Chapter 4 - The Deal That Was Never a Marriage
Arthur moved Nora to a safehouse before sunrise.
The children were relocated separately.
For the first time, Nora saw the machinery behind Arthur's power.
Drivers.
Security teams.
Encrypted phones.
Hidden routes.
Safe houses.
But what frightened her most was the way Arthur behaved around the children.
He became gentle.
Almost painfully so.
Before leaving the mansion, he had knelt beside Thomas.
“I'll come back.”
Thomas had grabbed his jacket.
“You promise?”
Arthur had looked at Nora.
Then back at his son.
“I promise.”
Now, inside the safehouse, Nora confronted him.
“You're going after my father.”
“Yes.”
“You'll kill him.”
Arthur didn't answer.
“That means you will.”
“If he ordered the murder of my wife—”
“My father may have done terrible things.”
Arthur looked at her.
“May have?”
Nora swallowed.
“I don't know who he is anymore.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Then don't defend him.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
Nora's eyes hardened.
“And you're not the only person who's lost someone.”
Arthur stopped.
She continued.
“My father emotionally abandoned me long before he became a criminal.”
Arthur's anger softened.
Nora looked away.
“I spent years thinking if I became perfect, he'd love me.”
“You don't have to earn love.”
She laughed quietly.
“That's easy for a man like you to say.”
“No.”
Arthur's voice was gentle.
“It's something I learned too late.”
That night, Arthur received a call.
The DNA results were ready.
Thomas was not Arthur's biological son.
Arthur sat in silence.
Nora watched him absorb the truth.
“Do you care?”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“That he's not your biological son.”
Arthur's answer came instantly.
“He's my son.”
Nora nodded.
“Then why does someone care so much about his blood?”
Arthur looked at the report.
“Because Thomas isn't the key.”
“What is?”
Arthur turned the page.
The DNA test revealed something else.
Thomas's biological father had been identified.
The name was impossible.
Daniel Costa.
Arthur's younger brother.
Dead for twelve years.
Nora stared.
“That's impossible.”
Arthur shook his head.
“My brother died before Thomas was born.”
“Then…”
“Someone falsified Thomas's birth records.”
They sat in silence.
Then Nora noticed a date.
Thomas had been born eight months after Daniel's supposed death.
Arthur stood.
“Daniel wasn't dead.”
A phone rang.
Arthur answered.
No one spoke.
Then a distorted voice said:
“You're finally asking the right question.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“Who are you?”
“You've spent twelve years protecting the wrong secret.”
“What secret?”
The voice laughed.
“Ask your wife.”
Arthur froze.
Nora whispered, “She's dead.”
“No.”
The voice replied.
“She isn't.”
The line went dead.
Arthur stared at the phone.
Nora felt the world tilt.
“That's impossible.”
Arthur looked at her.
“I saw her body.”
“Maybe.”
“DNA confirmed it.”
“Maybe.”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“Stop saying maybe.”
Nora stood.
“Because every time we think we've found the truth, someone has planted another lie.”
Arthur stared at her.
She stepped closer.
“And if your wife isn't dead, then who died in that car?”
Arthur's face went blank.
Then he realized something.
The bombing happened three years ago.
But no one had ever allowed him to see his wife's face.
The coffin had been closed.
The funeral had been immediate.
And the medical report had been delivered by a doctor recommended by—
Nora's father.
May you like
Arthur whispered one word.
“Richard.”
