Chapter 3 - The Cipher in the Envelope
Inside the study, under the harsh glow of my desk lamp, I pulled out the contents of the envelope. There was a handwritten letter of three pages, a set of cryogenic facility transfer slips, and a small, encrypted flash drive bearing a serial number that matched the private security code I used for my corporate vault.
I began to read the letter aloud to myself, the familiar cursive script leaping off the page:
Nathan,
If you are reading this, it means the storm has finally broken, and our son has found his way back to the only person strong enough to protect him. I never stopped loving you, even when I walked away. When the doctors told us your odds were less than twenty percent, and when they forced you to freeze those samples, I knew my family—a family deeply entrenched in corporate espionage and ruthless power struggles—would use your biological material against you if they ever found out.
My father, Charles Vance, has spent the last decade hunting down every trace of my past. He didn't want me marrying a self-made man; he wanted me tied to old money and compliant pawns. When I secretly utilized your preserved samples through a trusted medical proxy five months ago to bring our child into the world, my father discovered the plot. He threatened the baby's life. I had no choice, Nathan. I had to hide our son where my father's men would never look, trusting in fate, and trusting in the goodness of whoever might cross his path.
Protect him. Find out who betrayed us within your own inner circle, because Charles Vance didn't find out about the baby by accident someone inside your company leaked your medical records.
My breath hitched in my chest. Charles Vance. A man whose corporate ruthlessness was legendary, a predator who hid behind philanthropic boards and multi-billion-dollar trusts. If Victoria was right—if her father was hunting this child—then the danger we were in was far greater than a simple case of abandonment.
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. The door opened an inch, and Lily peered inside, her wide eyes reflecting the warm light of the room. She was now wearing a pair of soft cotton pajamas Mrs. Harris had hastily gathered from emergency supplies kept for visiting family, though they swallowed her small frame.
May you like
"Mr. Carter?" she whispered timidly. "The nice lady doctor is here, and she checked the baby. He's sleeping now. Is... am I in trouble?"
I stood up from my desk, walking over to the door and kneeling down so I was at eye level with the brave little girl who had walked through a storm to save my flesh and blood.
