Chapter 4: The Letter Hidden in the Walls
Nathaniel stared at the envelope in Isabella’s hand.
For thirty years, he had wondered about the father he barely remembered.
He remembered fragments.
A deep voice reading bedtime stories.
Strong hands lifting him onto his shoulders.
The smell of his father’s cologne when he came home from work.
Then nothing.
One day, Alexander Whitmore was there.
The next, he was gone.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just an empty closet and a mother who refused to talk about him.
Nathaniel had spent years convincing himself that unanswered questions were easier than painful answers.
Now the answers were standing in front of him.
And they were terrifying.
“Give me the letter.””
His voice was quiet.
Isabella looked at him.
“You’re sure?””
Nathaniel’s eyes hardened.
“You don’t get to decide what I can handle anymore.””
For a moment, Isabella studied him.
Then she slowly extended the envelope.
But before Nathaniel could take it, Evelyn spoke.
“No.””
Both of them turned.
Nathaniel looked at his mother.
“Mom?””
Her face was pale.
“No, Nathaniel. You shouldn’t read it here.””
“Why?””
“Because once you know, there is no going back.””
He stared at her.
“There hasn’t been any going back since I walked in and saw you drowning.””
Evelyn flinched.
The pain on her face was immediate.
Nathaniel regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.
But he couldn’t take them back.
Not anymore.
Too many secrets had been hidden from him.
Too many decisions had been made without him.
“I spent my whole life believing my father abandoned us,” he said.
Evelyn looked down.
“I know.””
“And you knew he didn’t.””
“I knew he was taken away.””
The words were almost impossible to hear.
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“Taken away by who?””
Evelyn looked at Isabella.
Then back at him.
“I don’t know.””
Nathaniel froze.
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
“How can you not know?””
“Because your father disappeared before he could tell me everything.””
She looked toward the city.
“The night he left, he came home terrified.””
Nathaniel said nothing.
“He locked every door. He turned off every light. He told me to pack a bag for you.””
A memory flashed through Nathaniel’s mind.
A childhood memory he had buried.
His mother crying in the hallway.
His father whispering.
A suitcase near the front door.
“I thought we were leaving,” Evelyn continued.
Her voice shook.
“I thought he was taking us somewhere safe.””
“What happened?””
“He got a phone call.””
Nathaniel leaned forward.
“What did it say?””
Evelyn swallowed.
“I don’t know.””
“You don’t know?””
“He stepped away from me.””
She closed her eyes.
“He said only one sentence.””
“What sentence?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“He said, ‘They know about Nathaniel.’”
A cold wave moved through him.
“Me?””
“Yes.””
“Why would anyone care about me?””
Evelyn didn’t answer.
And Nathaniel felt the anger rising again.
“Mom.””
“I was protecting you.””
“From what?””
“From becoming a target.””
Isabella suddenly laughed.
Both of them looked at her.
“Do you hear yourself?””
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“You have no right to speak.””
“No?””
Isabella held up the letter.
“You spent thirty years hiding the truth from him.””
“You spent months trying to destroy him.””
Isabella’s expression tightened.
“I was trying to uncover what you buried.””
Nathaniel looked between them.
“Stop.””
The two women became silent.
He looked at Isabella.
“You said someone in this room has been protecting the secret.””
She nodded.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Isabella looked toward the penthouse.
Nathaniel followed her gaze.
The answer seemed obvious.
But he didn’t want to believe it.
“No.””
Isabella said nothing.
“You’re saying someone inside my family knows?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Before Isabella could answer, a voice came from behind them.
“I do.””
Nathaniel turned.
A man stood near the terrace entrance.
Nathaniel’s security director.
Thomas Reed.
For fifteen years, Thomas had worked for him.
He had protected him.
He had been the one person Nathaniel trusted with everything.
“What are you doing here?””
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“I received an emergency alert from the penthouse system.””
Nathaniel stared.
“I didn’t activate one.””
Thomas looked at Isabella.
“She did.””
Nathaniel’s expression changed.
“You called him?””
Isabella nodded.
“I needed a witness.””
Thomas stepped forward.
“Mr. Whitmore…”
Nathaniel raised a hand.
“No.””
He looked at Thomas.
“You knew?””
The older man’s silence was enough.
Nathaniel felt betrayed all over again.
“How long?””
Thomas looked down.
“Since the beginning.””
The words hit harder than expected.
“Since the beginning of what?””
“Your father’s disappearance.””
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
“You knew where he went?””
“No.””
“Then what did you know?””
Thomas walked slowly toward the terrace.
“I knew Alexander was in danger.””
“And you said nothing?””
“I promised him I wouldn’t.””
Nathaniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone seems to have promises except me.””
Thomas looked at him.
“Your father believed you were safer not knowing.””
“Was he right?””
Thomas didn’t answer.
That answer hurt more than any words.
Nathaniel looked at the three people around him.
His mother.
His fiancée.
His closest employee.
All of them had known pieces of a story he was never allowed to hear.
“I want the truth.””
Nobody moved.
“Now.””
Thomas looked at Evelyn.
Then slowly nodded.
“Your father discovered something about Whitmore Holdings.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“My company?””
“Yes.””
“What?””
“Your family’s wealth was built on a partnership.””
“With who?””
Thomas looked at Isabella.
“Her family.””
Nathaniel looked at Isabella.
“You said your grandfather worked for my father.””
Thomas shook his head.
“No.””
The terrace became silent.
“He wasn’t an employee.””
Nathaniel waited.
“He was Alexander’s partner.””
Isabella’s face changed.
“What?””
Thomas looked at her.
“You were lied to too.””
For the first time that night, Isabella looked genuinely shocked.
Nathaniel stared.
“Explain.””
Thomas took a deep breath.
“Thirty years ago, Alexander discovered money was being moved from the company accounts.””
“By who?””
“That was the question.””
“And?””
“He thought it was someone in his own family.””
Nathaniel looked at Isabella.
“Your family?””
Thomas nodded.
“Your father confronted his partner.””
“Her grandfather?””
“Yes.””
“What happened?””
Thomas’s expression became grim.
“Two days later, Alexander disappeared.””
Nobody spoke.
Nathaniel looked at Isabella.
“You thought my father destroyed your family.””
She looked shaken.
“That’s what I was told.””
“By who?””
She didn’t answer.
Thomas did.
“By the person who benefited from both families blaming each other.””
Nathaniel looked at him.
“Who?””
Thomas reached into his coat pocket.
Then he pulled out a small black folder.
“I found this three days ago.””
Nathaniel frowned.
“Where?””
“In the old office.””
“My father’s office?””
“Yes.””
He handed it over.
Nathaniel opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Old photographs.
The first showed his father standing beside a younger version of Isabella’s grandfather.
They were smiling.
Friends.
Partners.
The second showed something else.
A third person standing between them.
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
Because he recognized the face.
Even though he had only seen it in old family portraits.
His grandfather.
Richard Whitmore.
But the final photograph made his hands shake.
It showed Richard Whitmore entering a building.
Beside him was another person.
A person Nathaniel knew.
A person he trusted.
Thomas noticed his reaction.
“You understand now.””
Nathaniel stared at the photograph.
“No…”
His voice barely worked.
Because the person standing beside his grandfather wasn’t Isabella.
Wasn’t his father.
Wasn’t some stranger.
It was someone who had been in his life every day.
Someone who had helped raise him after his father vanished.
Someone who had comforted him when he cried.
Someone who claimed to protect his family.
Nathaniel slowly looked up.
“Thomas…”
The older man’s face went pale.
Because he knew.
Nathaniel had seen it.
And then Isabella whispered:
“That’s impossible.””
Nathaniel looked back at the photograph.
His fingers trembled.
Because written on the back were six words.
May you like
Six words that destroyed everything he thought he knew.
*“The betrayer has always been inside.””*
