Chapter 7 - The Daughter He Wasn't Allowed to KnowThe second DNA test was performed inside Ashford House.
That alone told Maya how confident he was.
A guilty man might have hidden.
Nathan arrived through the front doors at seven that evening carrying a cane he didn't need and wearing the expression of a beloved grandfather attending Christmas dinner.
He even smiled at Maya.
"So."
His gaze lingered on her face.
"Eleanor's little girl."
Richard stood across the drawing room.
"You knew."
Nathan removed his gloves.
"I suspected."
"Don't insult me."
Nathan sighed.
"You always had your mother's temper."
Richard took one step forward.
Caleb quietly moved between them.
Nathan noticed.
"New security?"
"Security I hired myself."
That wiped a fraction of warmth from Nathan's face.
Richard pointed toward a chair.
"Sit."
Nathan did.
Maya remained standing near the fireplace beside Marcus and Rebecca.
It was the strangest gathering she'd ever witnessed.
A billionaire.
His estranged brother.
His brother's former fiancée.
A retired corporate titan.
And a maid who might actually be the billionaire's lost daughter.
Nathan folded his hands over his cane.
"What would you like to know?"
Richard almost laughed.
"Everything."
"That could take years."
"Start with Eleanor."
Nathan's expression softened.
"I loved Eleanor."
Maya spoke.
"You threatened her."
Nathan looked at her.
"Did she tell you that?"
"Someone threatened her."
"Then don't confuse assumption with fact."
Richard placed the old ledger on the coffee table.
Nathan looked at it.
For the first time, his smile disappeared.
"You opened the vault."
"Yes."
"That was unwise."
"Why?"
"Because your father went to great lengths to bury those records."
Marcus spoke.
"Our father or you?"
Nathan turned toward him.
"Still playing hero, Marcus?"
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Richard noticed.
"Tell me about Northstar."
Nathan leaned back.
"Northstar was a defense contractor. Ashford supplied electronic components. There were defects. There were cover-ups."
"People died because of those defects."
Nathan didn't answer.
Richard's voice hardened.
"Did you know?"
"Eventually."
"Did my father?"
"Yes."
"And rather than disclose it, you hid it."
"We protected thousands of employees and billions in shareholder value."
Rebecca stared at him.
"People died."
Nathan looked at her as though she were insignificant.
"Companies survive because adults make difficult decisions."
Maya felt disgust.
"My mother found out."
"Yes."
"And you threatened her."
"No."
"Then who did?"
Nathan glanced at Marcus.
Marcus stepped forward.
"Don't you dare."
Maya looked between them.
"What?"
Nathan smiled faintly.
"Perhaps Marcus should explain where he was the night Eleanor vanished."
Richard turned.
"You said you saw her at the dinner."
Marcus's face tightened.
"I did."
"Then?"
Marcus said nothing.
Nathan answered for him.
"He followed her."
Richard stared.
Marcus closed his eyes.
"I was trying to protect her."
"From whom?"
"Nathan."
Nathan chuckled.
"Convenient."
Marcus turned on him.
"You had people watching her."
"Because your father asked me to."
"You arranged Edwin's death."
Nathan's eyes went cold.
"Careful."
Rebecca stood.
"You murdered my father."
"No, Rebecca."
"You had him killed."
"No."
"Then say who did."
Nathan remained silent.
That silence became an answer.
Richard's hands were shaking now.
"Marcus. Tell me what happened that night."
Marcus looked at his brother.
"I followed Eleanor from the charity dinner because she'd received a call. She was terrified. She drove toward Cambridge."
"Then?"
"She stopped at a gas station."
"Then?"
"She got into another car."
Richard stared.
"Whose?"
Marcus looked toward Rebecca.
"Thomas Vale's."
The man who helped Eleanor disappear.
Marcus continued.
"I knew Thomas. I knew what he did. I realized Eleanor was running."
"Why didn't you stop her?"
"Because she saw me."
His voice broke slightly.
"She walked back to my car. She told me that if I loved you, I'd let her go."
Richard looked crushed.
"You let my pregnant wife disappear?"
"She said they would kill her baby."
"Our baby."
"I know."
"You let me believe she was dead."
Marcus stood.
"I thought she'd contact you when she was safe!"
"But she didn't."
"No."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the next morning, Edwin Shaw was found dead."
Rebecca looked away.
Marcus continued.
"And I received photographs of Rebecca leaving her apartment."
Richard's anger faded.
Marcus's eyes were wet.
"They told me she would be next."
Rebecca whispered, "You should have told me."
"I thought leaving you would keep you alive."
"You destroyed me."
"I know."
Nathan watched all of them with chilling calm.
Maya saw it.
He wasn't surprised by any of this.
She turned to him.
"You knew Marcus followed her."
Nathan smiled.
"Smart girl."
Richard faced him.
"Why are you here?"
Nathan tapped his cane once against the floor.
"Because whatever happened twenty-five years ago, there are current realities."
"Such as?"
"Ashford Industries has a board vote next week."
Marcus suddenly understood.
"No."
Nathan smiled.
Richard frowned.
"What?"
Marcus turned to him.
"The succession amendment."
Richard's expression changed.
Ashford Industries' founding trust contained an obscure provision.
If Richard had a legitimate biological child, certain voting shares transferred permanently into a family trust controlled jointly by Richard and his descendant.
Nathan currently controlled several proxy votes through old trust arrangements.
If Maya was Richard's daughter...
Nathan would lose control of nearly eighteen percent of the company's voting power.
Maya stared at him.
"This is about money?"
Nathan shook his head.
"No, child."
"Then what?"
"Legacy."
Richard stepped closer.
"You buried my wife to control my company."
Nathan's voice remained calm.
"Eleanor chose to leave."
"Because someone threatened her."
"Fear makes people irrational."
Maya looked at him.
Then noticed something.
Nathan wore a gold watch.
Its clasp bore the same design as the Ashford family signet.
She remembered her mother's recording.
The man who threatened me wore Richard's father's ring.
Maya pointed.
"Where did you get that?"
Nathan followed her gaze.
For the first time, real alarm entered his face.
Richard grabbed Nathan's wrist.
On the underside of the watchband was an engraving.
C.A. to N.C. — Brothers in everything.
Charles Ashford to Nathan Cole.
Richard looked up.
Nathan stopped pretending.
"You should have left this buried."
Caleb moved forward.
Nathan smiled.
"You're going to arrest me?"
"No," Richard said.
"I'm going to expose you."
Nathan's expression almost became pity.
"With what? A dead woman's letter? A stolen ledger? Rebecca's memories? Marcus's guilt?"
He stood.
"You have suspicions."
He straightened his jacket.
"I have institutions."
Then he looked directly at Maya.
"And before tomorrow is over, you won't even have your job."
Richard laughed once.
"She's not your employee."
Nathan looked back.
Richard's voice was quiet.
"If that DNA test says what I think it says, she's my daughter."
Nathan's smile returned.
"Ah."
He moved toward the door.
"About your DNA test."
Richard froze.
Nathan glanced over his shoulder.
"You may want to call the laboratory."
Richard did.
The technician answered on the fourth ring.
His voice sounded shaken.
"Mr. Ashford, there's a problem."
"What problem?"
"The samples are gone."
Richard stared at Nathan.
Nathan walked through the doorway.
The technician continued.
"Someone entered our secure storage room an hour ago."
Richard's face changed.
"Can you retest?"
"Yes, sir."
Maya suddenly remembered something.
"No."
Everyone turned.
She reached beneath her shirt and pulled out the old silver infant bracelet.
"My mother left blood inside the clasp."
Richard stared.
Maya explained.
"She cut her hand repairing it when I was little. I never cleaned the inside."
Caleb stepped forward.
"Potential maternal DNA."
Nathan had stopped at the doorway.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
May you like
Maya met his eyes.
"You stole the wrong evidence."
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