Chapter 11 - THE MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF MY FATHER
Leah nearly ended the call.
She did not.
"How did you get this number?"
Daniel Wren answered immediately.
"Your stepmother's attorney gave it to my office."
Naomi mouthed one word.
Keene.
Leah put the call on speaker.
"You have two minutes."
Wren was silent for a moment.
"You sound like Eleanor."
Leah felt anger flash.
"One minute fifty-five."
"Fair enough."
He took a breath.
"I did not authorize that news story."
"Your company issued a statement."
"My communications director issued a holding statement after reporters contacted us."
"Someone leaked the allegation before I knew about it."
Leah looked at Richard.
He was staring at the floor.
"Did you know my mother believed you were my biological father?"
Wren's answer took too long.
"Yes."
The room went still.
"Since when?"
"Since before you were born."
Leah's hand tightened around the phone.
"And you did nothing?"
"That is not accurate."
"Then make it accurate."
Wren exhaled.
"Eleanor told me she was pregnant after she and Richard reconciled."
"She said the child might be mine."
"I asked for a paternity test."
"She refused."
"She said Richard intended to raise you as his daughter regardless and that she would not allow three adults to turn a baby into a legal contest."
Leah closed her eyes.
That sounded like Eleanor.
Wren continued.
"I respected her decision."
"Then years later, when Eleanor became ill, she contacted me again."
Richard looked up sharply.
"When?" Leah asked.
"Four months before she died."
"Why?"
"She wanted me to promise that Northstar would leave Mercer Logistics alone if she died."
Richard stood.
"You promised her?"
Wren heard him.
"Richard?"
"Answer the question."
"Yes."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"Then six weeks after her funeral your people were in my office offering to buy the company."
A long pause followed.
"I didn't send them."
"You're the founder."
"I was in Singapore for three months handling a restructuring."
"By the time I learned what happened, you had rejected the offer."
Richard's face changed.
He had carried that betrayal for thirteen years.
Now another possibility had appeared.
Leah cut through it.
"Who at Northstar wanted Mercer Logistics?"
Wren said, "A partner named Graham Vale."
Naomi wrote the name down.
"Is he still with you?"
"No."
"He left eight years ago."
"Where is he now?"
Wren's answer made Naomi stop writing.
"He runs private investments through Harbor Ridge Holdings."
Leah looked at Evelyn's documents.
Harbor Ridge Communications had produced the forged marketing letters.
"Is Harbor Ridge Communications related?"
"I don't know."
"Find out."
"I will."
Leah's voice became hard.
"And don't call me your daughter."
Wren was silent.
"I haven't."
"Good."
"Because fatherhood is more than biology."
Richard looked at her.
The sentence hit him hard.
Leah continued.
"Whatever DNA says, you are a stranger to me."
Wren's voice softened.
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"No."
He corrected himself.
"Probably not."
"But I am trying not to pretend I have rights I haven't earned."
That answer surprised her.
"Then help with facts."
"I can do that."
They ended the call.
Within an hour, Wren sent Naomi corporate records connecting Graham Vale to three entities.
Harbor Ridge Holdings.
Harbor Ridge Communications.
And Northstar Recovery Partners, the special-purpose company that currently held Richard's secured loan.
Leah stared at the chart Naomi built on the hotel desk.
"So Northstar Capital doesn't hold Dad's loan."
"Not directly."
"A related entity controlled by a former Northstar partner does."
"Correct."
Richard looked sick.
"Celeste told me the lender was Northstar."
Naomi pointed to the documents.
"The branding is intentionally similar."
"The loan documents use Northstar Recovery Partners."
"You signed them."
Richard sat down heavily.
"I didn't read the entity name carefully."
Leah almost shouted at him.
Then she remembered what he had admitted.
Comfort.
Avoidance.
Permission.
"Who introduced Celeste to Graham Vale?"
Richard shook his head.
"I don't know."
The answer came the next morning from a source none of them expected.
Bryce called Leah at 05:20.
She answered on the second ring.
"What?"
His voice shook.
"Mom is gone."
Leah sat up.
"Gone where?"
"I don't know."
"Her closet is half empty."
"Her passport is missing."
"Dad's safe is open."
Leah was already standing.
"What's missing?"
"I don't know."
"Call Dad."
"I did."
"He's on his way."
Leah heard Bryce breathing hard.
Then his voice changed.
"Leah, I need to tell you something."
She waited.
"Mom knew Graham Vale before she met Dad."
Leah's hand stopped on the zipper of her bag.
"How?"
"He was my father's business partner."
For one second, the words did not make sense.
"Your biological father?"
"Yes."
Bryce swallowed.
"My father died when I was eleven."
"Graham handled some of the estate."
"Mom hated him."
"At least I thought she did."
Leah looked toward Naomi's adjoining door.
"Why didn't you say this yesterday?"
"Because I didn't know it mattered."
"And because everything you say makes me look guilty."
"Some of that is because you've done guilty things."
Bryce did not argue.
That frightened Leah more than anger would have.
"There's something else," he said.
"Last night I found an old photo in Mom's desk."
"She's standing beside Graham."
"The date on the back is from six months before she met Dad."
Leah closed her eyes.
The relationships were collapsing into one another.
Celeste.
Graham Vale.
Northstar.
Harbor Ridge.
Bryce's promotion.
Her mother's trust.
"Send me the photo."
"I already did."
A message arrived.
Leah opened it.
Celeste looked fifteen years younger.
Beside her stood Graham Vale.
His arm was around her waist.
On the back, in Celeste's handwriting, were five words.
May you like
Someday we'll finish what started.
