Chapter 3 - Nathaniel's Mother Had Planned the Collapse of Her Husband's Empire—and She Knew My Secret Before Anyone Else DidEvelyn Vance invited me to her home the next morning.
I nearly refused.
Then she sent one sentence.
Your mother trusted me.
I froze.
My mother had been dead for eight years.
Few people knew we had ever met.
I went.
Evelyn was waiting in the conservatory.
She looked nothing like the woman from the wedding.
No diamonds.
No polished smile.
Just exhaustion.
“You came.”
“Yes.”
She poured tea.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For which part?”
“The wedding.”
I laughed.
“You didn't cancel it.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“But I should have stopped him.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Charles?”
“No.”
She looked toward the windows.
“Of what would happen if I did.”
Then she told me everything.
Charles had been losing money for years.
Not because of his company.
Because of his gambling.
Real estate.
Private investments.
He had borrowed against Vance Publishing to cover personal losses.
Evelyn discovered it five years ago.
The same year I met Nathaniel.
She had tried to confront him.
He threatened divorce.
Then threatened to cut Nathaniel out of the succession.
Evelyn stayed.
Not because she loved him.
Because she was trying to protect her children.
Then she discovered Bellmont Media.
The hostile takeover was not hers.
It was Charles's.
He had created it to move assets away from the company.
Evelyn had only discovered the scheme.
She began collecting evidence.
“You were helping yourself.”
“I was trying to protect what your children would inherit.”
She looked at me.
“Then I discovered you.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Five years ago.”
“Before I met Nathaniel?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My son showed me your photograph.”
That frightened me.
“Why?”
“He was proud of you.”
My heart twisted.
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“He said you were the smartest woman he'd ever met.”
I looked away.
“He also said you were poor.”
I laughed despite myself.
“Yes.”
“And he thought that made him different from his father.”
My eyes filled.
“He was.”
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“Until he became afraid.”
She handed me a file.
Inside was a copy of my original publishing contract.
Signed under Ren Callaway.
Also a note from my mother.
I recognized her handwriting.
Evelyn,
Please keep this girl away from men who think inheritance is love.
I stopped breathing.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She was the editor who discovered you.”
I stared.
“My mother?”
“She read your first manuscript.”
“She never told me.”
“She didn't want your success to become about her.”
I remembered my mother encouraging me to write.
I remembered her saying:
Don't tell anyone until you're ready.
She had known.
She had understood the world I would enter.
And now, years later, her warning had become painfully accurate.
Evelyn continued.
“Your mother told me that if Charles ever tried to control your career, I should help you.”
I stared at the file.
“Why didn't you?”
“I did.”
She pointed to one clause.
The original contract had a secret addendum.
A percentage of the publisher's equity would be transferred to the author if the publisher ever committed fraud.
I had never seen it.
Charles had.
Evelyn had hidden it.
Priscilla had found it three days earlier.
I looked at Evelyn.
“You protected me.”
She nodded.
“Because your mother asked me to.”
That was the moment I understood.
The Vance family had not been simple.
Charles was the architect of his own greed.
Nathaniel was his frightened son.
Evelyn was a prisoner pretending to be a socialite.
Daniel was the son who escaped.
And I?
I had unknowingly become the person standing between the company and its destruction.
That afternoon, Nathaniel came to my apartment.
I opened the door.
He looked exhausted.
“I need to talk.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
“Not today.”
“Please.”
I almost closed the door.
Then he said:
“I didn't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I know.”
He looked down.
“I thought I had to become my father.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because he told me everything would be mine.”
“You wanted his approval.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted the company.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted me.”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“But when he made me choose…”
“You chose him.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
I could see tears in his eyes.
“I was a coward.”
I didn't disagree.
He looked at me.
“Did you ever love me?”
I almost smiled.
“Every day.”
His face broke.
“But that doesn't mean I should marry you.”
“I know.”
“And it doesn't mean I owe you another chance.”
“I know.”
He nodded.
Then he whispered:
“I hope one day you can forgive me.”
“I might.”
His eyes lifted.
“But forgiveness isn't the same as coming back.”
He nodded.
Then he left.
I closed the door.
I expected relief.
Instead, I cried.
Not because I wanted him.
Because I finally understood how much I had loved a man who never learned how to stand up to the people who owned his future.
Two days later, Charles called an emergency board meeting.
He intended to announce Nathaniel as the new CEO.
Daniel objected.
Evelyn objected.
The board split.
Then Charles announced something that changed everything.
He would sell the company.
To Bellmont Media.
For one dollar.
The room erupted.
I sat quietly.
Because I knew why.
He wasn't selling the company.
He was transferring the debt.
And once the transfer happened, my rights would trigger.
The board would lose control.
My contracts would revert.
Hundreds of books could leave Vance.
The company would collapse.
Charles looked at me.
He knew I had understood.
“Miss Callaway.”
“Yes?”
“I believe this decision is in the best interests of the company.”
I smiled.
“No.”
He frowned.
“It is in the best interests of you.”
The board went silent.
Charles stared at me.
And then Daniel stood.
“He's right.”
Charles looked at him.
Daniel smiled.
May you like
“Dad.”
“You just lost your company.”
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