Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN ERASEDGrace knew the police would come.
She had known from the moment Victoria raised the hockey stick.
She simply hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
Two officers entered the mansion less than twenty minutes later.
Lily immediately clung to Grace.
Nathan stepped between them.
“She's not going anywhere.”
One officer looked at him.
“Mr. Cole, we have a warrant.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“On what charge?”
“Child abduction.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Lily started crying.
“She didn't kidnap me.”
Nathan looked at the officers.
“She is her mother.”
The older officer frowned.
“According to the documents, she isn't.”
Nathan's heart stopped.
“What documents?”
The officer handed him a folder.
Nathan opened it.
His hands went cold.
There was a birth certificate.
It listed Lily's mother as an unidentified woman.
Another document claimed Grace had worked under several false names.
Another claimed she had attempted to flee the country.
And then came the photographs.
Grace supposedly buying a one-way ticket.
Grace supposedly meeting a man at the airport.
Grace supposedly carrying Lily toward a private vehicle.
Everything looked convincing.
Too convincing.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Did you buy a plane ticket?”
“No.”
“Did you ever try to leave the country?”
“No.”
The officer sighed.
“Ma'am, please cooperate.”
Grace tightened her grip on Lily.
“Please don't take my daughter.”
Nathan's chest tightened.
“My daughter.”
The officer looked at him.
“Sir, until paternity is established, the child is legally under investigation.”
Nathan's voice became ice.
“Then establish it.”
“We will.”
“How long?”
The officer hesitated.
“That depends.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know I can have a DNA test done today.”
The officer shook his head.
“Not under these circumstances.”
Nathan understood.
Someone wanted Lily removed before he could prove she was his.
He turned toward his lawyer.
“Get me the fastest private laboratory in the state.”
His attorney nodded.
“Already working on it.”
Victoria suddenly approached.
“Nathan…”
He turned.
She looked frightened again.
“I didn't know this would happen.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
“You called the police?”
“No!”
Grace suddenly spoke.
“Yes, you did.”
Victoria glared at her.
“You're lying.”
Grace's voice shook.
“Your father taught me something four years ago.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
Grace looked at him.
“He told me that powerful families don't need to kill someone to erase them.”
Nathan's expression darkened.
“They only need to make everyone believe the person never existed.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Nathan whispered:
“What exactly happened four years ago?”
Grace finally told him.
The night before Nathan planned to propose, Grace had been taken from her apartment.
Two men had forced her into a car.
They brought her to an isolated estate.
Nathan's father was waiting.
He offered her money.
Grace refused.
Then he showed her photographs.
Nathan leaving the country.
Nathan's mother entering a hospital.
Lily's future medical records.
He told Grace that if she stayed with Nathan, the family would destroy everything she loved.
When Grace was seven months pregnant, she realized she had no protection.
So she disappeared.
She gave birth alone.
She raised Lily alone.
And every year, she watched from a distance.
Nathan had married no one.
He had dated.
Then Victoria arrived.
Grace had thought Nathan was happy.
So she stayed away.
Until three months earlier.
She needed work.
She never imagined the mansion she entered would belong to Lily's father.
Nathan looked devastated.
“You've been here for three months.”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Grace's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
She looked toward Victoria.
“Of them.”
Nathan followed her gaze.
Then his phone rang.
His attorney.
“Nathan, the laboratory called.”
“How soon?”
“Four hours.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Good.”
“But there's a problem.”
“What?”
“The police already received another piece of evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A video.”
Nathan's stomach tightened.
“Of what?”
The attorney lowered his voice.
“A video showing Grace allegedly threatening Lily.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
She shook her head.
“I never did that.”
Nathan believed her.
But the world didn't have to.
His attorney continued.
“And the video was submitted anonymously.”
Nathan looked at Victoria.
She was standing across the kitchen.
Perfect dress.
Perfect hair.
Perfect expression.
Too perfect.
Then Lily tugged at Nathan's sleeve.
He looked down.
The little girl whispered:
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“Don't let the bad lady take Mommy.”
Nathan slowly stood.
His expression changed.
“I won't.”
And for the first time in four years, Nathan Cole made a decision without asking his father what he should do.
May you like
He would protect his daughter.
No matter what it cost.
