Chapter 15 - The Vanishing Heir
Six months passed in absolute serenity.
The expansion of the Eleanor Vale Children's Estate was progressing smoothly across three states.
I had begun to believe that the ghosts of the Ashford and Vance names had finally turned to dust.
Then came a quiet Thursday evening in early autumn.
I was working late in my private office in Charlottesville, reviewing the construction blueprints for our new center in Dallas.
A soft knock sounded at the double oak doors.
My father walked in, carrying a thin black leather portfolio.
His expression was uncharacteristically grim.
"Dad?" I asked, setting my pen down immediately. "What's wrong?"
He set the portfolio on my desk and opened it.
Inside was an official police report stamped with an urgent red seal from the Illinois State Department of Corrections.
"Nathan is dead?" I asked, my heart taking a sudden, cold dip.
May you like
"No," my father replied, his voice dropping into a low, grave register.
"He disappeared."
