Chapter 3 – The Secret Behind the Sixty DishesNobody spoke for several seconds.

Even the fountain seemed unbearably loud.

Nathan Whitmore stood at the top of the mansion steps with a slim black laptop case in one hand and an expression that told me he hadn’t come to celebrate his mother’s birthday.

Daniel recovered first.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Nathan looked at him.

“Would you prefer I explained everything here?”

Margaret stepped between her sons.

“Absolutely not. This is my birthday. Whatever disagreement you two are having can wait.”

Nathan gave a bitter laugh.

“You’re worried about the party?”

“Nathan, lower your voice.”

“Emily was just assaulted in front of your guests, Mother.”

Margaret’s expression hardened.

“You haven’t been here long enough to understand what happened.”

“I saw enough.”

He looked toward the people gathered along the terrace.

“And someone sent me a video.”

Daniel lunged forward.

“Who?”

One of my father’s security officers moved slightly closer.

Nathan didn’t flinch.

“Does it matter?”

“It matters when someone is secretly recording my family!”

I stared at Daniel.

He sounded angrier about the possibility of a recording than about what he’d done.

My father stepped beside me.

“Emily, you don’t have to participate in this.”

“I know.”

I looked toward Nathan.

“But I want to hear him.”

Nathan had always been the family outsider.

While Daniel loved luxury cars, expensive watches, and high-profile parties, Nathan preferred books, modest apartments, and quiet conversations.

Their father, Edward Whitmore, had once told me Nathan was the only person in the family who understood the value of money.

When Edward died, Daniel inherited control of Whitmore Development.

Nathan received a minority ownership interest and a position on the advisory board.

Within a year, he resigned.

Daniel told everyone Nathan was jealous.

Margaret called him disloyal.

Nathan moved to London, where he became a forensic accountant specializing in corporate restructuring.

Now, standing beneath the enormous stone columns, he looked exhausted.

“I received a package four weeks ago,” he said.

Daniel shook his head.

“You’re lying.”

“It contained internal financial statements, invoices, and copies of authorization records.”

“Stolen documents.”

“Possibly. That’s one reason I contacted counsel rather than publishing them.”

Rebecca nodded.

“That was appropriate.”

Nathan looked at my father.

“I didn’t know Carter Capital was conducting its own review until yesterday. I had already begun examining the material.”

Margaret crossed her arms.

“Well, whoever sent it was clearly trying to destroy our family.”

Nathan’s eyes filled with something like sadness.

“Mother, have you even asked whether the records are accurate?”

“They’re not!”

“How would you know?”

She stopped.

Daniel looked away.

Something passed between them.

I noticed it immediately.

“You knew,” I whispered.

Margaret’s gaze returned to me.

“Don’t be absurd.”

“You knew there was something wrong with the company.”

Her silence answered more than her words could have.

Nathan opened his case and removed a folder.

“I have documents concerning a company called Magnolia Heritage Consulting.”

Daniel swore under his breath.

Nathan continued.

“According to the records, Whitmore Development paid Magnolia more than two million dollars over the last three years.”

I felt cold.

“Two million?”

“The invoices describe community outreach, promotional services, and strategic planning.”

My father turned to Thomas.

“Is that consistent with what your review found?”

Thomas nodded.

“It’s among the transactions being examined.”

Nathan continued.

“Magnolia Heritage’s registered manager appears to be a woman named Victoria Lane.”

Daniel looked as though he might be sick.

I knew that name.

I’d seen it on his phone.

Two years earlier, Victoria Lane had called him late one evening.

When I asked who she was, Daniel said she was a commercial real estate broker.

A month later, I found a diamond bracelet receipt in his jacket.

He claimed it was a client gift.

I had wanted to believe him.

“Victoria?” I whispered.

Nathan looked at me.

“You know her?”

“Daniel said she was a business associate.”

Daniel stepped toward me.

“Emily, don’t start.”

I turned.

“Is she your mistress?”

His mouth opened.

No answer came.

Margaret scoffed.

“Men have private business relationships, Emily. You wouldn’t understand.”

My father looked directly at her.

“Mrs. Whitmore, I suggest you stop speaking to my daughter that way.”

Margaret smiled tightly.

“Mr. Carter, with all due respect, marriage is complicated.”

“Assault isn’t complicated.”

She looked away.

Rebecca asked Nathan whether he would preserve the documents and provide them through appropriate legal channels.

He agreed.

Then my father turned to me.

“We need to get you medical attention.”

This time, I didn’t resist.

But before leaving, I looked at Margaret.

“Why did you cancel the catering?”

Her face darkened.

“I already told you.”