Chapter 4 - EMMA’S REAL NAME
Nathan stared at the note.
Charles stared at Nathan.
Neither man spoke.
Rosa quietly stepped backward.
Nathan looked at her.
“Did Emma explain this?”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
“Did she say anything about her mother?”
“No.”
Charles reached for the note.
Nathan pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
Charles frowned.
“Nathan.”
“You’ve lied enough.”
“Nathan, if Emma’s mother is connected to—”
“I said don’t.”
Charles lowered his hand.
Nathan read the sentence again.
Ask your mother what happened to my mother.
His thoughts raced backward.
Emma rarely spoke about her childhood.
He knew the basic story.
Her mother died when she was young.
Her father raised her.
She went to college on scholarships.
She worked in corporate accounting.
They met at a charity fundraiser.
That was it.
Nathan had always assumed Emma avoided discussing her childhood because it had been painful.
Now he wondered whether he had ever known the truth.
He pulled out his phone.
He called Emma.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Charles watched.
“She’s probably at the hospital.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You think?”
Charles sighed.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Stop talking.”
Nathan dialed again.
This time someone answered.
“Hello?”
Nathan immediately recognized Jason, the paramedic.
“This is Nathan Whitmore.”
“Yes.”
“How is my wife?”
“We’re at St. Catherine’s.”
“Is she okay?”
“I can’t give you medical information.”
“Please.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What about the baby?”
“I really can’t—”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Can I speak to Emma?”
“She’s being evaluated.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
“Tell her I’m coming.”
“I’ll let staff know.”
Nathan ended the call.
Charles blocked the doorway.
“You can’t leave.”
“Move.”
“The detective told you to stay.”
“I don’t care.”
“Nathan.”
“My pregnant wife was thrown down a staircase.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“My mother disappeared.”
“My sister ran from police.”
“And I just received a note suggesting my family did something to Emma’s mother.”
He pointed toward the hallway.
“So unless Detective Hayes wants to handcuff me to this desk, I’m going to my wife.”
Charles moved aside.
Nathan left.
Twenty minutes later, he entered St. Catherine’s Hospital.
The emergency department was crowded.
A police officer stood near the nurses’ station.
Nathan approached.
“Emma Whitmore.”
The nurse looked at her computer.
“Relationship?”
“Husband.”
She looked at him.
Then at the officer.
Nathan noticed.
“What?”
The officer stepped forward.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
“Detective Hayes asked us to notify him if you arrived.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Notify him.”
“I need to ask you to remain here.”
Nathan laughed without humor.
“Everyone keeps asking me to remain places tonight.”
“Sir.”
“I’m not leaving.”
The officer relaxed slightly.
Nathan looked at the nurse.
“My wife.”
The nurse hesitated.
Then softened.
“She’s stable.”
Nathan’s shoulders dropped.
“The baby?”
“I can’t discuss details.”
“Stable?”
The nurse nodded carefully.
“Both are currently stable.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
For the first time since arriving home, he could breathe.
“Can I see her?”
“She’s undergoing tests.”
“I’ll wait.”
Nathan sat.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
At 11:42 p.m., Hayes entered the emergency department.
Nathan stood.
“Did you find my mother?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Whose blood?”
“Still being tested.”
Nathan handed him Emma’s note.
Hayes read it.
His expression did not change.
Nathan noticed.
“You know.”
Hayes folded the paper.
“I know something.”
“What?”
“I need Emma’s permission before discussing it.”
“She’s my wife.”
“That doesn’t make her investigation yours.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
“Did my family hurt her mother?”
Hayes looked at him.
“Ask Emma.”
“I’m asking you.”
“And I’m telling you to ask Emma.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“If my mother did something—”
Hayes interrupted.
“You should prepare yourself.”
Nathan stopped.
“For what?”
Hayes’s eyes were tired.
“For the possibility that your family’s secrets started long before Emma married you.”
A nurse approached.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Nathan turned.
“Yes?”
“Your wife is asking for you.”
Hayes looked surprised.
Nathan was too.
“She wants me?”
“Yes.”
Nathan followed the nurse.
Hayes remained behind.
Emma’s room was quiet.
She lay beneath a white blanket.
An IV ran into her arm.
A monitor tracked her heartbeat.
Another monitor had been positioned beside the bed.
Nathan stopped in the doorway.
Emma looked exhausted.
Her face was pale.
A bruise had begun forming along her temple.
Nathan’s eyes filled.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Nathan stepped inside.
“Are you okay?”
Emma looked toward the monitor.
“The baby’s heartbeat is stable.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Thank God.”
“But they’re keeping me overnight.”
He nodded.
“Anything you need.”
Emma watched him.
Nathan pulled the note from his pocket.
“Rosa gave me this.”
Emma looked at it.
“I know.”
“What does it mean?”
Emma was silent.
Nathan moved closer.
“What happened to your mother?”
Emma looked toward the door.
“Close it.”
Nathan did.
He sat beside the bed.
Emma took a slow breath.
“My mother’s name wasn’t Helen Carter.”
Nathan frowned.
That was the name he knew.
“What?”
“She changed it.”
“When?”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
Nathan’s face changed.
Emma watched him understand.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Emma…”
“My mother was Rebecca Bennett.”
Nathan stood so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor.
“No.”
Emma stared at him.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Nathan.”
“You’re Rebecca Bennett’s daughter?”
“Yes.”
Nathan walked toward the wall.
His breathing became uneven.
“You knew?”
“Not when we met.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years ago.”
Nathan turned.
“Two years?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
Emma’s eyes filled with anger.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Do you remember our anniversary dinner two years ago?”
Nathan said nothing.
“I told you I found documents belonging to my mother.”
“You said family documents.”
“Yes.”
“You never said Bennett.”
“I tried.”
Nathan stared.
Emma continued.
“You got a call from your mother.”
Nathan remembered.
His face changed.
“You left the restaurant.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Emma…”
“Then three weeks later, I tried again.”
“I don’t remember.”
“I do.”
Her voice sharpened.
“I remember every time I tried to tell you something important and your family interrupted.”
Nathan sat again.
“What happened to Rebecca?”
Emma looked down at her hands.
“She didn’t die when I was a child.”
Nathan waited.
“She died six years ago.”
“What?”
“She was alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Arizona.”
“Why did you think she died earlier?”
“Because my father lied to protect me.”
Nathan looked confused.
“Your father?”
“Thomas Carter wasn’t my biological father.”
Emma swallowed.
“He was my mother’s friend.”
“He helped her disappear.”
Nathan said nothing.
Emma continued.
“She was terrified.”
“Of my family?”
“Yes.”
Nathan looked sick.
“Why?”
“Because she believed your uncle Richard tried to kill her.”
Nathan’s eyes widened.
Emma continued before he could interrupt.
“She survived the car crash.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
“The accident?”
“The one your father called an accident.”
Emma nodded.
“She was driving.”
Nathan stared.
“She survived?”
“Barely.”
“She disappeared because she knew whoever caused it would try again.”
Nathan stood.
“Do you have proof?”
Emma’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked at her.
“That’s the evidence you gave Hayes.”
“Some of it.”
“What else?”
Emma hesitated.
Nathan saw it.
“There’s more.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“My mother kept records.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
“Where?”
Emma looked directly at him.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether I can trust you.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
“You think I was part of this.”
“I saw your signature.”
“The transfer.”
“Yes.”
“I told you—”
“You haven’t told me anything.”
Nathan stopped.
Emma’s voice became quieter.
“You signed away $480,000.”
“My mother told me—”
“You didn’t ask why.”
“I trusted her.”
“And when I asked about missing foundation money?”
Nathan looked away.
“You told me the accounting system was complicated.”
“I didn’t know.”
“When I said your mother was moving money?”
“I thought you misunderstood.”
“When I found shell companies?”
“I thought—”
“You thought I was wrong.”
Nathan’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Emma looked toward the window.
“That has been our marriage.”
Nathan sat silently.
Emma continued.
“You love me.”
He looked at her.
“I know you do.”
“I do.”
“But whenever loving me required believing me over your family…”
She swallowed.
“…you chose them.”
Nathan had no defense.
Emma looked back at him.
“And tonight your sister pushed me down a staircase because I told her I was giving everything to police.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“She admitted that much.”
“She said I was going to destroy you.”
“Yes.”
“She wasn’t talking about the company.”
Nathan frowned.
“What was she talking about?”
Emma’s eyes hardened.
“The recording.”
“What recording?”
“My mother’s.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“What’s on it?”
Emma opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
Someone moved outside the room.
A shadow passed beneath the door.
Emma looked toward it.
Nathan noticed.
“What?”
Emma lowered her voice.
“Lock the door.”
Nathan stood.
“Why?”
“Lock it.”
He did.
Emma reached beneath her blanket.
She pulled out a small plastic hospital belongings bag.
Inside was her damaged phone.
The screen was cracked.
She handed it to Nathan.
“Open the voice recorder.”
Nathan did.
A file appeared.
Recorded at 10:17 p.m.
Tonight.
Nathan frowned.
“What is this?”
“Play it.”
Nathan pressed the screen.
At first there was only muffled sound.
Then voices.
Evelyn.
Emma.
The argument.
Nathan listened.
Evelyn’s recorded voice filled the room.
“You should have stopped digging.”
Emma’s voice followed.
“I know about the transfers.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know about Rebecca Bennett.”
Silence.
Then Evelyn.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“My mother.”
A pause.
Then Evelyn laughed.
“Your mother should have stayed dead.”
Nathan froze.
The recording continued.
Emma’s voice.
“What did you say?”
Evelyn answered.
“You heard me.”
Nathan’s face drained of color.
Then came footsteps.
Emma saying—
“Don’t touch me.”
Evelyn.
“Give me the phone.”
Emma.
“Get away from me.”
A struggle.
Then Evelyn’s voice, cold and unmistakable.
“If that baby makes you think you belong in this family, you’re even more pathetic than I thought.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Then came Emma’s scream.
A crash.
Another.
Another.
The unmistakable sound of a body striking marble steps.
Nathan stopped the recording.
His hand shook.
Emma watched him.
“That’s not all.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
“The recorder kept running.”
Nathan stared at the phone.
Emma whispered.
“Keep listening.”
He pressed play.
For several seconds, there was chaos.
Emma crying in pain.
Rosa screaming.
Footsteps.
Then Evelyn’s voice.
Not frightened.
Not shocked.
Angry.
“Where is her phone?”
Margaret answered.
“Forget the phone.”
Nathan went completely still.
His mother had been closer than she claimed.
The recording continued.
Evelyn whispered.
“She knows about Rebecca.”
Margaret answered.
“I heard.”
“What do we do?”
Then came the sentence that made Nathan feel as though the floor had vanished beneath him.
May you like
Margaret’s voice was perfectly clear.
“We should have dealt with Emma the same way we dealt with her mother.”
