Chapter 6 - The Story Nathan Had Been BuildingSerena remembered the first time Nathan suggested she needed help.
It had happened almost a year earlier.
She had come home after a fourteen-hour workday and forgotten that Hailey’s class needed cupcakes the next morning.
Nathan had found her standing in the kitchen at midnight, crying from exhaustion.
“You can’t keep doing this,” he had said gently.
At the time, she thought he meant working too much.
Now she remembered his exact words.
“You’re not functioning normally.”
After that came small comments.
You forgot the landscaper again.
You’ve been emotional lately.
You’re overreacting.
You should talk to someone.
Eventually Nathan convinced Serena to see a therapist.
There was nothing wrong with therapy.
Serena knew that.
What disturbed her now was how intensely Nathan had managed the process.
He chose the clinic.
He drove her to appointments.
He repeatedly asked what she discussed.
When Serena stopped after six sessions because she felt fine, Nathan acted concerned.
That evening at Evelyn’s house, Serena searched her email.
She found messages from Nathan.
I’m worried about how overwhelmed you’ve become.
Please remember what the doctor said about stress.
You scared Hailey when you shouted last night.
Serena stared.
“I never shouted at Hailey.”
Evelyn leaned over her shoulder.
“Who was he writing this for?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
There were dozens.
Carefully worded.
Calm.
Reasonable.
Nathan positioned as the worried husband.
Serena positioned as unstable.
Evelyn printed several.
“He was documenting a narrative.”
“But for what?”
“Maybe divorce leverage. Maybe company leverage.”
Serena shook her head.
“He was telling Hailey I might get sick.”
Evelyn looked grim.
Thomas arrived after dinner with a folder.
Serena had not asked him to come.
He placed it on the table.
“I should have shown you these months ago.”
“What are they?”
“Emails Nathan sent me.”
Serena opened the folder.
The first was dated ten months earlier.
Thomas,
Serena is under more pressure than she admits. I’m concerned about her judgment and emotional stability. I’d appreciate it if you would stop confronting her about company decisions until she has time to recover.
Serena read it twice.
“You never told me.”
“You had stopped speaking to me.”
“Because Nathan showed me your emails.”
Thomas frowned.
“What emails?”
Serena went upstairs and returned with her phone.
She searched an old thread.
“These.”
Thomas read them.
His face changed.
I am beginning to question whether Serena is competent to remain chief executive.
If necessary, I will use my board influence to remove her.
Hailey deserves a stable home, even if Serena cannot provide one.
Thomas looked up.
“I never wrote these.”
Serena stared at him.
“What?”
“I did not write them.”
“They came from your address.”
Thomas examined the header.
“No.”
He pointed.
“This is thomas.vale.office.”
“So?”
“My account is thomas.vale.executive.”
Serena looked closer.
One word different.
The display name had still shown Thomas Vale.
Her hands began shaking.
“He created a fake email address.”
“It appears that way.”
“For almost a year I thought you were trying to take my company.”
Thomas’s eyes filled with something Serena had rarely seen in them.
Pain.
“I thought you had chosen him over your family.”
Serena sat back.
Nathan had not merely taken advantage of their conflict.
He had manufactured it.
Evelyn said, “We need to give these to Ruiz.”
Thomas nodded.
Serena continued reading.
Nathan had forwarded the fake messages with carefully sympathetic comments.
I’m sorry your father is doing this to you.
You don’t deserve it.
Let me handle him.
I’ll protect you.
Serena covered her mouth.
“I defended him.”
Thomas looked away.
“I attacked you for defending him.”
They sat in silence.
Neither had been innocent.
Nathan had opened a crack between them.
Pride had widened it.
Eventually the distance became so large Nathan could stand inside it unnoticed.
Serena’s phone buzzed.
Daniel.
She answered.
“I found another company,” he said.
Serena closed her eyes.
“How much?”
“That isn’t the important part.”
“What is?”
“The formation date.”
“When?”
“Seven months before you married Nathan.”
Serena looked at Evelyn.
“What company?”
“North Vale Consulting.”
Serena frowned.
“That sounds deliberately close to Vale Residential.”
“It is.”
“Owner?”
“We finally got an archived filing from Nevada.”
Daniel paused.
“The original organizer was Claire Benton.”
Serena felt a shock.
Claire had not joined Vale Residential until six months after Serena’s wedding.
Daniel continued.
“And Serena?”
“Yes?”
“The first documented payment from North Vale Consulting went to Nathan.”
“When?”
“Four months before your wedding.”
Nobody at the table moved.
Serena remembered meeting Nathan at a charity development conference.
He had spilled coffee near her table.
He had joked that embarrassing himself was an unusual introduction.
She had thought it was charming.
She had thought it was accidental.
Daniel said quietly, “You may want to reconsider how Nathan entered your life.”
Serena looked at the wedding photograph she had brought from the mansion.
May you like
For the first time, she wondered whether Nathan had fallen in love with her at all.
Or whether he had chosen her.
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