Chapter 5 - The Last Secret of Nathan Cross
Nathan Cross sat alone at the end of a long table.
His hands were cuffed in front of him. A bruise darkened his jaw where Dominic had struck him in the cellar.
Despite everything, he looked calm.
Dominic entered and closed the door.
Nathan smiled.
“Just like old times.”
“In the old times, I trusted you.”
“That was your mistake.”
Dominic remained standing.
“You wanted to talk.”
“I want a deal.”
“You have nothing worth trading.”
“I know who killed your wife.”
“You did.”
“I helped.”
The words landed like stones.
Dominic’s face did not change.
“Who else?”
Nathan leaned back.
“Safe passage. Ten million dollars. A new passport.”
“You are in police custody.”
“We both know you can still make things happen.”
“I called the police because I am finished making things happen for men like you.”
Nathan studied him.
“The maid changed you.”
“Her name is Mia.”
“You always had a weakness for wounded things.”
Dominic gripped the back of a chair.
“Say my wife’s name.”
Nathan’s smile faded.
“Isabella.”
“Who killed Isabella?”
Nathan looked toward the mirrored wall.
“No cameras.”
“There are always cameras.”
“Then we have nothing to discuss.”
Dominic sat across from him.
“You planned to poison me. You imprisoned Mia. You conspired with Claire. You operated a criminal network beneath my home. You are already finished.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“But if you tell the truth, Isabella’s family will finally know what happened.”
Nathan looked at him for a long moment.
Then he spoke.
“Isabella discovered the offshore accounts.”
“Your accounts?”
“Ours.”
“I had no offshore accounts with you.”
“You had businesses. I had methods.”
“You stole from me.”
“I redirected money.”
“She found out.”
“She threatened to go to the authorities.”
Dominic’s breathing remained controlled.
“So you put a bomb in her car.”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Victor Sloane.”
The name was familiar. Sloane had been a mechanic and weapons supplier who disappeared years earlier.
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Convenient.”
“I killed him after the explosion.”
“Why?”
“To remove the evidence.”
Dominic looked away for one second.
“You pulled me from the car.”
“I needed you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because your signature controlled the businesses. Your death would have frozen the accounts before I could move them.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“I never meant for you to be in the car.”
“You knew Isabella would be.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s hands became still.
“Was she alive after the explosion?”
Nathan hesitated.
That hesitation told Dominic the answer would hurt.
“For a few minutes.”
“And you left her?”
“I could not save both of you.”
“You did not try.”
“She knew what I had done.”
Dominic rose so quickly that the chair fell backward.
Nathan flinched.
Dominic crossed the distance and stopped inches from him.
For years, he had dreamed of finding the person responsible for Isabella’s death.
He had imagined violence.
Revenge.
Blood.
But behind the mirrored wall, police officers were recording every word.
And upstairs, a four-year-old girl believed that judges should decide what happened to bad people.
Dominic stepped back.
Nathan laughed shakily.
“What happened to you?”
“I learned the difference between justice and revenge.”
“You think handing me to the police makes you clean?”
“No.”
Dominic returned to his chair.
“But it ends you without becoming you.”
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
Dominic asked, “What was the other bomb?”
Nathan’s eyes shifted.
“I told you enough.”
“You said there were two.”
Nathan remained silent.
Dominic opened the door.
“Then the deal is over.”
“Wait.”
Dominic paused.
Nathan’s voice lowered.
“The second device was placed in the Vale Foundation office.”
“That building was empty.”
“It wasn’t intended to explode that night.”
“What was it intended for?”
“A future investigation.”
Dominic turned.
Nathan continued.
“I kept evidence there. Records connected to you, your father, and every family that ever worked with us.”
“You planned to frame me.”
“I planned insurance.”
“Where is it?”
“Behind the cornerstone plaque in the basement.”
Daniel, listening outside, immediately gave the order to search the building.
Nathan smiled again.
“There is enough in that vault to destroy your public businesses.”
“Then they deserve to be examined.”
“You would let everything collapse?”
“I would rather lose an empire than let another child spend three days begging adults to believe her.”
Nathan stared at him.
For the first time, he seemed unable to understand Dominic.
A detective entered and placed a phone on the table.
“Mr. Vale, the foundation team found the vault.”
Nathan’s face went pale.
The detective continued.
“There was also an explosive device. The bomb squad is handling it.”
Dominic stood.
Nathan pulled against his cuffs.
“You cannot give them those records.”
“I already did.”
“They will indict everyone.”
“Good.”
“You’re included.”
“If I committed crimes, I will answer for them.”
Nathan stared at him in disbelief.
“You would go to prison?”
Dominic thought about Mia’s bruised wrists.
Harper’s bare feet.
Isabella dying alone beside a burning car.
“I will not hide behind another lie.”
Nathan’s voice rose.
“You owe me!”
“I owed you loyalty when I thought you were my brother.”
“I saved your life.”
“You saved an asset.”
“I built you!”
“You built a cage beneath my home.”
Officers entered.
Nathan began shouting as they pulled him from the chair.
“You will lose everything!”
Dominic watched him go.
Perhaps Nathan was right.
The records in the foundation vault could destroy companies, expose political deals, and bring criminal charges against men who believed themselves untouchable.
Dominic might lose his businesses.
His home.
His freedom.
But for the first time in years, he felt no fear.
When he returned upstairs, Mia was standing in the corridor despite the doctor’s orders.
“You should be in bed.”
“I heard shouting.”
“Nathan confessed.”
“To everything?”
“To Isabella’s murder. The poisoning. The hidden accounts.”
Mia searched his face.
“What happens now?”
“The authorities review the records.”
“And you?”
“I cooperate.”
“Even if they charge you?”
“Yes.”
Harper ran from the room and hugged Dominic’s leg.
“Did you beat the bad man?”
Dominic looked at Mia.
Then he crouched beside Harper.
“No.”
The girl frowned.
“The truth did.”
She considered that answer.
“Is the truth stronger than you?”
Dominic almost smiled.
“Much stronger.”
Harper took his hand.
“Good.”
Mia watched them.
“You kept your promise.”
“Not yet.”
“You found me.”
“But you are still in my house with people who failed you.”
Dominic stood.
“Every employee connected to Nathan is gone. New security will be hired. Until then, Daniel will remain outside this room.”
Mia shook her head.
“I cannot stay here.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“I understand.”
“This place almost killed me.”
“I know.”
“And Harper will remember that cellar every time she walks through the western corridor.”
“I can arrange another home. Anywhere you choose.”
Mia looked toward the window.
“I don’t want your money.”
“It isn’t payment.”
“It will feel like payment.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Then tell me what you need.”
Mia looked at him.
“I need Harper to feel safe.”
“So do I.”
“And I need to know you will not disappear into your old world after this.”
Dominic glanced at the police officers moving through his estate.
“My old world is already disappearing.”
Mia’s expression softened.
May you like
“Maybe that is not the worst thing.”
“No,” Dominic said. “Maybe it isn’t.”
