Chapter 6 - Brother Against BrotherNathan moved instinctively in front of Grace.
The Hanover Bridge collapse happened when he was nineteen.
His father, Charles Whittaker, was devastated.
Nathan remembered him sitting alone in the library for days.
Investigators blamed a subcontractor for using defective steel.
Insurance covered most damages.
Families received settlements.
The company survived.
Margaret publicly stood beside her husband.
Privately, the marriage changed.
Nathan had never understood why.
Rachel accessed federal archives.
By noon, she found something.
“The subcontractor was Marlowe Steel.”
Grace looked up.
“Marlowe?”
Rachel nodded.
“Same name as the shell company.”
Nathan stared at the screen.
“Who owned it?”
“On paper? A holding company registered offshore.”
“And behind that?”
“Still digging.”
Grace rubbed her lower back.
Nathan noticed.
“You need to rest.”
“I've rested enough.”
“You were nearly burned alive yesterday.”
“So were you.”
Rachel ignored them.
“Here's another thing. Malcolm Reed's fraud investigation began two months after the bridge collapse.”
Nathan leaned closer.
Rachel continued.
“Your father accused Reed of diverting company money.”
“What if he wasn't?”
Grace asked.
Nathan looked at her.
“What if the money wasn't stolen? What if it paid someone off?”
Rachel's expression sharpened.
“Bribes?”
“Or hush money.”
They went silent.
Nathan thought of his father.
Charles had been strict but deeply ethical.
At least Nathan believed he was.
“What did Margaret have to do with it?” Grace asked.
Nathan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Rachel received a message.
“Victor sent another surveillance clip.”
The video showed Margaret alone in Nathan's study after Colin and Malcolm left.
She opened Nathan's desk.
Removed a small metal key.
Then walked to the bookshelf.
Nathan recognized it.
“The floor safe.”
“You have a safe?”
“Dad installed it.”
“What is inside?”
“Nothing. I haven't opened it in years.”
Rachel frowned.
“Apparently your mother disagrees.”
Nathan wanted to leave immediately.
Rachel refused.
“Too risky.”
Nathan glared.
“That's my house.”
“Currently occupied by people potentially connected to attempted murder.”
“Still my house.”
Grace touched his arm.
“Nathan.”
He looked at her.
“We do this carefully.”
He sighed.
“Fine.”
That evening they formed a plan.
Victor would remove house staff under the pretense of a gas inspection.
Margaret was scheduled to attend a charity dinner.
Colin was at a club downtown.
Malcolm's location was unknown.
Nathan and Rachel would enter through the basement tunnel connecting the garage to the main house.
Grace would stay at the farmhouse.
That was the plan.
Grace ignored it.
At 9:10 p.m., Nathan discovered her hiding in the back seat.
“You cannot be serious.”
Grace looked guilty.
Rachel tried not to laugh.
Nathan pointed toward the road.
“You're thirty-five weeks pregnant.”
“And the person who knows what these documents mean.”
“You could've told us that before we drove forty miles.”
“You would've said no.”
“Correct.”
Rachel interrupted.
“We're here. Arguing in a driveway is not safer.”
Nathan muttered something Grace pretended not to hear.
They entered the mansion.
Grace stopped inside the kitchen.
Home.
Her coffee mug still hung beneath the cabinet.
A dried flower arrangement she had chosen remained on the island.
For Nathan, the house had become a mausoleum.
For Grace, it felt like entering her own grave.
Nathan noticed her reaction.
He took her hand.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
They reached the study.
Nathan opened the hidden safe.
Inside were three folders.
A pistol.
And a cassette tape.
Rachel blinked.
“A cassette?”
“My father never trusted digital records.”
Nathan found an old player in the cabinet.
He inserted the tape.
Static.
Then Charles Whittaker's voice filled the room.
“If Nathan ever hears this, it means I failed.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Grace squeezed his hand.
Charles continued.
“Malcolm Reed did not steal from this company.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“I accused him because I believed I had no choice.”
Rachel whispered, “Oh my God.”
“The Hanover Bridge steel was defective. Margaret knew before construction finished.”
Nathan turned toward the speaker as though his father could see him.
“She had invested secretly in Marlowe Steel through her family's trust. Replacing the steel would have bankrupt us. Margaret convinced Malcolm to conceal the inspection report.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Charles's voice cracked.
“Seven men died.”
Nathan sat down.
“I discovered the truth afterward. Malcolm wanted to confess. Margaret threatened him. I protected her. God forgive me, I protected my wife.”
Nathan's face hardened.
The recording continued.
“To keep Malcolm silent, Margaret arranged payments through hidden accounts. Years later, Malcolm demanded more. When I refused, he threatened the family.”
Rachel said, “Blackmail.”
Charles spoke again.
“I believe Colin has discovered the arrangement.”
Nathan looked up.
“I fear Margaret has involved him.”
Then silence.
Nathan waited.
His father's final words came softly.
“If anything happens to me, it was not an accident.”
The tape clicked off.
No one moved.
Nathan looked physically ill.
Grace knelt beside him.
“Nathan.”
“My father knew.”
“He was afraid.”
“He let seven men die.”
“He found out afterward.”
“He covered it up.”
Grace had no answer.
A noise sounded in the hallway.
Rachel drew her weapon.
The door opened.
Margaret Whittaker stood there.
She wore a silver evening gown and diamonds at her throat.
Her eyes moved from Nathan to Grace.
She did not appear surprised.
She appeared tired.
“I wondered how long it would take you to find that tape.”
Nathan stood.
“You knew she was alive.”
Margaret's gaze settled on Grace's pregnancy.
“I suspected.”
Grace felt Nathan's anger.
“You threatened her.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Don't lie.”
“I didn't threaten Grace.”
Nathan pointed at the recorder.
“You let seven people die.”
Margaret's face hardened.
“I saved this family.”
“Seven men.”
“And three thousand employees who would've lost everything if the company collapsed.”
Grace stared at her.
“That is how you justify it?”
Margaret looked at Grace with contempt.
“You know nothing about what it takes to protect a legacy.”
Grace stepped forward.
“I know what it takes to protect someone you love. I gave up my entire life.”
Margaret's expression flickered.
Then she looked at Nathan.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“Malcolm Reed is not working for me.”
Nathan froze.
Margaret continued.
“He came back four years ago.”
“Why?”
“To destroy us.”
“Then why were you meeting with him?”
“Because Colin owes him seventeen million dollars.”
Nathan stared.
Margaret's voice became quieter.
“Your brother has been laundering money through Marlowe for years.”
Footsteps sounded behind her.
Colin appeared in the doorway.
He held a gun.
“Mom.”
Margaret slowly closed her eyes.
May you like
Colin smiled sadly.
“You always talk too much.”
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