Chapter 7 - Nathan’s Debt
They hid in an abandoned greenhouse half a mile away.
Leah was bleeding again.
Mae’s voice sharpened. “We need a doctor.”
“No hospital.”
“You don’t get to die proving a point.”
Simone made a call to a retired midwife she trusted. Forty minutes later, an older woman named Ruth arrived with antibiotics, sterile dressings, and no questions until Leah was stable.
Then Simone placed Nathan’s text in front of her.
“He sent those men.”
Leah shook her head. “We don’t know that.”
Mae snapped, “You heard the man say his name.”
Leah called Nathan.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Did you send men after me?”
Silence.
“Nathan.”
“They weren’t supposed to hurt you.”
Leah nearly laughed.
“What were they supposed to do?”
“Bring you back.”
“Like luggage?”
He breathed heavily. “You don’t understand what Mom is dealing with.”
“Then explain it.”
Another silence.
Finally, Nathan said, “I borrowed money against the beneficiary account.”
“That account did not exist until Noah was born.”
“I had documents saying it would.”
“How much?”
“Four million.”
Leah closed her eyes.
“Four million dollars?”
“My company was failing. Mom said we could fix it after the birth.”
“And if I kept custody?”
His voice cracked.
“Then the loan becomes fraud.”
Simone mouthed, Record this.
Leah switched on speaker.
“Who has the money?”
“A private lender named Marcus Vale. He doesn’t care about courts. He wants the trust under our control by Friday.”
A sound came through Nathan’s line.
A door opening.
Nathan whispered, “I have to go.”
Doreen’s voice appeared in the background.
“Who are you talking to?”
Nathan disconnected.
Three seconds later Mae’s phone rang.
She answered.
No one spoke.
Then came a man’s voice.
“Tell Leah Carver we have her nurse.”
Mae looked down.
Her chair was empty.
May you like
Nathan admitted Marcus Vale was not a normal lender. He financed distressed businesses through shell companies, then used threats when borrowers could not pay. Nathan had met him through one of Doreen's board contacts. "Mom said it was bridge money," he whispered. "I kept thinking one more project would fix everything." Leah heard the old habit in his voice - the belief that the next decision could repair the last bad decision without ever requiring him to stop. It was the same habit that had let Doreen turn desperation into control.
The back door of the greenhouse stood open.
