Chapter 4 - Nathan Knew Thomas Might Be AliveThe truth emerged from old emails.
Seven years earlier, Nathan had received a message from an address connected to Thomas.
The subject line contained Emma’s name.
Nathan never forwarded it.
The email itself was short.
Thomas said he was alive, unwell, and uncertain whether Emma wanted contact after so many years.
He asked Nathan to tell her only if he believed reaching out would not harm her.
Nathan replied.
Do not contact her yet. She has rebuilt her life.
Emma stared at the message until the words blurred.
“He decided for me.”
Marcus nodded.
It became worse.
Thomas sent two more emails over the following year.
Nathan discouraged contact each time.
Why?
Because by then Nathan was consolidating authority inside Hale Precision.
Emma’s inheritance had made her the controlling voting shareholder.
Thomas’s reappearance could have forced complicated legal review of portions of the estate and disrupted Nathan’s growing influence.
That did not mean Thomas automatically regained everything.
The law was more complicated.
But Nathan had a reason to fear uncertainty.
Emma called him from Marcus’s office.
“You knew.”
Nathan was silent.
“You knew my father might be alive.”
“I was protecting you.”
Emma laughed once, without humor.
“That sentence has covered a lot of things lately.”
He insisted Thomas abandoned her.
Maybe he had.
May you like
But Nathan had stolen Emma’s right to decide whether abandonment deserved an answer.
For the first time, the affair felt almost secondary.
Related Stories
