Chapter 2
The doctors found the baby’s heartbeat immediately.
That was the only sound I cared about.
Strong.
Fast.
Alive.
I lay in a hospital bed with monitors strapped across my stomach while Nathan stood beside me in borrowed scrubs because his suit was still soaked.
Sophie sat curled in a chair near the window.
My father paced.
He had never paced in his life.
Henry Whitmore believed pacing made people look uncertain.
That night, he didn't care.
Dr. Patel entered after reviewing my scans.
“No placental separation.”
I closed my eyes.
“Thank God.”
“She’s showing some uterine irritability.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
“Contractions, potentially from stress and impact.”
“Is the baby coming?”
“Not necessarily.”
The doctor looked at me.
“We’re keeping you overnight.”
“Fine.”
“For observation.”
“I said fine.”
Nathan squeezed my hand.
Dr. Patel continued.
“Emily, you inhaled some water. Your oxygen levels are stable, but we’ll monitor your lungs too.”
I nodded.
Then Sophie spoke.
“Is my baby brother okay?”
The doctor smiled gently.
“Right now, he looks very strong.”
Sophie exhaled.
She had been calling the baby Theo since the day we told her she was getting a brother.
Nathan crossed the room.
He crouched beside her.
“What you said in the ambulance.”
Her shoulders tightened.
“I heard Aunt Vanessa.”
“What exactly?”
Sophie looked toward me.
I nodded.
“You can tell us.”
She twisted the ribbon on her dress.
“Grandma was near the flowers.”
Nathan’s mother.
Margaret Cole.
I felt cold despite the blankets.
“What did Vanessa say?”
Sophie swallowed.
“She said, ‘Once Emily is out of the way, Nathan gets everything.’”
Nathan stared.
“And Grandma?”
“She said, ‘Not here.’”
My father stopped pacing.
“Anything else?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Then Aunt Vanessa saw me.”
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“She smiled.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“What kind of smile?”
Sophie looked confused.
“Like when grown-ups pretend.”
That description was perfect.
Then she whispered:
“She told me to find Grandpa.”
My father frowned.
“Me?”
“Other Grandpa.”
Nathan’s father had died six years earlier.
Sophie knew that.
She corrected herself.
“Grandpa Richard.”
The room went silent.
Nathan’s face changed.
“My father?”
Sophie nodded.
“He was at the villa.”
Nathan stood so quickly the chair tipped.
“No.”
My father looked at him.
“What?”
Nathan shook his head.
“My father is dead.”
Sophie looked frightened.
“I know.”
“Then why did you say you saw him?”
“Because Aunt Vanessa said it.”
My heart pounded.
“Explain.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“She was on the phone before the pool.”
Nathan knelt again.
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘Dad, everything is ready.’”
Nathan stared at his daughter.
My father and I exchanged a look.
Richard Cole had been declared dead six years earlier after a private plane crashed over the Atlantic.
Only wreckage had been recovered.
No body.
I had known that.
But I never questioned it.
People die without bodies all the time.
Except suddenly our family contained a woman who had shoved me into a pool while pregnant and apparently spoken to her dead father minutes earlier.
Nathan picked up his phone.
“I need the security footage.”
My father said:
“Already being transferred.”
“Who has access?”
“My security director.”
“No one else?”
“Hotel security.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Vanessa used to work for your hospitality division.”
My father’s face hardened.
Five years earlier, Vanessa had spent eighteen months as a regional events consultant for Whitmore Properties.
She would know the camera systems.
I sat up.
“She knew about the camera.”
My father nodded.
“She might.”
“Then why push me directly in front of one?”
Nobody answered.
Unless she thought it wasn't recording.
My phone rang.
My father’s security director.
Dad put him on speaker.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The pool camera feed is blank.”
Nathan cursed.
“For how long?”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened before?”
“Feed stops at 6:41.”
“What time did Emily go into the water?”
“6:53.”
Twelve minutes.
Plenty of time to disable it intentionally.
Dad asked:
“Other cameras?”
“Courtyard west angle caught part of it.”
My heart jumped.
“Part?”
“Obstructed by guests.”
“Can you see Vanessa?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Can you see contact?”
Another pause.
“Not clearly.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Of course.
Then the security director continued.
“But there’s audio from the garden camera.”
Nobody spoke.
“What audio?” Dad asked.
“We’re cleaning it now.”
“Send immediately.”
Within minutes, a file arrived.
Dad played it.
Party noise.
Music.
Glasses.
Then Vanessa’s voice.
Low.
Near the camera.
“You should have signed when we gave you the chance.”
My voice answered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I remembered now.
Vanessa had approached me right before the pool.
She mentioned paperwork Nathan had given me the previous week.
I thought she was talking about a family investment.
The audio continued.
Vanessa:
“You always make everything difficult.”
Me:
“I said I’ll read it first.”
Then Vanessa.
“If Nathan had married someone less suspicious, none of this would be necessary.”
My pulse jumped.
I remembered turning.
Then hands.
Splash.
The audio captured Sophie screaming.
Then chaos.
Nathan looked at me.
“What paperwork?”
I swallowed.
“You gave me a folder Thursday.”
His face went blank.
“I did not.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I didn’t give you any papers.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I was in Denver Thursday.”
My stomach turned.
The folder had been on my desk with a yellow note.
Love, Nathan.
Please sign pages 4 and 7.
I hadn't.
I wanted to read everything first.
Vanessa apparently knew that.
My father asked:
“Where are the documents?”
“At home.”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
“We go now.”
“You’re staying,” Dr. Patel said from the doorway.
We all turned.
Apparently she had heard enough.
“Nobody is going anywhere except possibly Mr. Cole.”
Nathan looked at me.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Go.”
“Emily.”
“Find the papers.”
He hesitated.
“Dad can stay.”
My father nodded.
“I’m not moving.”
Sophie added:
“Me either.”
Nathan kissed my forehead.
Then he left with corporate security.
For forty minutes, nothing happened.
Then he called.
His voice was different.
“Emily.”
“What?”
“I found the folder.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“And?”
“The papers transfer your voting shares in Whitmore Family Holdings into a marital trust.”
My father stood.
“What?”
Nathan continued.
“If you signed, I would become acting trustee.”
I couldn't breathe.
Nathan’s voice broke.
“Emily, someone forged my note and tried to make you hand me control of your family’s company.”
My father took the phone.
“Who prepared the documents?”
Nathan was silent.
Then:
“Cole & Mercer Legal.”
Margaret Cole's attorney.
My mother-in-law.
Dad looked at me.
Then another call appeared on Nathan’s line.
He merged it.
His security officer spoke.
“Mr. Cole, police are at the villa.”
“Why?”
“Your sister is gone.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean gone?”
“She left before officers could question her.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Margaret?”
“Also gone.”
The officer paused.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“We searched the garage.”
A beat.
“There was a car registered to Richard Cole.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
“That's impossible.”
“The registration is current.”
“And the driver?”
“Unknown.”
Then the officer said:
“But the vehicle exited through the east gate twelve minutes before Emily went into the pool.”
I stared at Nathan’s name on the phone screen.
His father was supposed to be dead.
His sister had tried to make me sign away control of my family company.
May you like
His mother had disappeared.
And somewhere between all of them was a plan that apparently required me to be gone.
