Chapter 7 - THE CLAUSE THAT COULD DESTROY HIM
The man outside Caroline’s son’s apartment was not Julian.
That would have been too simple.
His name was Marcus Vale.
Caroline recognized him because Evelyn had hired him twenty-three years earlier.
“He called himself a security consultant,” she said.
“What was he really?” I asked.
“A private investigator who did whatever my mother paid him to do.”
Rachel immediately told Caroline not to contact Marcus.
“Has your son called police?”
“He’s on the phone with them now.”
Caroline’s hands trembled slightly as she typed.
“My son’s name is Ethan. He knows some of the family history, but not everything.”
“Why not?”
“For the same reason every parent lies to themselves when they hide something painful. I thought silence would protect him.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Silence would protect him.
Julian had probably told himself the same thing in a twisted way.
Except his silence had protected only himself.
We left the hotel separately.
Rachel insisted.
By the time I returned to Mom’s house, two police officers were in the driveway.
My heart stopped.
I rushed inside.
All five children were fine.
Julian was standing in the living room.
“What happened?”
Mom looked furious.
“He called them.”
I stared at Julian.
“Why?”
“I came to see my children. Your mother refused to let me in.”
Mom snapped, “You told me you were taking them home.”
Julian looked at me.
“They belong in their home.”
“No child belongs to a building.”
His jaw flexed.
One officer stepped forward.
“This is a civil custody matter. There’s no court order, and both parents currently have equal legal rights.”
I nodded.
Julian smiled faintly.
That smile terrified me.
The officer continued.
“Mr. Mercer has agreed not to remove the children tonight.”
Julian’s smile vanished.
“But you both need attorneys to resolve this properly.”
“I have one.”
Julian glanced toward me.
“I know.”
After the officers left, he remained in the foyer.
Mom took the girls upstairs.
I kept Noah in my arms.
“Did you send Marcus Vale to Ethan’s apartment?”
Julian went completely still.
That was enough.
“Who told you about Marcus?”
“Answer me.”
He stepped inside.
“You met Caroline.”
“Yes.”
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“What did I do? Drink coffee with your sister?”
“She is manipulating you.”
“Did you send him?”
“No.”
I studied his face.
This time, I wasn’t sure whether he was lying.
“Did your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would she?”
His silence scared me.
“Julian.”
He lowered his voice.
“My mother believes Mercer Industrial is the only thing keeping our family together.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
I shifted Noah.
“Do you know about the forfeiture clause?”
He frowned.
“What forfeiture clause?”
I watched carefully.
No recognition.
Interesting.
I said nothing.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did Caroline tell you?”
“Enough.”
He stepped closer.
“You need to stop talking to her.”
“You don’t control who I talk to.”
“She disappeared for twenty years and returns the second sixty-eight million dollars transfers. Does that not concern you?”
“It concerns me less than my husband secretly drafting a document to strip our daughters of their inheritance.”
His face went tight.
“That release was meant to simplify management.”
“Stop calling theft management.”
“I wasn’t stealing from them!”
“Then why did they have to waive their rights?”
“Because divided ownership can destroy a company.”
“They are children.”
“Exactly!”
His voice echoed.
Noah startled.
I immediately backed away.
Julian’s anger disappeared.
He lowered his voice.
“Sorry.”
I held Noah against my chest.
Julian rubbed both hands over his face.
“I have spent my entire adult life preparing to run Mercer Industrial.”
“And?”
“And Sophie is seven. Lily is six. Emma is four. Grace is two. Noah is two days old. Caroline’s mystery son is twenty-seven and has never stepped inside one of our plants.”
“That doesn’t mean you own their shares.”
“I know how to protect the company.”
“Then protect it without robbing your children.”
He looked at me.
For a second, he had no answer.
Then he whispered, “You really think I’m a monster now.”
I hated that part of me still hurt for him.
“I think you did something monstrous.”
His eyes dropped.
“And I don’t know where that leaves us.”
He nodded once.
Then he said, “There’s something else you should know.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The house.”
“I know my name isn’t on the deed.”
His head snapped up.
“How?”
“Public records.”
He cursed under his breath.
“What else?”
“The second mortgage.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
He said nothing.
“Where did the money go?”
His silence stretched.
I felt dread spreading.
“Where?”
“Mercer Industrial.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The company had a liquidity problem.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“You mortgaged our house to fund your family company?”
“The house is legally mine.”
The second the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
I laughed once, hollow.
“There you are.”
“Natalie—”
“My grandmother’s eighty thousand dollars bought that house.”
“I know.”
“You told me I owned half.”
“I intended—”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
At least he had stopped pretending.
“Is the company failing?”
“No.”
“Then why did it need almost a million dollars?”
He looked toward the stairs.
“I can’t discuss that.”
I actually smiled.
“You keep saying that as if I’m still the woman who accepts it.”
He reached into his coat.
For one terrified second, I didn’t know what he was doing.
Then he handed me a flash drive.
“What’s this?”
“Financial records.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because Caroline is right about one thing.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“My mother has done things to protect this company that I should have stopped.”
“What things?”
“Look at the files.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because if I say it out loud, I’m admitting I knew.”
Cold moved through me.
“Knew what?”
Julian looked exhausted.
Older than he had a week earlier.
“Evelyn has been moving money through shell companies for years.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
“At least eleven million.”
My breath caught.
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
“That’s not what you just said.”
He looked ashamed.
“I knew enough.”
“What does this have to do with the trust?”
“Everything.”
He pointed at the flash drive.
“If an independent trustee takes control, they’ll audit the company.”
“And find the missing money.”
“Yes.”
“So this was never just about your inheritance.”
“No.”
“What happens if they find it?”
He swallowed.
“My mother goes to prison.”
I stared at him.
“And you?”
His answer barely came out.
“Maybe me too.”
Then a crash sounded from the back of the house.
Glass shattered.
Noah began screaming.
Julian spun toward the kitchen.
I froze.
A second later, the security alarm began shrieking.
May you like
Someone had just broken the back window.
And my four daughters were upstairs.
