I gripped the back of the chair.
“My father was cheated?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I found out after my father died.”
“When was that?”
“Four years ago.”
I stared at him.
Four years ago.
He had known for four years that my father had helped build his empire.
He had known for three years that I worked beneath him, invisible in a department full of people who had no idea my family’s name had once belonged on the walls.
“You said Vale wants me gone,” I said. “Why?”
“Because the merger would transfer Northstar’s core AI assets to Vale Dynamics. Once that happened, any old claim connected to your father would become a liability. Especially if you ever found proof.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Proof? Nathan, I didn’t even know there was anything to prove.”
“I know.”
“You knew everything. You watched me work there for three years, and you never told me.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
The words landed badly.
I turned away.
Outside, Chicago glittered like nothing could touch it. Buildings rose proud and clean, hiding the rot beneath their foundations.
“Protecting me,” I repeated. “By letting me remain a junior analyst in the company my father helped create?”
Nathan flinched.
“I couldn’t promote you too quickly without drawing attention.”
“So you drew attention by walking me through the executive floor and taking me to lunch?”
His silence answered before he did.
“That was different,” he said.
“Because you overheard I was a virgin?”
His eyes snapped to mine. “No.”
I hated how badly I wanted to believe him.
I hated how much the confession in the cafeteria suddenly felt less like fate and more like a file opened on a desk.
“Was any of it real?” I asked.
Nathan stepped toward me, then stopped himself.
“All of it.”
“How can I know that?”
“You can’t,” he said quietly.
That honesty hurt more than denial would have.
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket.
I almost ignored it, but something made me look.
It was a message from Harper.
MAYA. Where are you? Someone from HR came looking for you. They said your access badge has been suspended.
Then another message appeared.
Also… there are security guards at your desk.
My hands went cold.
I showed Nathan the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
“Vale moved faster than I expected.”
I backed away from him. “Or you did.”
“Maya—”
“No. Don’t.” My voice cracked. “I trusted you.”
He looked at me like the words had struck him in the chest.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. You have no idea what trust costs when you’ve spent your whole life feeling like one wrong choice will ruin you.”
For a moment, the mask fell completely.
Beneath the billionaire, beneath the ruthless CEO, there was only a man standing in front of the wreckage he had helped create.
“You’re right,” he said.
The simplicity of it made my eyes burn.
I wanted anger. I wanted excuses I could hate.
Instead, he gave me truth.
And truth was harder to run from.
Nathan picked up the folded patent document and held it out to me.
“Take this.”
I stared at it.
“Why?”
“Because if you leave with nothing else tonight, leave with proof that your father was not who they made him become.”
My fingers trembled as I took it.
The paper felt impossibly light for something that could split my life in two.
“There’s more,” Nathan said.
“Of course there is.”
“The original research notebooks disappeared after your father signed the settlement. Vale has been looking for them for years. He believes your mother has them.”
A memory rose so suddenly I nearly staggered.
My mother in the attic, sitting beside a locked cedar trunk.
Her face pale when I asked what was inside.
“Old grief,” she had said.
I pressed my hand to my mouth.
Nathan saw my expression.
“You’ve seen something.”
