did you help erase Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“Did you falsify records?”
“Yes.”
“Threaten Rachel?”
Arthur shut his eyes.
“At first.”
“Why?”
“I believed Rachel wanted money.”
“She wanted to protect a baby.”
“I know that now.”
“Where was she for four years?”
Arthur opened his eyes.
“Safe houses.”
“You arranged them?”
“Some.”
“Why keep Emily and Caleb believing she was gone?”
“Because Margaret monitored them.”
“Rachel could have contacted police.”
“Margaret owned people.”
“Police?”
“Police. Hospital administrators. Private investigators. Lawyers.”
“Convenient explanation.”
“I have proof.”
“Where?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Saint Catherine.”
“The records facility.”
He stared at me.
“There’s a wall safe inside archive room B12.”
“Combination?”
“04171992.”
“What’s inside?”
“Everything.”
I turned to leave.
“Daniel.”
I stopped.
“I didn’t kill Nathan.”
“Did Margaret?”
“I believe so.”
I looked back.
“Believe?”
“Nathan called me the night he died. He was terrified.”
“Of Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Arthur looked tired.
“He said she had discovered the paternity report.”
“So Sophie was his.”
“Yes.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Nathan wanted to tell you everything.”
My throat tightened.
“He planned to confess?”
“He said he couldn’t keep living with it.”
“Three years too late.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“He drove to the marina to meet Margaret.”
“Why?”
“She claimed she wanted to negotiate.”
“And then his boat exploded.”
Arthur nodded.
“You never told police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret showed me photographs of Victoria entering my apartment.”
Blackmail.
“She would expose your affair.”
“And destroy my medical career.”
I laughed without humor.
“So everyone chose themselves.”
Arthur didn’t argue.
Rachel chose Sophie.
Emily chose Caleb.
Claire and Thomas chose a child who wasn’t biologically theirs.
Everyone else chose themselves.
I left.
Agents searched Saint Catherine’s closed archival facility.
The hospital had relocated years earlier, but records remained in climate-controlled storage.
Room B12 existed.
So did the wall safe.
Inside:
Original birth documents for all three babies.
Sophie’s genuine blood sample.
Nathan’s DNA sample.
Financial transfers from Margaret.
Emails between hospital executives.
Photographs.
And an audio recording.
Nathan’s voice.
Recorded the day before he died.
Daniel,
If you ever hear this, I need you to know I’m sorry.
There’s no excuse for what I did.
Victoria and I started before you proposed to her.
I told myself it would end.
It didn’t.
When she became pregnant, she didn’t know whether the third baby was yours or mine.
The tests came back yesterday.
She’s mine.
Her name is Sophie.
I want to tell you.
Margaret says it will destroy the family.
Maybe it should.
I betrayed you.
You deserved a brother.
I wasn’t one.
I’m meeting Margaret tomorrow.
After that, I’m coming to you.
No more lies.
If something happens—
The recording stopped.
No more words.
Just static.
I listened twice.
Then a third time.
I hated Nathan.
I missed Nathan.
Both feelings lived together.
Marcus stood quietly beside me.
“There’s another file.”
It was surveillance video from the marina.
Timestamped the night Nathan died.
Margaret appeared first.
Nathan arrived seven minutes later.
They argued.
No sound.
Nathan boarded the boat.
Margaret stayed on the dock.
Then another man appeared.
He boarded after Nathan.
Arthur?
No.
Younger.
Wearing a maintenance uniform.
Five minutes later, he left.
Nathan started the engine.
The boat moved thirty yards.
Explosion.
The maintenance worker turned toward the security camera.
We froze the image.
I knew him.
Everyone in my company did.
He had worked for Cole Capital for twelve years.
Head of corporate risk before Marcus.
A man I had trusted with security, travel, background checks, even access to my homes.
Peter Lang.
Marcus stared at the image.
“He still works for you.”
“Yes.”
My phone rang.
Cole Capital headquarters.
A panicked executive spoke.
“Daniel, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Peter Lang accessed the building twenty minutes ago.”
“So?”
“He went into your private office.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he take?”
“Your emergency family file.”
Inside that file were passport copies.
Addresses.
School information.
Medical details.
Including the location of Ava and Noah.
May you like
Peter Lang had killed my brother.
And now he knew exactly where my twins were.
