Chapter 16 - Nathan's Signature
Nathan drove to Cole Development before dawn.
His signature was on the transfer.
There was no question.
Except he had never signed it.
Maya compared the document to twenty verified samples. "It's nearly perfect."
"Nearly?"
"Whoever did this had access to your digital signature file and your executive authorization token."
Nathan thought of the people who had possessed both.
His father.
His mother.
His chief of staff.
And Victoria.
Grace arrived with coffee and a look that said she had ignored his request to stay home.
"You left without telling me."
"Lily needed sleep."
"Lily is with two guards and Margaret, who is currently trying to teach her how to make pancakes. I decided you needed supervision too."
Despite everything, Nathan smiled.
Maya pulled access logs from the old server archive.
The forged transfer had been approved from Nathan's office computer at 11:18 p.m. on a night he had been in London.
Security footage showed one person entering his office.
Charles Cole.
Nathan's father.
Charles had died three years earlier from a heart attack.
Nathan stared at the frozen image.
"Dad kept the fraud alive after Ethan died."
Grace said softly, "Maybe Richard had something on him."
Maya shook her head. "Or they were partners longer than anyone knew."
In Charles's archived emails, they found a deleted draft addressed to Richard.
You promised Ethan would only be delayed. You murdered my son. I will not protect you forever.
Nathan read it twice.
"Dad knew."
Grace's face tightened.
Another deleted draft followed.
I moved the remaining funds because you threatened Nathan. This ends now.
Maya looked up. "Your father was being blackmailed."
Nathan did not feel relief.
Blackmail did not erase the forgery.
It did not erase the silence.
Then Maya opened one final attachment.
It was a scanned handwritten confession from Charles.
At the bottom was a note.
Original delivered to Grace Miller.
Grace stared at the screen.
"I never received that."
Nathan looked toward the door.
May you like
Only one person had controlled incoming mail at the estate after Ethan died.
Margaret.
