CHAPTER 2: THE TRAITOR WITHIN
I woke the next morning in a private hospital suite overlooking Manhattan.
For several seconds, I did not know where I was.
Then I tried to move.
Pain pulled me back into reality.
My father sat near the window, still wearing the same shirt from the night before. His jacket was folded over the arm of the chair.
He had not slept.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Fourteen hours.”
“What happened to Nathan?”
“He was questioned and released pending formal charges.”
I stared at him.
“Released?”
“His attorneys arrived before sunrise.”
Nathan had access to excellent lawyers.
But not lawyers capable of overruling federal investigators within hours.
“Who sent them?”
My father stood and walked toward the window.
“That is what concerns me.”
He placed a tablet on the bed.
The screen displayed financial records from Ashford Global Logistics.
For three years, Nathan had moved company funds through offshore accounts connected to Celeste. But another signature appeared beside his on several encrypted authorizations.
A signature I recognized.
Daniel Vale.
My cousin.
Daniel had grown up with me. After my mother died, he had spent holidays in our home. My father had paid for his education and appointed him chief financial officer of Vale Dominion.
He was more like a brother than a cousin.
“That can’t be real.”
“I verified it through three independent systems,” Dad said. “Daniel approved transfers that allowed Nathan to hide money inside Vale-controlled subsidiaries.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
The door opened.
Daniel walked into the room carrying flowers.
He stopped when he saw the tablet.
For one second, something cold passed across his face.
Then it vanished.
“Evelyn, I came as soon as I heard.”
My father stepped between us.
“Where were you last night?”
“At home.”
“Your security records show you left at eleven forty.”
Daniel’s smile weakened.
“You’re tracking me now?”
“I am asking you a question.”
Daniel put the flowers down.
“I received a call from Nathan’s legal department. They said Evelyn had suffered some kind of breakdown.”
“So you hired his attorneys?”
“I made sure he had representation. That does not mean I support what he did.”
I looked directly at him.
“Did you help Nathan steal from my trust?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I protected this family.”
“By helping my husband?”
“By preventing your father from destroying everything over his obsession with control.”
My father’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Leave.”
Daniel turned toward me.
“You think Nathan is the beginning of this story. He isn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father knew the Ashfords were connected to our family long before you married Nathan.”
The room fell silent.
I looked at Dad.
He did not deny it.
Daniel stepped backward toward the door.
“Ask him why he investigated Nathan before your first date.”
Then he walked out.
I stared at my father.
“Is that true?”
Dad slowly sat down.
“Yes.”
The pain in my body suddenly felt distant.
“You knew who Nathan was?”
“I knew who his father had been.”
“And you let me marry him?”
“I believed Nathan was different.”
“You told me to hide my identity because you wanted him to reveal himself.”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“No. You turned my marriage into an investigation.”
My father lowered his eyes.
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his face hardened.
“What happened?” I asked.
He ended the call.
“Celeste Monroe disappeared thirty minutes ago.”
“How?”
“She never reached federal custody.”
My father looked toward the hospital door.
“The vehicle transporting her was intercepted.”
My heart began pounding.
“By Nathan?”
“No.”
May you like
He showed me a security photograph taken outside the courthouse.
The man helping Celeste into a black SUV was Daniel.
