PART 13 The Identity Nobody Knew
I stared at Nathan.
Waiting.
Waiting for him to say something that would make sense.
Something normal.
Something that didn’t tear another piece of my reality apart.
But he didn’t.
He just stood there.
Silent.
And that silence told me everything.
“You knew.”
My voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Nathan looked at me.
“Emily…”
“No.”
I raised my hand.
“Don’t explain yet.”
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
The picture of me.
Taken yesterday.
Someone had been watching me.
Following me.
And Nathan had another secret.
Of course he did.
“How long?”
I asked.
He frowned.
“What?”
“How long have you known?”
Nathan looked down.
That was enough.
I laughed bitterly.
“A year.”
He said nothing.
“You had one year.”
My eyes filled.
Not with sadness.
With anger.
“One year since you came to me.”
“One year since you said you wanted me to know the truth.”
I stepped closer.
“And you still kept something from me.”
His face changed.
Regret.
Pain.
“I was trying to protect you.”
The moment he said it…
I felt something break.
“Stop.”
He froze.
“Stop saying that.”
My voice shook.
“Everyone says that.”
“My father.”
“Marcus.”
“My grandfather.”
“And you.”
I pointed at him.
“You don’t protect someone by taking away their right to choose.”
Silence.
Nathan nodded slowly.
“You’re right.”
I hated that he admitted it.
Because it made my anger harder.
“Tell me.”
He took a breath.
“Everything.”
He looked at the photograph.
“Three years ago, when my father disappeared…”
I interrupted.
“You mean died.”
His eyes met mine.
“No.”
My body went cold.
“He disappeared.”
Again.
Another fake death.
Another lie.
“Then who was buried?”
Nathan looked away.
“I don’t know.”
I stared.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“How can you not know?”
His voice became heavy.
“Because my father never let anyone get close.”
A pause.
“He had enemies.”
“So he created identities.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan walked to the window.
“My father believed the most powerful weapon wasn’t money.”
He looked outside.
“It was information.”
The city lights reflected in the glass.
“He collected secrets.”
“People’s weaknesses.”
“Family problems.”
“Hidden histories.”
My stomach tightened.
“Like my family.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“Like everyone.”
“Before my father became Richard Hayes…”
Nathan continued.
“He had another name.”
I waited.
“Adrian Vale.”
The name hit me.
Because I had heard it before.
Not from Nathan.
From old family records.
My grandfather’s business history.
Adrian Vale.
A man who disappeared twenty years ago.
A man my grandfather supposedly destroyed.
“Wait.”
I whispered.
“Your father…”
Nathan nodded.
“He wasn’t just Richard Hayes.”
“He was Adrian Vale.”
The room spun slightly.
The enemy.
The beginning of everything.
It wasn’t random.
It was old.
A revenge that had been passed down.
“But why?”
I asked.
“Why target me?”
Nathan’s face became serious.
“Because you were the last piece.”
My heart sank.
“The last piece of what?”
He hesitated.
Then:
“The original agreement.”
I frowned.
“What agreement?”
Nathan opened his phone.
He searched.
Then showed me an old scanned document.
A document from twenty years ago.
My grandfather’s signature.
Adrian Vale’s signature.
A business partnership.
My eyes moved across the page.
Until I saw it.
A hidden clause.
If the partnership failed…
The controlling assets would transfer to the surviving family.
But there was a second line.
One nobody had noticed.
The assets could only be claimed through the bloodline of the original heirs.
I looked up.
“My blood.”
Nathan nodded.
“Your grandfather’s entire fortune.”
“He wasn’t trying to take the company.”
My voice lowered.
“He was trying to take me.”
Nathan didn’t answer.
Because we both knew.
Suddenly my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
I stared at it.
Nathan said:
“Don’t answer.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
His expression changed.
“Because if he knows we’re here…”
A pause.
“He’s already close.”
The phone kept ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
I answered.
“Hello?”
No response.
Only breathing.
Slow.
Calm.
Someone was listening.
“Who is this?”
Then a voice.
A woman’s voice.
“Emily?”
My blood froze.
Because I knew that voice.
Claire.
My best friend.
My assistant.
The person who stood beside me through everything.
“Claire?”
There was a pause.
Then she whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
My heart dropped.
“Sorry for what?”
Her breathing shook.
“Because I tried to stop them.”
The room went silent.
Nathan looked at me.
“Who?”
I asked.
Claire didn’t answer.
Then:
“Your grandfather.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He never disappeared.”
My fingers went cold.
“Claire, what are you talking about?”
Her voice cracked.
“He’s been here.”
A pause.
“Watching you.”
The walls felt like they were closing in.
“Where are you?”
I asked.
No answer.
“Claire?”
Only silence.
Then one final whisper.
“Emily…”
“He knows you found out.”
The call ended.
I stood frozen.
Nathan stepped forward.
“We need to leave.”
But before we could move…
The office lights turned off.
Completely.
Darkness.
Then a sound.
The elevator.
Moving upward.
Someone was coming.
Nathan grabbed my hand.
And for the first time in a year…
I didn’t pull away.
Because whatever was waiting outside that door…
We were going to face it together.
The elevator stopped.
A sound echoed through the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Certain.
The door handle turned.
And a voice said:
“Emily.”
May you like
A voice I had heard my entire life.
My grandfather.
