Chapter 11 - Catherine’s Confession
Catherine’s recorded voice filled the bedroom.
“Gabriel Cross agreed to let us use his name because the real father was being watched.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Nathaniel stared at him.
“So you knew.”
“I promised Catherine I would never tell you.”
“My wife is dead. My daughter is missing. My granddaughter has been hiding in an apartment marked for eviction, and you kept your promise?”
Gabriel’s expression tightened.
“I kept Ruby alive.”
The recording continued.
“The Hawthorne network began before Nathaniel founded Vale Meridian. His father, Augustus, used property companies to purchase entire neighborhoods. He believed the city’s future belonged to those willing to remove people who stood in the way.”
Nathaniel looked at Sebastian.
“You knew.”
Sebastian’s silence answered him.
“Augustus called the plan the Architecture,” Catherine said. “After his death, someone revived it using Nathaniel’s company.”
The video flickered.
“Elara discovered the new Architect had access to the Vale family trust, Catherine’s medical records, Gabriel’s private accounts, and Nathaniel’s electronic seal.”
Catherine looked directly into the camera.
“I believed the Architect was someone inside our family. I was wrong. The Architect was building a new family around us.”
A knock sounded in the old recording.
Catherine turned toward the door.
“I have very little time. Ruby’s father is the only person who can open the final ledger. If he learns the child is alive, he may protect her.”
She paused.
“Or he may finish what his father began.”
The bedroom door burst open in the recording.
A shadow crossed the camera.
The footage ended.
Ruby stood near the real bedroom door.
No one had noticed her enter.
“What does she mean by his father?”
Nathaniel turned.
“You should be with June.”
“I heard Grandma say my name.”
He could not deny her the truth anymore.
Nathaniel took the original birth certificate from the safe.
The father’s name had been covered with black ink before Gabriel’s name was typed over it.
Ruby touched the paper.
“Can you remove the ink?”
Claire examined it.
“Possibly, but we need a document laboratory.”
Silas laughed.
“You’re holding the wrong certificate.”
Marcus pushed him against the wall.
“Explain.”
“The Architect replaced every official copy. Catherine hid the original in Hawthorne Lane, not here.”
“The hidden room was searched,” Nathaniel said.
Silas looked at Ruby.
“Did you search the cradle?”
Ruby remembered the pale yellow blanket.
“There was nothing inside.”
“Not inside the cradle. Under it.”
Nathaniel ordered a team back to the apartment.
Before they could leave, an alarm sounded throughout the estate.
Smoke rose from the west wing.
The house staff began evacuating.
Marcus pulled Silas toward the stairs.
Nathaniel grabbed the box of letters.
Ruby took Catherine’s recording.
In the confusion, someone struck the electrical system.
The hall went dark.
Ruby felt a hand close around her wrist.
She assumed it was June.
Then a man whispered, “Your mother has been waiting for you.”
Ruby tried to pull away.
The man lifted her.
She kicked, but the smoke hid them from the others.
Nathaniel heard Ruby scream.
He ran toward the sound.
Through the haze, he saw a figure carrying the pink backpack down the rear staircase.
Nathaniel followed.
The figure reached a service exit and pushed it open.
Sunlight flooded the corridor.
A black vehicle waited outside.
Before the man could place Ruby inside, June stepped from behind the car and struck the door against him.
Ruby fell free.
Nathaniel reached her and pulled her into his arms.
Marcus captured the masked man.
When the mask was removed, Gabriel stared at the face beneath it.
The kidnapper was his son, Adrian Cross.
Ruby looked from Adrian to Gabriel.
“Is he my father?”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
May you like
He looked at Nathaniel.
“But my brother is.”
