Chapter 4 - The Sister Who Had Been ErasedHer name was Lily.
Nathan read the letter three times before accepting the words.
Eleanor had been pregnant when she was forced away from Cole House.
Richard never knew.
At least according to the letter.
“I was afraid they would use another child to control me.
So I told nobody.
Not even Richard.”
Eleanor gave birth six months after disappearing from Nathan’s life.
A daughter.
Lily Eleanor Hayes.
Nathan sat inside his library until sunrise.
Rosa remained across from him.
—Did you know?
—No.
—Nobody?
—If your father knew, he never told me.
Nathan looked at the final address in Eleanor’s letter.
Portland, Maine.
The letter was seventeen years old.
Lily would now be twenty-five.
Nathan contacted his attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
By noon they found a record.
Lily Hayes.
Twenty-five.
Public-school art teacher.
Portland.
No wealth.
No connection to the Cole name.
Her birth certificate listed father unknown.
Mother:
Eleanor Hayes.
Nathan stared at the photograph on a school website.
The resemblance hurt.
His mother’s eyes.
His own jaw.
Rebecca asked:
—Do you want me to contact her?
—No.
—Nathan—
—I need to do it.
He drove to Maine.
No jet.
No entourage.
Only Marcus.
They found Lily leaving an elementary school carrying cardboard paintings.
Nathan approached.
—Lily Hayes?
She looked at him.
—Yes?
He had rehearsed twenty introductions.
Every one disappeared.
—My name is Nathan Cole.
Her expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
—Of course it is.
Nathan froze.
—You know me?
She shifted the paintings.
—Everyone knows you.
—That’s not what I meant.
Lily stared.
Then sighed.
—My mother told me.
Nathan felt the ground move.
—She’s alive?
Lily's face hardened.
—You really don’t know anything.
—Where is she?
—Why are you here?
—Because I found a letter.
Lily said nothing.
—It said you’re my sister.
—Biologically.
The word established distance.
Nathan accepted it.
—Yes.
—And now that your house is in trouble, suddenly you need the poor sister nobody knew existed?
Nathan stared.
—How do you know about the house?
Lily laughed bitterly.
—Because Simon came here yesterday.
Nathan’s entire body tightened.
—What?
—He offered me ten million dollars.
—For what?
—My signature.
Nathan closed his eyes.
The trust required consent from all Eleanor’s living descendants for sale of Cole House.
Nathan and Lily.
Simon needed both.
Lily continued:
—I told him no.
—Why?
She stared.
—Because my mother spent half my childhood teaching me never to sign documents given to me by a Cole.
Nathan almost smiled.
—Fair.
—Don’t.
—Sorry.
—You look exactly like him when you do that.
—Who?
—Richard.
Nathan’s smile vanished.
Lily regretted it.
—Sorry.
—You met him?
She hesitated.
—Once.
—My father knew about you?
—Eventually.
Nathan felt betrayed again.
Lily explained that Richard found Eleanor thirteen years earlier.
He discovered Lily.
He visited secretly.
Wanted Eleanor to return.
But Eleanor refused unless he publicly exposed Simon.
Richard said he needed time.
—He always needed time —Lily said.
Nathan looked away.
—Where is our mother?
Lily became quiet.
—In a care facility.
Nathan stared.
—Why?
—She had a brain hemorrhage four years ago.
—Is she conscious?
—Some days.
Nathan's throat tightened.
—Can I see her?
Lily looked at him for a long time.
—Not because you own anything.
—I know.
—Not because you need her signature.
—I know.
—And if she says she doesn’t want you there?
Nathan swallowed.
—I leave.
Lily nodded.
The facility stood near the coast.
Eleanor sat beside a window watching gulls.
She was seventy-one.
Thin.
Silver-haired.
One side of her body weakened.
Nathan stopped in the doorway.
He had imagined his mother dead for twenty years.
Then hated her.
Then mourned her.
Now she was ten feet away.
Lily leaned down.
—Mom?
Eleanor turned.
—Yes?
—Someone came to see you.
Nathan stepped forward.
Her eyes found him.
Nothing happened.
Then her hand began trembling.
—Nathan?
He broke.
He fell to his knees beside her chair.
—Mom.
Eleanor touched his face.
—You got old.
Nathan laughed through tears.
—So did you.
—Rude.
Lily looked away, crying.
For several minutes they simply held hands.
Then Eleanor whispered:
—Did Simon find the house?
Nathan stared.
Even after twenty years, fear lived inside her.
—He tried.
—The basement.
Nathan frowned.
—What basement?
Eleanor looked toward Lily.
—He doesn’t know.
Lily shook her head.
—Mom, rest.
Eleanor gripped Nathan’s wrist with surprising strength.
—Your father hid the accounts beneath the greenhouse.
Nathan stared.
—What accounts?
Her eyes sharpened.
—The houses.
—The eighty properties?
Eleanor shook her head.
—Not eighty.
Nathan stopped breathing.
—How many?
May you like
His mother whispered:
—Four hundred and twelve.
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