Chapter 8 - What Happened on the Rainy Road
Police reopened the accident investigation the next morning.
Nathan did not use his money to control it.
He used his money to make sure no one could bury it.
Michael Reeves contacted the state investigator.
Daniel Price preserved the phone.
Grace provided Sarah’s records.
Nathan handed over Victoria’s historical access logs.
When Victoria returned to the mansion that afternoon, Nathan was waiting in the foyer.
“You searched my room,” Grace said.
Victoria ignored her.
Nathan held up the silver key.
“Why did you give this to Lily?”
Victoria looked at it.
“I didn’t.”
“She says you did.”
“She’s four.”
Nathan’s voice became colder.
“Be very careful how you talk about her.”
Victoria stared at him.
Something between them died completely in that moment.
She knew it.
Nathan knew it.
Grace knew it.
Victoria removed her engagement ring.
She placed it on the foyer table.
“You’ve already decided I’m guilty.”
“I’ve decided you lied.”
“So did Sarah.”
Grace stepped forward.
Nathan stopped her gently.
Victoria smiled.
“There. See? This is what she wanted. Her sister couldn’t get you, so now Grace gets to play grieving guardian while you become the guilty billionaire.”
Nathan looked almost bored.
“Did you follow Sarah on October seventeenth?”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“Who told you that?”
Nathan said nothing.
Victoria understood.
“The phone.”
Grace saw fear.
Real fear.
Victoria looked toward the stairs.
Nathan stepped into her path.
“Where are you going?”
“To pack.”
“No.”
“You can’t keep me here.”
“I’m not trying to.”
Nathan pointed toward the front door.
“You’re leaving.”
Victoria stared at him.
“My things are upstairs.”
“They’ll be delivered.”
“You’re throwing me out based on accusations from a maid?”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
“I’m ending our engagement because I no longer trust you.”
Victoria laughed.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Maybe.”
“You don’t know what Sarah was really like.”
Grace snapped.
“You don’t get to speak her name.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You think your sister was innocent?”
Grace stepped forward.
Nathan intervened.
“What are you talking about?”
Victoria hesitated.
Then smiled.
“Ask Grace why Sarah was meeting with a reporter before she died.”
Grace frowned.
“What reporter?”
Victoria looked delighted.
“You didn’t know.”
Nathan turned toward Grace.
Grace shook her head.
“I don’t.”
Victoria continued.
“Sarah wasn’t just trying to tell you about Lily. She was preparing to destroy Cole Meridian.”
Nathan’s face remained still.
“How?”
“Ask Michael about the Harbor Point contracts.”
Then Victoria walked out.
Nobody stopped her.
That evening, Michael arrived with two boxes of documents.
Nathan met him in the library.
Grace joined them after Lily went to sleep.
“What are the Harbor Point contracts?” Nathan asked.
Michael sighed.
“Something your father would have preferred remain buried.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“My father?”
“Cole Meridian acquired Harbor Point Development six years ago.”
“I know.”
“Part of that acquisition involved environmental remediation.”
Nathan frowned.
“There was soil contamination.”
“Yes.”
“What does Sarah have to do with that?”
Michael opened a folder.
“She worked for a childcare center located two blocks from one of the remediation sites.”
Grace stared.
“I knew that center.”
Michael looked at her.
“Several children became sick.”
Grace’s stomach tightened.
Nathan looked horrified.
“Was Cole Meridian responsible?”
“Not intentionally.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Michael exhaled.
“Yes.”
Nathan leaned back.
Michael continued.
“Your father’s division concealed one early soil report. Sarah discovered a copy through a parent who worked for the city.”
Nathan stared at him.
“She contacted the company?”
“Yes.”
“Who handled it?”
Michael did not answer.
Nathan already knew.
“Victoria.”
Michael nodded.
Grace felt anger rise again.
Victoria had not merely intercepted Sarah’s personal messages.
She had encountered her twice.
First as Nathan’s former girlfriend carrying his child.
Then as a potential corporate whistleblower.
Sarah had become dangerous to Victoria in every possible way.
Nathan asked, “Did my father know?”
“Eventually.”
“And?”
“He ordered remediation and private settlements.”
“Secret settlements.”
“Yes.”
Nathan stood.
“So Victoria had a reason to silence Sarah beyond Lily.”
Michael nodded reluctantly.
“She also knew exposure could destroy the company.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“She keeps claiming she protected me.”
Grace looked at him.
“Maybe she believed she was.”
Nathan looked toward the dark windows.
“That might be worse.”
The reopened accident report arrived two days later.
Sarah’s brakes had failed.
The original investigation attributed it to mechanical wear.
The new examiner found something different.
A hydraulic line had been deliberately damaged.
Grace read the report twice.
Then dropped it.
Nathan caught her before she fell.
“No.”
Grace could barely breathe.
Nathan held her shoulders.
“I’m here.”
“She was killed.”
“We don’t know who did it yet.”
Grace looked up.
“Yes, we do.”
Nathan did not contradict her.
Then Michael’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Nathan watched.
Michael ended the call.
“They found the missing backup drive.”
“Where?”
“In a private storage unit rented under Harlow Consulting.”
Victoria’s brother’s company.
Nathan stared.
May you like
Michael continued.
“And the archive is intact.”
