Chapter 2 - THE DEAD MAN WAITING IN THE LIVING ROOM
The last thing I heard before hitting the ocean was my sister's laughter.
"Give the sharks my regards, Elias!"
Then the water swallowed me.
The impact knocked the air from my lungs. For several terrifying seconds, I couldn't tell which direction was up.
My expensive jacket dragged at my shoulders.
Saltwater burned my throat.
Above me, the enormous white yacht continued moving.
I could hear its engines.
Nobody was stopping.
Nobody was coming back.
And the people who had raised me were standing on that deck, perfectly willing to watch me die.
I kicked upward with everything I had.
When my head finally broke the surface, I dragged in a painful breath.
The yacht was already fifty yards away.
Through the fading sunlight, I could make out three figures standing along the upper railing.
My father.
My mother.
And Chloe.
They weren't looking for me.
They were raising champagne glasses.
That image hurt worse than the fall.
For forty-three years, I had been their son.
Their brother.
The person who paid their mortgages, rescued their businesses, and covered expenses they never bothered explaining.
Apparently, none of that mattered anymore.
Only the $5.6 billion attached to my name.
I tried to swim, but my left shoulder screamed.
Then I heard another engine.
Smaller.
Closer.
A narrow rescue boat appeared from behind a distant marker buoy.
"Elias!"
A woman leaned over its side.
"Grab the line!"
I recognized her immediately.
Mara Sloane.
My former head of corporate security.
The woman my mother had demanded I fire six months earlier.
I caught the rescue ring with my good arm.
Two crewmen hauled me aboard.
Mara wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.
"Can you breathe?"
I nodded, coughing seawater onto the deck.
"Did you see it?"
Her expression hardened.
"Every second."
She pointed toward a compact camera mounted above the boat's windshield.
I stared at it.
"You recorded them?"
"Your sister. Your parents. The yacht leaving without turning around."
For the first time since hitting the water, I felt something other than betrayal.
I felt relief.
Two years earlier, I had discovered unexplained withdrawals from a family investment account connected to my company.
My father dismissed them as accounting errors.
My mother called me suspicious.
Chloe accused me of believing money mattered more than family.
So I quietly established independent financial safeguards.
And when the yacht invitation arrived, followed by my family's sudden obsession with my will, I contacted Mara.
I hadn't expected my sister to push me overboard.
But I had refused to leave my safety in my family's hands.
Mara had arranged for the rescue boat to remain nearby.
Still, she looked shaken.
"I thought they might threaten you," she admitted. "I didn't think they'd actually do it."
"Neither did I."
That was a lie.
Somewhere inside me, I had known.
I just hadn't wanted to believe it.
By the time my family's yacht returned to its private marina, I was already at the Mercer estate.
Our mansion stood on fifteen acres overlooking the eastern end of Long Island.
I had purchased the property eight years earlier.
My parents called it their family home.
They had conveniently forgotten whose name was on the deed.
I showered, changed into dry clothes, and sat in my father's favorite leather chair.
On the coffee table, I placed three things.
My grandmother's old silver watch.
A sealed envelope.
And a printed copy of the yacht's passenger manifest.
At 11:26 p.m., the front doors opened.
Chloe entered first.
She wore a black cashmere coat over the same ivory dress she'd worn when she pushed me.
My mother followed, holding my father's arm.
"Tomorrow morning," Chloe was saying, "we should contact the financial trustees before anyone starts asking questions."
My father nodded.
"The sooner we establish the timeline, the better."
My mother sighed.
"Poor Elias. Such a terrible accident."
I turned on the lamp beside my chair.
"Was it?"
All three stopped.
Chloe's handbag dropped to the marble floor.
My mother staggered backward.
My father's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
I smiled.
"Hello, everyone."
Chloe's face turned white.
"That's impossible."
"Which part?" I asked. "That I survived? Or that you failed?"
My mother pressed a hand against her chest.
"Elias! Thank God!"
She moved toward me.
I raised one finger.
"Don't."
She stopped immediately.
I looked at all three of them.
"I have a little surprise for both of you, too."
Then I slid the passenger manifest across the table.
My father glanced down.
His expression changed.
The document described my departure from the yacht as voluntary.
It claimed I had signed an authorization releasing the captain from responsibility.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
But the timestamp made my blood run cold.
The document had been electronically signed eighteen minutes before Chloe pushed me into the ocean.
I looked directly at my father.
"Explain something to me."
He swallowed.
"What's that?"
"How did you obtain my signature on a report about my disappearance before I disappeared?"
My father said nothing.
May you like
Then Chloe whispered something that made the entire room go silent.
"Mom, you told me that part had already been taken care of."
