Chapter 2 - Nathan Secretly Tested His Wine—Then He Found the Same Substance in His Medical Records and Realized Vanessa Had Been Poisoning Him for MonthsThe next morning, Nathan behaved as if nothing had happened.
That was the first thing that frightened me.
He ate breakfast.
He answered emails.
He kissed Vanessa goodbye before she left for a spa appointment.
He smiled.
He looked perfectly normal.
But I could tell.
His eyes were different.
He was watching.
At breakfast, Vanessa asked:
“Did you sleep well?”
Nathan smiled.
“Perfectly.”
She kissed his cheek.
“I'll see you tonight.”
After she left, Nathan turned to his security chief.
“Follow her.”
The man nodded.
Nathan waited until the door closed.
Then he looked at me.
“Did you sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Sophia?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
Then he signed to my daughter.
HELLO.
Sophia smiled.
She signed back.
HELLO.
Nathan looked at me.
“She taught me that.”
“I know.”
“She also taught me that I'm apparently terrible at everything else.”
Sophia laughed silently.
Nathan smiled.
For the first time, I saw how much he cared about her.
That made what came next harder.
He had blood drawn.
Three separate labs.
No one in his household was told.
The results came back that evening.
The sedative from the wine was only the newest substance.
There were traces of another chemical.
One that should not have been in his bloodstream.
It was a drug used experimentally to alter neurological symptoms.
Including hearing.
Nathan stared at the report.
“My hearing loss.”
His doctor nodded.
“May have been induced.”
He looked at me.
Sophia's warning suddenly made sense.
She had been saying:
NOT DEAF.
Not literally.
She might have been saying something much more complicated.
She had seen Nathan's reaction to sound when nobody else noticed.
She had noticed the drug.
Vanessa had been slowly making him sick.
But why the hearing loss?
His physician found the answer in the medical database.
The drug was often used in experimental neuropharmacology.
A private company had funded several studies.
Cole International had invested in that company.
Nathan stared.
“I own part of it.”
“Yes.”
“Who manages it?”
His CFO.
Richard Coleman.
The same man named in the insurance trust.
Nathan went silent.
He called Richard.
“Richard.”
“Morning.”
“I need every record on the neuroscience division.”
A pause.
“Why?”
“Because I'm auditing it.”
Richard laughed.
“Since when?”
“Since now.”
Silence.
Then:
“Of course.”
The call ended.
Nathan looked at me.
“He knows.”
“How?”
“Because he didn't ask why.”
We began digging.
The company had been losing money.
Millions.
Yet one division showed massive increases in research expenditure.
The money was being routed through private clinics.
One of them had treated Nathan.
Another had treated several wealthy patients.
All had unexplained neurological conditions.
Hearing loss.
Memory problems.
Balance issues.
The same pattern.
Patients were being told they had degenerative disorders.
They didn't.
They were being drugged.
Why?
Because the company had been testing a compound that could alter neurological function.
And Nathan was the most valuable subject.
He was young.
Healthy.
Rich.
His medical data was extremely valuable.
But the insurance policy suggested there was another goal.
Someone didn't only want to study him.
Someone wanted him dead.
The wedding was the deadline.
Nathan quietly canceled three public appearances.
He moved money into protected accounts.
He changed his security team.
He stopped drinking anything he didn't see prepared.
Vanessa noticed.
She smiled.
“You're being paranoid.”
“Maybe.”
“You never were before.”
“I've changed.”
She kissed him.
Her hand touched his shoulder.
Nathan's body stiffened.
He waited until she left.
Then his doctor examined the site.
A tiny injection mark.
Nathan's face went blank.
She had tried to inject him.
He wasn't paranoid.
He was being poisoned.
And now someone had attempted to accelerate the process.
The security footage showed Vanessa entering his study.
She knew where the cameras were.
That was strange.
Then the footage disappeared.
Someone with administrative access had erased it.
Richard.
Nathan confronted him.
Not directly.
He sent an email.
We need to discuss the hearing program.
Richard replied immediately.
Some things are better left alone.
Nathan stared.
That was enough.
The next day, Nathan changed his will.
He removed Vanessa as beneficiary.
He placed the majority of his assets into an independent family trust.
His attorney asked why.
“Someone is trying to kill me.”
The attorney stared.
“Can you prove it?”
“Not yet.”
“Then why aren't you going to the police?”
“Because I don't know who else is compromised.”
He looked at me.
“Not even the police.”
That was when I realized how dangerous his world really was.
He didn't trust anyone.
Except maybe me.
And my daughter.
Sophia had started following Nathan around.
She loved his terrible signing.
She would correct him.
He would pretend to be offended.
I watched them one afternoon in the library.
Nathan signed:
GOOD.
Sophia shook her head.
Wrong.
She demonstrated.
He copied her.
She laughed.
Nathan smiled.
I realized something.
He looked happier around my daughter than he ever looked around Vanessa.
That should have been none of my business.
But my heart noticed.
I didn't want it to.
Not yet.
The investigation continued.
They found payments to a private investigator.
The investigator had followed me.
My address.
My daughter's school.
My work schedule.
Everything.
Nathan saw the file.
His expression darkened.
“She's using you.”
“Who?”
“Vanessa.”
“Why would she care about us?”
“Because Sophia saw something.”
My stomach tightened.
Nathan looked at my daughter.
“And because you saw her too.”
The next night, someone entered my apartment.
Nothing was stolen.
Nothing was broken.
Only one thing was missing.
Sophia's medical file.
I called Nathan.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“My apartment.”
“Get out.”
“What?”
“Now.”
I grabbed Sophia.
We left.
Nathan arrived within minutes.
He looked at the broken lock.
Then at me.
“You're staying at the estate.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“I work for you.”
“You're not an employee tonight.”
“What am I?”
He looked at Sophia.
“Family.”
The word landed heavily.
Sophia reached for his hand.
He took it.
That night, she slept in the guest wing.
I stayed nearby.
Nathan sat outside the room.
He didn't trust the security team enough to leave.
At 3:00 a.m., he heard movement.
He stood.
A man entered the hallway.
Nathan confronted him.
The man ran.
Security caught him.
He carried no weapon.
Only a photograph.
My daughter.
And on the back:
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
Nathan stared at the photograph.
His jaw tightened.
Then he looked at me.
“No one is touching her.”
I believed him.
But the next morning, an even bigger secret surfaced.
A private legal firm had filed documents to transfer control of Nathan's company if he became “medically incapacitated.”
The trustee?
Vanessa's father.
Dead.
The co-trustee?
Richard Coleman.
And the beneficiary?
Vanessa.
The wedding was not just a wedding.
It was a legal takeover.
If Nathan died or became incapacitated soon after marriage, Vanessa would inherit control of billions.
She didn't need his death immediately.
She needed him weakened.
Sick.
Dependent.
Then legally vulnerable.
Nathan looked at the documents.
Then at me.
“They've been planning this for years.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I should have seen it.”
“You trusted them.”
“I trusted the wrong people.”
Sophia walked in.
She touched his hand.
Then signed slowly.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Nathan stared at her.
He looked at me.
“What did she say?”
I translated.
“You're not alone.”
Something softened in his face.
“I know.”
Then he signed back.
THANK YOU.
Sophia smiled.
And for the first time since I had met Nathan Cole, I realized something.
The man everyone thought was untouchable was terrified.
May you like
Not of losing his fortune.
Of losing the people who had finally become important to him.
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