Chapter 12 - What Lily Had Been Trying to Say
Nathan asked Dr. Benson whether Lily could handle another conversation about the months before the attack.
The therapist’s answer was simple.
“Only if you let her stop.”
Nathan sat with Lily in Catherine’s sunroom.
No detectives.
No lawyers.
Just father and daughter.
“I want you to tell me something only if you want to.”
Lily looked suspicious.
“That sounds like a trick.”
Nathan smiled sadly.
“It probably does.”
“What?”
“Did you ever see Bianca looking at a map of the rapids?”
Lily thought.
“Yes.”
Nathan’s pulse accelerated.
“When?”
“At home.”
“With Grant?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did they say?”
Lily’s face tightened.
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s okay.”
Nathan stopped.
For once, he meant it.
Lily stared at him.
“You’re not going to keep asking?”
“No.”
She seemed almost disappointed.
Then said, “She wanted me to go there before.”
Nathan remained quiet.
“When?”
“The week before.”
“What happened?”
“I cried.”
“Did she take you?”
“No. Jake said the rapids were closing because lightning was close.”
Nathan’s breath caught.
Bianca had tried once already.
“Did she say anything afterward?”
Lily nodded.
“She was mad.”
“What did she say?”
“That I ruin everything.”
Nathan looked down.
Lily continued.
“And then she called Mr. Grant.”
“What did you hear?”
“She said, ‘I need another chance.’”
Nathan’s skin went cold.
Lily shifted in her chair.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know why I was really scared at the rapids?”
“Because of the water?”
Lily shook her head.
“Because Bianca told me Mom died in water.”
Nathan frowned.
Amelia had died in a hospital.
“She told you what?”
“She said Mom got sick because she was weak and then died choking.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“She said if I went under the water, I’d find out what it felt like.”
His stomach turned.
“When?”
“That morning.”
Nathan stood, then forced himself to sit again.
He wanted to smash something.
Call Bianca.
Call prosecutors.
Call the entire world.
Instead he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“I did.”
Nathan froze.
“When?”
“In the hotel room.”
Memory arrived.
Lily had approached him while he was tying his shoes before the executive luncheon.
“Dad, Bianca said something scary.”
Nathan had been checking emails.
He remembered replying:
Not now, Lil. We’re already late.
Bianca had entered behind her.
“I’ll handle it.”
Nathan had kissed Lily’s head.
“Listen to Bianca.”
Those had been his words.
Listen to Bianca.
Twenty minutes later he left for a meeting.
Bianca took Lily to the rapids.
Nathan covered his face.
Lily began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
His head snapped up.
“For what?”
“For bothering you.”
Nathan moved toward her, then stopped.
“Can I hug you?”
She nodded.
He held her carefully.
“You did not bother me.”
“You were mad.”
“I was busy and selfish.”
“You said not now.”
“I know.”
Nathan pulled back enough to look at her.
“I need you to understand something. When you tell me you’re scared, there is no meeting more important.”
Lily whispered, “Even the company?”
“Especially the company.”
That promise would be tested sooner than he expected.
The next morning HLG’s lenders demanded a restructuring plan.
Grant’s arrest had triggered key-man provisions.
Ridgewell had withdrawn.
Revenues at Silver Pine had dropped after the scandal.
Several conventions canceled.
The board warned Nathan that without new financing, HLG might breach debt covenants within ninety days.
Helen Park, an independent director, spoke bluntly.
“If you cannot stabilize the company, we may have to sell assets.”
Nathan looked around the table.
“Not Lily’s trust shares.”
“No one said that.”
“But someone will.”
Helen sighed.
“Nathan, there are seven thousand employees here. This cannot become a shrine to Amelia.”
The phrase angered him.
Then he realized something.
Grant had used the company’s vulnerability to create pressure for a sale.
He had allowed debt to become dangerously concentrated.
Samuel Greene, HLG’s new forensic CFO, confirmed it.
“Grant refinanced three resorts into short-term facilities last year.”
“Why?”
“He claimed flexibility.”
Nathan looked at the maturity dates.
Most came due within six months.
Grant had engineered financial urgency.
If Ridgewell had bought HLG, he would collect millions.
If Lily’s shares reverted to Nathan first, Rebecca’s trust veto disappeared.
Bianca’s postnup payout exploded.
The murder attempt wasn’t separate from the corporate scheme.
It was the final step.
Then Samuel opened another report.
“There’s something worse.”
Nathan looked up.
Grant had transferred $22 million of HLG cash into a “development escrow” controlled by Crescent Peak.
The money was missing.
Without it, the company’s liquidity crisis was not accidental.
Grant had been draining HLG while pushing Nathan toward the buyer secretly paying him.
Nathan stared at the figure.
Twenty-two million.
His family.
His company.
His daughter.
May you like
Everything had been turned into leverage.
And Grant still claimed Bianca’s plan to kill Lily had nothing to do with him.
