Chapter 10 - The Attorney
Nathan Cole had been Ethan’s attorney for nine years.
His father had hired Nathan first.
He knew every trust.
Every acquisition.
Every private settlement.
Every weakness.
Ethan stared at him.
“Explain.”
Nathan did not run.
That made Ethan more nervous.
“I can.”
“Then start.”
Nathan admitted he knew Michael Reed was alive.
Not where.
Only that Michael occasionally communicated through encrypted channels.
“Why?”
“Because your father asked me to protect him.”
“My father?”
Thomas Brooks knew Michael survived.
Another lie.
Nathan explained that Thomas discovered pieces of Rachel’s investigation after her death.
He realized Victor was dangerous.
But he also learned Rachel had hidden something from him.
Gabriel Mercer.
Ethan.
The company’s true origins.
Thomas could have exposed everything.
Instead, he protected Ethan.
“How?”
“By keeping the company stable.”
“You mean hiding the truth.”
“Yes.”
Nathan did not soften it.
Ethan appreciated that.
Then Nathan admitted something worse.
Eleven years earlier, Thomas prepared to expose Victor.
Before he could, Thomas died.
Officially heart failure.
Nathan never believed it.
“You think Victor killed him?”
“I thought so.”
“Thought?”
Nathan looked at Sophia.
“Michael contacted me last month.”
“What did he say?”
“That Victor didn’t kill Thomas.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“Who did?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Nathan then explained Evelyn’s warning.
She did not mean Nathan was part of Victor’s conspiracy.
She meant Nathan had been ordered by Thomas to conceal Gabriel Mercer’s identity permanently.
Nathan had obeyed.
Ethan’s voice turned cold.
“You knew Gabriel was my father.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Nine years.”
Ethan punched the wall.
Not Nathan.
The wall.
Sophia flinched.
Ethan immediately stepped back.
“Sorry.”
Nathan continued.
“There’s another reason I kept it from you.”
“What?”
“Gabriel Mercer is not missing.”
“Where is he?”
Nathan looked toward the hospital windows.
“He has been watching you.”
Ethan stared.
“From where?”
Nathan pulled out his phone.
A photograph appeared.
The Brooks Global annual gala.
Ethan stood beside Victor.
Behind them, dressed as catering staff, was an older man.
Gabriel.
Another photograph.
Ethan’s father’s funeral.
Gabriel stood near the cemetery gate.
Another.
Outside Ethan’s apartment.
Another.
St. Mary’s Hospital.
Taken three nights earlier.
Gabriel stood in the lobby.
Ethan felt sick.
“My biological father has been following me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
A man said:
“Because I needed to know what kind of man he became.”
Ethan froze.
“Gabriel?”
Silence.
Then:
“Room 417 was never about Rachel’s murder.”
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
“What was it about?”
Gabriel answered:
May you like
“Finding you.”
Then the hospital lights went out.
