Chapter 11 - RICHARD HAD ANOTHER SONHis name was Nathan Cole.
Forty-three years old.
Corporate restructuring specialist.
Current executive adviser to Northstar Capital.
Daniel read the report twice.
Vale's attack suddenly made sense.
Nathan was not simply involved.
He had been positioned.
Richard had fathered him years before marrying Margaret and had secretly financed his education, career and businesses.
Nobody in the Whitmore family knew.
Except perhaps Vale.
Daniel visited Richard in detention.
It was the first time he had seen his father since the wedding.
Richard looked older.
Not weak.
Men like him rarely allowed themselves that.
But smaller.
"What did you find?" Richard asked.
Daniel placed the photograph against the glass.
Richard's expression barely changed.
Barely.
"Nathan," Daniel said.
Richard leaned back.
"So you finally met your brother."
"I haven't."
"You will."
"Is he behind Northstar?"
Richard smiled faintly.
"You've always asked the wrong questions."
Daniel remained silent.
Richard hated silence when he was not controlling it.
Eventually he continued.
"Nathan understands the company better than you ever did."
"Because you trained him?"
"Because he didn't spend his life needing people to like him."
Daniel almost laughed.
Even from jail, his father was still comparing sons.
"Did Nathan know about Claire Hawthorne?"
Richard did not answer.
"Did he know about Mom?"
Still nothing.
Then Daniel understood.
"Nathan was your replacement."
Richard's jaw tightened.
"If the wedding succeeded, you controlled me. If it failed, Nathan and Vale took the company through the debt."
Richard's eyes told him everything.
Daniel stood.
His father spoke quickly.
"Nathan isn't Vale."
Daniel stopped.
"What does that mean?"
"Vale thinks Nathan belongs to him."
"And?"
Richard leaned closer to the glass.
"My son belongs to no one."
Daniel looked at him for a long time.
Then walked away.
Outside, Emma was waiting.
She had driven him because Daniel had admitted he did not want to be alone afterward.
"Well?" she asked.
Daniel stared at the prison wall.
"I have a brother."
Emma blinked.
"That's new."
Despite himself, Daniel laughed.
It lasted only a second.
But it mattered.
They drove to Boston.
Nathan had agreed to meet.
He selected a quiet restaurant and arrived five minutes early.
Daniel knew immediately.
The resemblance was subtle.
Not the face.
The stillness.
Nathan had Richard's habit of observing a room before sitting.
"You look like Margaret," Nathan said.
Daniel remained standing.
"You look like him."
"Unfortunately."
That was not the response Daniel expected.
Nathan motioned toward the chair.
"I've been waiting twelve years for someone in your family to find that photograph."
Daniel sat.
"Why?"
Nathan slid a flash drive across the table.
"Because I couldn't take Thomas Vale down alone."
Daniel did not touch it.
Nathan's next words were quieter.
"And because your father didn't bring Vale into the company."
Daniel frowned.
"Then who did?"
May you like
Nathan looked directly at him.
"Your grandfather."
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