Chapter 2 - The Shadows of Queens
The slick black Maybach stood out like a predator in the run-down, graying streets of Astoria, Queens. Nathan sat in the back seat, his chest tight as Lily pointed out the window toward a crumbling, pre-war brick apartment building.
"There!" she said, her excitement temporarily masking her fear. "The blue door with the peeling paint."
Nathan instructed his security detail to wait downstairs. "If I'm not down in thirty minutes, come up. Apartment 4B."
He walked up the narrow, smelling-of-old-cabbage stairwell, holding Lily’s hand. With every step, his anger at Rebecca grew—mixed with a suffocating sense of guilt. Why hadn't she told him? Why run? He was a billionaire; he would have provided everything.
When they reached Apartment 4B, the door was slightly ajar.
Nathan pushed it open.
The apartment was tiny, but meticulously clean. Cardboard boxes lined the hallway, half-packed. In the living room, sitting on a worn-out sofa with her head in her hands, was Rebecca.
She looked thinner than he remembered. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes. But she was still beautiful, in a fragile, haunting way.
"Lily?" Rebecca called out, her voice hoarse from crying. "Lily, baby, is that you? I told you not to go to the bodega alone—"
She stopped.
Her eyes locked onto Nathan standing in the doorway.
The color drained from her face so fast Nathan thought she might faint. She stood up, her knees visibly shaking. "Nathan..."
"Mommy!" Lily ran past Nathan and threw her arms around Rebecca’s waist. "I found him! I told him you were sad. He’s going to help us, right, Daddy?"
Rebecca looked from her daughter to Nathan, her eyes wide with sheer panic. She grabbed Lily’s shoulders, her voice tight. "Lily, go to your room. Pack your coloring books. Now."
"But Mommy—"
"Now, Lily!"
The little girl flinched at her mother's sharp tone, looked at Nathan with wide, questioning eyes, and then scurried down the short hallway, slamming her bedroom door.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
"What are you doing here?" Rebecca whispered, her hands shaking as she crossed her arms defensively. "How did you find us?"
"Your daughter walked into my lobby, Rebecca," Nathan said, his voice cold, masking the turbulence inside him. "She was carrying her birth certificate and a picture of my own eyes. Why didn't you tell me?"
Rebecca let out a bitter, dry laugh. "Tell you? The man who told me, and I quote, 'I don't do complications, Becca. If this ever becomes more than business, it ends.' Those were your exact words the night before I found out I was pregnant."
Nathan flinched. He remembered saying it. He had been so obsessed with shielding his empire from scandals and gold-diggers that he had built an impenetrable wall around himself.
"I would have supported her," Nathan said defensively. "I would have supported you."
"By buying us off?" Rebecca snapped, taking a step forward, her eyes flashing with a fire Nathan hadn't seen in six years. "By signing a non-disclosure agreement and hiding us in some penthouse in Jersey so your precious board members wouldn't think you were human? I wanted a life for my daughter, Nathan. Not a trust fund with a gag order."
"So instead, you let her grow up here? Facing eviction because you lost a job at a company I bought?" Nathan stepped closer, the space between them suddenly feeling incredibly small. "I signed the layoff list, Rebecca. If Lily hadn't come to my office, you would be on the street in forty-eight hours. Why didn't you call my office? Why didn't you ask for me?"
Rebecca stared at him, her expression shifting from anger to absolute confusion.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice dropping. "I did try to contact you, Nathan. When Vanguard was bought by Pierce Investments, I received a letter directly from your personal office. It wasn't a standard layoff. It was a targeted termination."
Nathan froze. "What?"
Rebecca walked over to a cardboard box, rummaged through it, and pulled out a crumpled piece of heavy, cream-colored stationery. The exact stationery Nathan used for his private correspondence.
She handed it to him.
Nathan opened it. The letterhead was perfect. The signature at the bottom was an exact replica of his own.
Dear Ms. Mitchell,
Due to your past association with Mr. Pierce, your continued employment at Vanguard Logistics presents a conflict of interest for the upcoming Westlake merger. Your employment is terminated immediately, effective without severance. Any attempt to contact Mr. Pierce or his associates will result in legal action regarding the violation of your previous employment terms.
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
"I didn't write this," he whispered.
"Don't lie to me, Nathan!" Rebecca cried out, tears finally spilling over. "It has your signature! It came from your corporate email domain!"
"Rebecca, look at me!" Nathan grabbed her by the shoulders, his grip firm but gentle. "I didn't write this. I didn't even know you worked at Vanguard. Someone inside my company knew about us. Someone wanted you gone, and they wanted to make sure you never came to me for help."
Before Rebecca could answer, Nathan's phone vibrated violently in his pocket.
It was Marcus.
Nathan answered it, his eyes still locked on Rebecca. "Speak."
"Nathan, we have a massive problem," Marcus’s voice was frantic, stripped of its usual corporate calm. "The Westlake board just called an emergency meeting. Someone leaked a story to the New York Post. They have photos of a little girl entering your private elevator today. The headline is already drafted: 'Billionaire Visionary Abandons Secret Child While Laying Off Her Mother.' Nathan... the Westlake shares are dipping in pre-market trading. If we don't control this in the next twelve hours, the merger is dead."
May you like
Nathan looked at Rebecca, then toward the closed door of his daughter's room.
The trap had just sprung.
