Chapter 40 - what Elias wanted most
Nora found Elias at their father’s abandoned country estate.
He was in the greenhouse, sitting among dead plants and broken panes of glass. As children, they had hidden there whenever their parents argued about the company.
“You always came here when you wanted someone to find you,” Nora said.
Elias did not turn around.
“Gideon abandoned me.”
“You abandoned yourself long before tonight.”
“I suppose you came for the password.”
“Yes.”
“And after I give it to you?”
“You will answer for the choices you made.”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“Malcolm receives protection while I receive punishment.”
“Malcolm is cooperating with investigators. He is not being forgiven.”
“What do I receive?”
“The chance to tell the truth under your own name.”
“My name is connected to fraud, a staged death and eleven years of false identities.”
“It is also connected to Katherine’s estate. You are entitled to half of the recovered royalties.”
Elias finally faced her.
“You would still give me the inheritance?”
“It belongs to you. Northstar does not.”
He had expected either revenge or surrender. Nora offered neither.
She placed their father’s original letter on the table.
“He did not ask me to defeat you. He asked me to protect what our mother built.”
Elias read the letter.
Tears appeared in his eyes, though his voice remained hard.
“Do you know the last thing Father said to me? He said you were strong enough to survive the truth and I was not.”
“He was wrong to divide us that way.”
“He was right.”
“No. You survived eleven years. What you did with your survival is your responsibility, but weakness was never your identity.”
Elias reached inside his coat and removed a small notebook.
The third password was written on the final page.
The phrase came from a childhood promise they once made beneath the greenhouse table.
Neither of us gets left behind.
Nora entered it into Grace’s secure portal.
The folder unlocked.
Before the first file loaded, every light in the estate went out.
May you like
At the same moment, Owen called.
Vale Meridian’s entire data network had gone dark.
