Chapter 4 - The Truth Behind the Rain
Nathaniel felt as though the floor had been pulled out from beneath him.
For fourteen months, he had believed his wife's death was a tragic twist of fate—a random, rain-slick accident on a highway. But looking at the paper trail, the horrifying truth began to take shape.
"Richard..." Nathaniel whispered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the marble counter. "It wasn't an accident."
Within an hour, Nathaniel’s chief of security, Frank Vance, arrived at the estate. Frank reviewed the documents, his face growing grim with every page.
"Elise was on her way to meet a federal auditor in Boston the night she died," Frank revealed, pulling up an encrypted database on his tablet. "We re-examined the police report from the crash fourteen months ago. The delivery truck that crossed the median... the driver's legal defense was quietly funded through an offshore shell corporation registered in the Cayman Islands."
Frank looked up at Nathaniel. "The owner of that shell corporation is Richard Hayes."
Nathaniel closed his eyes, a deep, primal rage surging through his veins. Richard had sat beside him at Elise's funeral. Richard had held his hand when he wept, had offered to take over major board duties so Nathaniel could "grieve," and had been systematically executing a quiet hostile takeover of Cole Enterprises while Nathaniel was blinded by sorrow.
"He didn't just kill my wife," Nathaniel said, his voice dropping into a register of absolute, deadly stillness. "He let me blame myself for fourteen months while he sat at my table."
"Mr. Cole," Jo said gently, laying a warm hand over his trembling arm. "You have the proof now. Don't let him take anything else from you or the boys."
May you like
Nathaniel opened his eyes, looking at Jo, then over at the doorway where Milo and Theo were playing quietly with wooden blocks in the living room.
"Frank," Nathaniel commanded softly. "Contact the Department of Justice and the FBI. Tell them I have the complete audit trail for the maritime fraud... and the evidence of premeditated murder."
