Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BURNED
We reached the warehouse at 2:17 a.m.
Nathaniel's men surrounded the building.
I stayed inside the SUV.
Daniel sat beside me.
“I'm sorry.”
I looked at him.
“Don't apologize again.”
“What should I do?”
“Make sure your sister gets out.”
He nodded.
Nathaniel approached the vehicle.
He opened my door.
“Stay here.”
“I can help.”
“No.”
“I'm tired of everyone telling me to stay behind.”
His eyes softened.
“You're not weak.”
“Then let me come.”
He hesitated.
Finally:
“Stay behind me.”
We entered.
The warehouse smelled like oil and smoke.
A woman was tied to a chair.
Daniel ran toward her.
“Lily!”
She screamed.
Two men appeared.
Nathaniel moved faster than I expected.
He disarmed one.
The second ran.
Nathaniel's security team intercepted him.
No unnecessary violence.
No chaos.
Just precision.
Lily was freed.
Then we heard a click.
Nathaniel turned.
“Down!”
He pushed me behind a concrete pillar.
A shot cracked through the warehouse.
Glass shattered.
I screamed.
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay here.”
He moved forward.
Then flames erupted near the entrance.
Someone had ignited gasoline.
Smoke filled the warehouse.
“Fire!”
Nathaniel grabbed my hand.
“Move.”
We ran.
The ceiling groaned.
A beam crashed behind us.
I stumbled.
Nathaniel caught me.
“Keep going.”
We reached the exit.
Daniel and Lily followed.
Outside, Nathaniel turned toward the burning building.
His face was cold.
“Grant.”
Daniel nodded.
“He knew we'd come.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
“Your father wasn't killed because of money.”
“Then why?”
“Because he discovered Grant was stealing from the company.”
I stared at the flames.
“How much?”
“Hundreds of millions.”
Daniel added:
“And your father was going to expose him.”
I felt sick.
Nathaniel continued:
“Grant didn't act alone.”
“Who helped him?”
He looked at me.
“Madeline Cross.”
I froze.
Daniel's former fiancée.
“The engagement?”
“A business alliance.”
“Daniel was supposed to marry her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was he with me?”
“Because Grant wanted access to your father's trust.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So the entire engagement was a transaction.”
“Pretty much.”
I looked at Nathaniel.
“And me?”
“You were the missing key.”
He explained.
Grant believed that if Daniel married Madeline, their families could control Blackridge.
But your father's trust would remain yours.
Unless they could pressure you into signing.
My stomach tightened.
“So the humiliation was planned?”
Nathaniel's jaw tightened.
“The public rejection was meant to break you emotionally.”
“Why?”
“Because frightened people sign things they shouldn't.”
I remembered the ballroom.
The laughter.
Daniel's face.
The whispers.
They hadn't just wanted to hurt me.
They wanted me vulnerable.
I looked at Nathaniel.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you stop it before the gala?”
“I needed proof.”
I shook my head.
“You let me be humiliated.”
His expression changed.
“I know.”
“You watched.”
“Yes.”
I slapped his chest.
Not hard.
But enough.
“You let them laugh at me.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because if I intervened too early, Grant would disappear.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I hate you.”
Nathaniel accepted it.
“You have every right.”
I walked away.
For the first time, I didn't care who he was.
I didn't care how powerful he was.
He had protected me.
May you like
But he had also allowed me to hurt.
And somehow, that hurt more.
