Part 4: The Secret of the First Wife
For several seconds, I stared at the message.
The words didn’t move.
They didn’t change.
But somehow, they felt heavier every time I read them.
Your daughter isn’t the only victim.
Ask Nathan what happened to his first wife.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
A mother’s instinct is strange.
It doesn’t always scream.
Sometimes it becomes completely silent.
Cold.
Focused.
The same feeling I had before walking into dangerous situations overseas.
The moment when you realize the threat is bigger than you thought.
I looked at Sophie.
She was sleeping now.
Finally.
After weeks of fear, her body had surrendered to exhaustion.
I quietly stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me.
Then I called the number back.
Unavailable.
Again.
Unavailable.
Whoever sent it wanted me to receive the information.
But not know who they were.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
I opened my secure contacts.
There was one person I trusted for situations exactly like this.
“Marcus.”
He answered immediately.
“Colonel Cross.”
“I need a favor.”
A pause.
“You sound serious.”
“I need everything on Nathan Whitmore.”
Silence.
Then:
“Everything?”
I looked back at Sophie through the glass.
“Yes.”
“And start with his first wife.”
Marcus didn’t ask questions.
That was why I trusted him.
“Give me an hour.”
The call ended.
I returned to Sophie’s room.
She woke slightly.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
She looked at me.
“You’re leaving?”
I sat beside her.
“No.”
Her eyes searched mine.
“You’re going after them.”
It wasn’t a question.
I smiled sadly.
“You know me too well.”
She looked away.
“I’m scared.”
Those two words hurt more than anything.
Because Sophie had always been brave.
Even as a child.
When she was six, she stood in front of a bigger kid who was bullying another student.
She wasn’t fearless.
She was just kind.
And people like the Whitmores always mistook kindness for weakness.
“I need you to listen to me.”
She looked back.
“This is not your fault.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
But the way she said it told me she was still carrying the blame.
“You didn’t cause this.”
“You didn’t fail.”
“You survived.”
I held her hand.
“And now I’m going to make sure nobody ever makes you feel powerless again.”
Two hours later, Marcus called.
I stepped outside.
“What did you find?”
His voice was different.
Careful.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“Something that explains why the Whitmores wanted this buried.”
I waited.
“Go on.”
“Nathan Whitmore was married before Sophie.”
“I know.”
“You know his wife disappeared?”
My jaw tightened.
“Disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Her name was Claire Whitmore.”
I felt a chill.
“What happened?”
“That’s the problem.”
A pause.
“Officially?”
“Nothing.”
“How?”
Marcus continued.
“Claire vanished four years ago.”
“Everyone assumed she left.”
“But there was no divorce.”
“No bank activity.”
“No travel records.”
“No communication.”
My hands became cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“Exactly.”
I looked through the hospital window.
At my daughter.
A terrible thought formed.
“What else?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then:
“Her last known location was the Whitmore family estate.”
My stomach dropped.
The same estate where Sophie had lived.
The same house where she had been isolated.
The same place they claimed nothing happened.
“Any police investigation?”
“Opened.”
“Closed.”
“Why?”
I already knew the answer.
But I needed to hear it.
“Whitmore influence.”
I closed my eyes.
The anger came.
Not the loud kind.
The dangerous kind.
The kind that made every decision clear.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Find Claire.”
Silence.
“Amelia…”
“I don’t care how long.”
“I don’t care who you have to contact.”
“Find her.”
Another pause.
Then:
“Understood.”
I returned to Sophie’s room.
But before I opened the door…
I saw a shadow at the end of the hallway.
A man standing near the elevators.
Watching.
I immediately stepped forward.
“Can I help you?”
He turned.
Older.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
But his face looked exhausted.
Not threatening.
Broken.
“Colonel Cross?”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“My name is Thomas Whitmore.”
Nathan’s father.
My body immediately tensed.
The father of the man who hurt my daughter.
The man who threatened us.
“What do you want?”
He looked at Sophie’s room.
Then back at me.
“I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
He looked surprised.
“I know what you think.”
“I think you’re part of the family that destroyed my daughter.”
His expression fell.
“I deserve that.”
That surprised me.
Most powerful people didn’t admit anything.
He lowered his voice.
“But I didn’t know.”
I stared at him.
“Didn’t know what?”
His eyes filled.
“What Nathan did.”
A pause.
“And what happened to Claire.”
The hallway seemed to go quiet.
My heart started pounding.
“You know about Claire?”
He looked terrified.
“Yes.”
“Then start talking.”
He looked around.
“Not here.”
I didn’t move.
“You have one chance.”
He nodded.
“Claire tried to leave Nathan.”
My hands tightened.
“She discovered something.”
“What?”
Thomas whispered:
“The Whitmore family wasn’t just hiding abuse.”
“They were hiding murder.”
The word hung between us.
Murder.
Not a rumor.
Not an accusation.
A word that changed everything.
“What happened to Claire?”
Thomas looked toward the elevator.
His voice barely audible.
“She found evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
He looked at me.
“The same thing your daughter found.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“The financial crimes.”
“The blackmail.”
“The people they controlled.”
Then he said:
“Claire discovered Nathan was helping his mother cover up everything.”
I felt the pieces connecting.
Sophie.
Claire.
The Whitmore empire.
All of it.
Same pattern.
Different victims.
Then Thomas said something that made my blood freeze.
“Colonel Cross…”
“Yes?”
“You need to get your daughter out of this hospital.”
“Why?”
His face turned pale.
“Because Nathan knows you found out about Claire.”
A pause.
“And he’s coming for Sophie.”
At that exact moment…
The lights in the hallway flickered.
My phone buzzed.
Another message.
This time from Nathan.
You should have taken your daughter and left.
May you like
Then another.
Now I’m going to take away the only thing you care about.
