Chapter 7 - LACEY'S INSURANCE
Three bodyguards drew weapons.
Lacey raised both hands.
“Relax.”
The object in her hand hit the floor.
A phone.
Not a gun.
Orson stepped into the foyer.
“You have five seconds to explain why you're in my daughter's house.”
Lacey smiled.
“Technically, I still had a code.”
“Four.”
“I'm here to make a deal.”
“Three.”
“I have proof Damon forged the proxy.”
Damon stepped into the hall.
“You lying—”
“Two.”
“And proof Bryce Holland stole from Claire Mercer.”
Orson stopped counting.
The room went silent.
Lacey's smile widened.
“Thought that might get your attention.”
Raina walked out of the library.
“Get downstairs.”
Damon grabbed her arm again.
“Raina, don't trust her.”
She looked at his hand.
He released her immediately.
Lacey descended slowly.
When she reached the bottom, she removed a small flash drive from her pocket.
“This is what everyone wants.”
Elaine arrived from the study.
“What's on it?”
“Emails. Contracts. Voice recordings.”
“Copies?”
Lacey laughed.
“Obviously.”
Orson's face hardened.
“What do you want?”
“Five million dollars.”
Raina stared at her.
Lacey shrugged.
“What? Everybody else in this family has a number.”
“No,” Raina said.
Everyone turned toward her.
Lacey's eyebrows lifted.
“No?”
“You're not getting five million dollars.”
“Then Damon goes to prison and your father's reputation gets shredded.”
Raina looked at Damon.
“He may go to prison anyway.”
Damon stared at her.
Lacey smiled.
“I like pregnant Raina. She's meaner.”
Raina stepped closer.
“Why did you choose Damon?”
Lacey's expression shifted.
“Excuse me?”
“At the gala. Why him?”
Damon looked at Lacey.
“You said it was Bryce.”
“It was.”
Raina shook her head.
“Bryce was already retired by then. He wouldn't have access to gala seating.”
Lacey's jaw tightened.
Elaine gave Raina an approving glance.
Raina continued.
“You arranged the table.”
Lacey said nothing.
“You introduced me to Damon.”
“I introduced a lot of people.”
“You knew exactly who he was.”
Still nothing.
“And you knew exactly who I was.”
Lacey's smile returned.
“Of course I did.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother ruined mine.”
Orson's face changed.
Raina noticed.
“You know her mother.”
Lacey looked at him.
“Go ahead, Orson.”
Raina turned.
“Dad?”
Orson exhaled.
“Her mother was Vanessa Vaughn.”
The name hit Raina unexpectedly.
She knew it.
Not personally.
From old photographs.
Vanessa had been Claire's business partner.
“My mother had a partner named Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
Lacey laughed bitterly.
“Partner. That's cute.”
“What happened?”
Lacey's eyes hardened.
“Your father happened.”
Orson stepped forward.
“Careful.”
“No. You be careful.”
Lacey pointed at him.
“My mother built Claire Mercer Designs with Claire. Then Claire got sick, Orson took control, and suddenly Vanessa was accused of stealing.”
Raina looked at her father.
“That sounds familiar.”
Damon interrupted.
“Because that's exactly what happened to my father.”
Lacey looked at him.
“Your father actually stole.”
Damon froze.
“What?”
Lacey smiled cruelly.
“Oh, Damon. You still believe Peter?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your father and Bryce were moving money together.”
Damon's face went blank.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Your father wasn't framed.”
She leaned closer.
“He was caught.”
Damon shook his head.
“You're lying.”
“Ask Orson.”
Everyone looked at him.
Orson said nothing.
Damon stepped forward.
“Ask him!”
Orson's voice was low.
“Peter Cole embezzled one-point-seven million dollars from Claire's company.”
Damon stared.
“No.”
“Bryce helped cover it.”
“No.”
“Vanessa discovered it.”
Lacey's smile vanished.
Raina frowned.
“Then why was Vanessa blamed?”
Orson looked at Lacey.
“Because Bryce forged evidence against her.”
For the first time, Lacey looked shaken.
“No.”
Orson continued.
“Your mother was innocent.”
Lacey's face lost color.
“You knew?”
“I discovered it after Claire died.”
“And you never cleared her name?”
Orson's silence was devastating.
Lacey's eyes filled.
“You knew?”
“I was trying to protect Claire's estate.”
“You let my mother die believing everyone thought she was a thief.”
“Lacey—”
“She killed herself!”
Raina covered her mouth.
The room went still.
Lacey was crying now, but her voice stayed sharp.
“She lost the company. Her friends. Her marriage. Everything.”
Orson lowered his head.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Lacey wiped her face.
“You built an empire on the ashes.”
She looked at Raina.
“And he gave you the clean version.”
Raina felt like the floor had shifted.
The heroes and villains were changing too quickly.
Lacey lifted the flash drive.
“This doesn't just bury Damon.”
She looked directly at Orson.
“It buries you too.”
Then red and blue lights flashed through the front windows.
Lacey frowned.
“You called the police?”
Nobody answered.
A loudspeaker boomed from outside.
“LACEY VAUGHN, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS VISIBLE.”
Lacey's face drained.
Damon whispered:
“They're not here for breaking and entering.”
Raina looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Damon stared at Lacey.
May you like
“Because Bryce Holland didn't die of natural causes.”
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