Chapter 10 - The Cousin Landon Never KnewNathan Cole arrived at Reed Development headquarters under the impression Landon wanted an emergency meeting.
Police were waiting discreetly.
Landon did not tell him why.
Neither did Wyatt.
Nathan walked into the conference room carrying a laptop.
“Morning.”
He looked from one brother to the other.
“This seems healthy.”
Landon almost laughed.
Nathan had always been sarcastic.
Calm under pressure.
One of the few executives Landon trusted without reservation.
That fact now felt dangerous.
“Sit.”
Nathan did.
“What happened?”
Landon placed Olivia Mercer’s birth record on the table.
Nathan looked at it.
No reaction.
“Know the name?”
“No.”
“Look at the child.”
Nathan read.
“Baby Boy Mercer.”
“Born March 8, 1992.”
Nathan’s face changed slightly.
His birthday.
“Okay.”
“Adopted in Indiana.”
Nathan looked up.
His humor disappeared.
“What are you doing?”
“Were you adopted?”
Silence.
Wyatt shifted.
Nathan stared at Landon.
“That is none of your business.”
“I agree.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because I think your biological father is Owen Reed.”
Nathan laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
“Owen Reed is dead.”
“No.”
Landon explained.
Not everything.
Enough.
Nathan listened.
The color slowly left his face.
“My parents told me my birth mother’s name was Olivia.”
Landon felt the confirmation.
“Did you ever meet her?”
“No.”
“Try?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked angry now.
“Because the people who raised me are my parents.”
“I’m not questioning that.”
“Then what do you want?”
“To know whether Owen has contacted you.”
Nathan immediately said:
“No.”
Too quickly?
Landon studied him.
Nathan looked offended.
“You think I’ve been spying on you?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Wyatt stepped in.
“Owen says you’re his son.”
Nathan turned.
“And you believe him?”
“I believe the birth record.”
Nathan stood.
“I’m leaving.”
Landon didn’t stop him.
Then Nathan’s phone buzzed.
He glanced at it.
His face changed.
Landon saw.
“Who?”
“Nobody.”
“Nathan.”
He looked toward the door.
Police were outside.
Not visible.
But close.
Landon lowered his voice.
“If Owen is contacting you, he already knows we’re talking.”
Nathan stared.
Then handed over the phone.
Unknown number.
ASK LANDON WHY EVERETT PAID YOUR MOTHER TO DISAPPEAR.
Nathan’s hand trembled.
Another message arrived.
THEN ASK HIM WHY EVERETT KEPT YOU CLOSE.
Landon felt cold.
Nathan looked at him.
“Kept me close?”
“I hired you because you were good.”
“Did your father know who I was?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“You said Everett recommended me.”
Landon remembered.
Eleven years earlier, Nathan had been a young financial analyst at a smaller firm.
Everett brought his résumé to Landon.
Smart kid.
Give him an interview.
Nathan became indispensable.
Had Everett known?
Probably.
Which meant their father had secretly brought Owen’s adopted son into the family company.
Why?
Guilt?
Protection?
Surveillance?
Nathan sat again.
“This is insane.”
Wyatt nodded.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You don’t get to agree. You slept with his wife.”
Landon stared.
“How do you know?”
Nathan’s face changed.
Too late.
Wyatt moved closer.
“Who told you?”
Nathan said nothing.
Landon felt another betrayal forming.
“Owen?”
“No.”
“How long have you known?”
Nathan looked at Landon.
“About the affair?”
“Yes.”
“Three months.”
Landon laughed from disbelief.
“You knew.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“I found hotel charges on Wyatt’s company card.”
“His company card was canceled.”
“He used an old vendor account.”
“And you investigated.”
“Yes.”
“And learned it was Melanie.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nathan looked ashamed.
“Because I didn’t know how.”
“That is an unbelievable answer.”
“I know.”
“You’re my CFO.”
“I’m also your friend.”
“Apparently not enough.”
Nathan flinched.
Landon stood.
“How many people knew my wife was sleeping with my brother except me?”
No one answered.
Landon walked toward the window.
The city below looked distant.
He had spent his life believing information created control.
Reports.
Numbers.
Contracts.
Data.
Yet everyone around him had carried a piece of his life he did not know.
Melanie knew Wyatt.
Wyatt knew Owen.
Nathan knew the affair.
Everett knew Nathan’s identity.
Owen knew everything.
Landon turned back.
“Did you know about Orchard Holdings?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Yes.”
Wyatt swore.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Landon stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I asked Everett.”
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That the payments were personal and legal.”
“To Olivia.”
“I didn’t know her name then.”
Nathan looked at the birth record.
“Now I do.”
Landon sat.
“What exactly did Dad tell you?”
Nathan swallowed.
“He said there was one mistake in his life he had spent thirty years trying to protect.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Nathan’s phone buzzed again.
This time a photograph.
Olivia Mercer.
Older.
Standing outside a small house in Wisconsin.
Taken that morning.
Under it:
BRING NATHAN TO ME OR SHE LEARNS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE ME.
Nathan stared.
“My mother.”
The word sounded unfamiliar in his mouth.
Landon looked at Wyatt.
Then Nathan.
Owen had spent decades treating people as pieces.
Melanie.
Wyatt.
Olivia.
Nathan.
Now the board fight meant nothing.
The affair still hurt.
But a larger danger had reached them.
Landon picked up his phone.
“We’re going to Wisconsin.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“That woman may be in danger.”
“She’s a stranger.”
“She’s your biological mother.”
“My mother lives in Indianapolis.”
Landon nodded.
“You’re right.”
Nathan looked surprised.
“Then why—”
“Because she’s still a person Owen has threatened.”
Landon stood.
“And I’m done letting Reed men decide some people matter less because saving them is inconvenient.”
Wyatt looked at him.
The words were aimed at more than Owen.
Maybe Everett too.
Maybe Wyatt.
Maybe Landon himself.
Nathan looked at Olivia’s photograph again.
May you like
Then quietly said:
“I’m coming.”
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