Chapter Sixteen: The Wrong Enemy
1020 Words
Rain poured over Manhattan the next morning.
Dark clouds blanketed the skyline, turning the city gray.
Nathan stood in the floor-to-ceiling window of the penthouse, watching drops race down the glass.
He hadn’t slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Amelia on the dock.
The gunshot.
The splintering wood.
The fear in her eyes.
Behind him, the apartment was unusually quiet.
For once, there were no reporters outside.
No helicopters.
No shouting fans.
Just silence.
He hated it.
Silence gave him too much time to think.
Amelia walked into the kitchen wearing one of Nathan’s oversized hoodies.
She froze when she noticed him staring out the window.
“You didn’t sleep.”
He smiled weakly.
“You either.”
She poured herself coffee before leaning against the island.
“My students have today off.”
“Teacher conference?”
She nodded.
“So I don’t have to pretend everything’s normal.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Her eyes softened.
“I know.”
A knock echoed through the penthouse.
Oliver entered carrying two paper bags.
“I brought breakfast.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
“Trying to bribe us?”
Oliver shrugged.
“You’ve both been impossible to work with on empty stomachs.”
Amelia laughed.
“He’s probably right.”
They gathered around the dining table.
For ten precious minutes, they ate pancakes and joked about Oliver’s inability to make coffee.
It almost felt…
Normal.
Until Oliver’s phone rang.
His smile vanished.
“What?”
He stood up immediately.
“When?”
He listened for another few seconds before ending the call.
“Nathan.”
“The police searched Marcus Kane’s office this morning.”
Nathan looked up.
“And?”
“They found nothing.”
“No financial records.”
“No evidence.”
“No weapons.”
“It was completely clean.”
Nathan frowned.
“Too clean.”
Oliver nodded.
“Exactly.”
Later that afternoon, Detective Mason arrived at Hart Entertainment.
He carried a sealed evidence envelope.
“I have something you should see.”
Inside was a flash drive recovered from the abandoned camera at the lake.
“Our forensic team managed to recover the deleted files.”
Nathan’s pulse quickened.
“Play it.”
The screen flickered to life.
The first few clips showed Nathan and Amelia walking through the forest.
Laughing.
Talking.
Nothing unusual.
Then the timestamp changed.
A different location.
Hart Entertainment.
Late at night.
The footage showed Victor Lang leaving the building.
A black sedan pulled up beside him.
The rear window rolled down.
Victor spoke briefly to someone inside.
The camera couldn’t capture the person’s face.
But just before the car drove away…
A distinctive silver ring rested on the passenger’s hand.
A ring engraved with the shape of a raven.
Detective Mason paused the video.
“Recognize it?”
Nathan slowly nodded.
“My father used to wear one exactly like that.”
Oliver frowned.
“I thought your father was dead.”
“He is.”
Nathan replied quietly.
“He died ten years ago.”
Amelia noticed the change in his expression.
“You think someone inherited it?”
Nathan swallowed hard.
“Only one person could have.”
The room fell silent.
Oliver spoke first.
“Your uncle.”
Nathan nodded.
Richard Hart.
His father’s younger brother.
The man who disappeared from the company after losing a bitter power struggle years earlier.
No one had heard from him since.
Until now.
“I don’t understand,” Amelia admitted.
“If he disappeared years ago…”
“Why come back now?”
Nathan looked toward the city.
“My father owned fifty-one percent of Hart Entertainment.”
“When he died…”
“The shares were divided.”
“My uncle believed they should have been his.”
“But they were left to me.”
Oliver finished the sentence.
Nathan nodded.
“He called it betrayal.”
Detective Mason folded his notebook.
“We’re not saying Richard is behind everything.”
“But we are saying…”
“He deserves to be questioned.”
That evening, Nathan insisted on driving Amelia to her teacher conference.
She protested.
“You have security for that.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted to.”
She smiled.
“I won’t argue with that.”
The conference was held in a quiet hotel outside the city.
Teachers from across the state filled the ballroom.
For the first time in weeks, Amelia was surrounded by people who had no interest in Hollywood.
They talked about lesson plans.
Books.
Children.
Nathan listened from a corner table, amused.
A teacher approached him.
“You must be Amelia’s boyfriend.”
Nathan smiled.
“I am.”
“She talks about her students like they’re her own children.”
“I know.”
“She’s remarkable.”
Nathan looked across the room at Amelia, who was laughing with another teacher.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
As the evening ended, the conference organizer invited Amelia onto the stage to receive an award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education.
Nathan had no idea.
Neither did she.
Her name echoed through the ballroom.
The applause was thunderous.
Amelia looked stunned.
She accepted the plaque with trembling hands.
“I… I wasn’t expecting this.”
Her voice cracked with emotion.
Nathan felt something tighten in his chest.
The room wasn’t applauding because she was dating a movie star.
They were applauding because of the lives she had changed.
For the first time, he wasn’t proud to stand beside her because she improved his image.
He was proud because she was Amelia.
And that was more than enough.
As she stepped off the stage, their eyes met across the ballroom.
No cameras.
No reporters.
No contracts.
Just two people smiling at each other.
It should have been a perfect night.
Then Nathan’s phone vibrated.
One message.
Unknown sender.
Congratulations to Miss Brooks.
It would be a shame if she never taught another class.
Nathan’s smile disappeared instantly.
Someone had been inside the conference.
Watching them.
Again.
- Writer
