Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Old Photograph
The following morning Thomas disappeared.
His apartment was empty.
His office had been cleared.
His company car abandoned.
Lucas called every security contact he had.
Nothing.
I spent the day trying to understand how my family's history had become tangled with his.
Then Natalie brought me a folder.
"Lucas wants you to see this."
Inside was an old photograph.
My father.
Standing beside Lucas's father.
And between them was a small girl.
Me.
I stared.
"I don't remember this."
"You were four."
Lucas entered.
He looked at the photograph.
"My father kept it."
"Why?"
He sat across from me.
"Because your father saved his life."
I looked up.
"What?"
"Years ago, my father suffered a heart attack at a charity event. Your father performed CPR."
My breath caught.
It was too strange.
Too similar.
"Our fathers knew each other because they were both connected to the foundation."
Lucas nodded.
"And my father trusted yours."
"Then why did my father die?"
"We don't know."
The forensic accountant arrived.
"We found another company."
The name appeared on the screen.
Parker Strategic Holdings.
"But that's not all."
There were accounts.
A trust.
A beneficiary.
My name.
I stared.
"What?"
Lucas looked at the documents.
"Someone established a trust in your name."
"For me?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
The original signature belonged to Lucas's father.
The trust held twelve million dollars.
I shook my head.
"I don't understand."
Lucas read the document.
"It was supposed to fund your nursing education."
I felt tears fill my eyes.
"My mother couldn't pay for school."
"Apparently, your tuition had already been covered."
"Then why didn't I receive it?"
The answer came in the next line.
"Funds redirected by Thomas Reed."
My entire life shifted.
Three years ago, when I dropped out of nursing school, I had believed my mother’s illness had taken my dream.
But someone had stolen the chance I thought I had lost.
Lucas saw the pain in my face.
"You could have become a nurse."
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
"You were supposed to."
He reached across the table.
I looked at his hand.
Then took it.
It felt natural.
And terrifying.
"You don't have to fix my life," I whispered.
"I know."
"But you're trying."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
"Because I know what it's like to have something taken from you and spend years pretending it didn't matter."
I wanted to ask what he meant.
Instead I said:
"Did someone hurt you?"
"My mother died when I was nineteen."
"I'm sorry."
"My father became obsessed with the company."
"And you?"
"I learned how to survive without him."
I squeezed his hand.
"Maybe that's why you were alone in the elevator."
He smiled faintly.
"Maybe."
That evening, Lucas asked me to dinner.
I almost refused.
"Is this a business dinner?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"A date."
I stared at him.
"You?"
"Me."
"The billionaire CEO?"
"Unfortunately."
I laughed.
We went to a small restaurant instead of the kind of place I expected.
No cameras.
No crowd.
Just a quiet corner table.
Lucas didn't talk about business.
He asked about my mother.
My childhood.
My dreams.
I asked about his.
He admitted he had once wanted to become a teacher.
"You?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"My father thought business was more practical."
I smiled.
"You'd make a good teacher."
"Why?"
"You listen."
He looked at me.
"So do you."
The dinner lasted three hours.
When he drove me home, neither of us spoke much.
Before I got out, he said:
"Bailey."
"Yes?"
"You don't owe me anything because I saved your family's future."
"I know."
"You don't owe me because you saved my life."
"I know."
He paused.
"I just want you to stay."
My heart beat faster.
"I think I want that too."
He smiled.
I opened the door.
Then stopped.
"Lucas?"
"Yes?"
"Whatever happens, don't treat me like someone fragile."
His eyes held mine.
"I wouldn't dare."
I smiled.
But when I entered my apartment, I found something on my kitchen table.
A black envelope.
Inside was an old hospital bracelet.
My mother's name.
And a note.
YOUR MOTHER KNEW THE TRUTH.
I dropped the envelope.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown.
A man's voice whispered:
"Ask Lucas what happened to his father."
The call ended.
I stood in my dark apartment.
May you like
For the first time, I wondered whether Lucas's father had really died naturally.
And whether the secret we were uncovering was much bigger than either of us had imagined.
