Chapter 4 - The Accident That Wasn't the Beginning
"Daniel."
Victoria's voice was sharp enough to stop Mercer in the middle of the ballroom.
He turned toward her.
"Victoria."
She marched toward him, her diamonds flashing beneath the chandeliers.
"You're trespassing."
He glanced around the room.
"At a charity gala?"
"This is a private event."
"And yet the invitation has my company's name on it."
He pointed toward the sponsor wall.
I followed his gesture.
Near the bottom, printed in discreet gold letters, was the name:
MERCER CAPITAL PARTNERS.
I had approved that sponsor board myself.
I remembered Alexander telling me Mercer Capital was a passive investor supporting the rehabilitation foundation.
I looked at him.
"You knew he would be here."
Alexander shook his head.
"I knew his company was a sponsor."
"That's not what I asked."
"I didn't invite him."
Mercer chuckled.
"Technically true."
He looked at me.
"Your husband has become very skilled at telling the truth in installments."
I hated that the description fit.
Richard stepped forward.
"Emily, you shouldn't believe anything Mercer says without independent evidence."
Mercer smiled.
"Excellent advice."
Then he looked at the crowd.
"Perhaps everyone should go home."
For the first time all evening, Victoria agreed with him.
She signaled the event coordinator.
The orchestra began putting away its instruments.
Servers appeared at the doors.
Guests started gathering coats and purses, their shocked whispers spreading through the room.
I watched people leave.
Some looked at me sympathetically.
Others avoided my eyes.
A woman I had known for years touched my arm.
"Emily, if you need anything—"
I almost laughed.
I needed the truth about my mother.
The truth about my father.
And a lawyer who wasn't hiding information from me.
I doubted she could help with any of those things.
"Thank you," I said.
She squeezed my hand and disappeared.
Mercer watched the room empty with evident satisfaction.
When fewer than twenty guests remained, he turned back to me.
"I assume your husband has told you about his accident."
I folded my arms.
"He was injured in a collision on Route 9."
"Correct."
"The doctors said he suffered spinal trauma."
"Also correct."
"He couldn't move his legs."
Mercer's expression changed.
"Initially."
Alexander moved between us.
"Stop talking to her."
Mercer looked amused.
"Are you afraid of what she'll learn?"
"I'm afraid of what you'll do with it."
"Then you should have made better choices."
I stepped around Alexander.
"Tell me."
Mercer studied me.
"Eleven months ago, Alexander discovered that one of the companies financing his rehabilitation was controlled by his mother."
I frowned.
"Victoria paid for part of his treatment?"
"No."
Mercer's smile disappeared.
"Victoria controlled the company submitting certain claims associated with it."
I turned toward her.
She didn't deny it.
Richard spoke carefully.
"That's a serious allegation."
Mercer tilted his head.
"Then your client should request the records."
Alexander looked furious.
"You're omitting the part where you were involved."
"Naturally."
Mercer said it so casually that I almost missed the admission.
I stared at him.
"You were involved too?"
He shrugged.
"Our firms have overlapping investments."
"Did you know Alexander could walk?"
Mercer looked at my husband.
"Not until much later."
"When?"
"Before tonight."
"How much earlier?"
His smile returned.
"Long enough to realize your husband was conducting an investigation of his own."
I turned toward Alexander.
He looked exhausted.
For the first time, I saw the problem with my anger.
It had consumed every available inch of my attention.
I was furious that he had deceived me.
Furious that he had allowed me to care for him.
Furious that he had taken my money.
Those things were real.
But there was another question.
If Alexander had been walking for eleven months, why had he continued pretending to be disabled in front of his own mother?
And if Victoria knew, why had Mercer just exposed her?
I looked at Alexander.
"Did your mother know you recovered?"
He said nothing.
"Alexander."
"Not at first."
"Then when?"
His eyes lowered.
"Three months ago."
I stared at him.
"Three months?"
He nodded.
"And she let me keep taking care of you?"
His voice cracked.
"Yes."
I turned toward Victoria.
"Why?"
She lifted her chin.
"Because my son was in danger."
"From whom?"
Nobody answered.
My voice rose.
"From whom?"
Alexander looked at Mercer.
Then at his mother.
Finally, he said:
"From the people who arranged the crash."
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
"What?"
He looked directly at me.
"The crash that injured me wasn't an accident."
I shook my head.
"No."
"The other driver didn't lose control."
"Alexander—"
"The investigation was closed because the vehicle had been stripped of identifying parts before it was recovered."
I remembered the photographs.
The twisted metal.
The rain-soaked highway.
The hospital corridor where a doctor had told me Alexander might never walk again.
I had collapsed against the wall.
Victoria had held my shoulders.
She had told me we needed to be strong for him.
I looked at her now.
"Did you arrange it?"
For the first time, she looked genuinely wounded.
"No."
"Then who did?"
She glanced at Mercer.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Careful, Victoria."
Alexander stepped toward him.
"Don't threaten her."
Mercer shook his head.
"I'm not threatening anyone."
Richard spoke softly.
"Then why are you here?"
Mercer looked at me.
"To offer Emily a way out."
I stared at him.
"A way out of what?"
"An inheritance dispute that has already cost her family too much."
He reached inside his coat.
Alexander tensed.
Mercer removed a business card and held it toward me.
"I'll purchase her interest in Bennett Materials, settle every personal debt she incurred during Alexander's rehabilitation, and provide a confidential settlement recognizing the hardship she's endured."
I didn't take the card.
"Why?"
"Because litigation would be expensive."
"How much?"
Mercer paused.
"Twenty million dollars."
Richard made a strangled sound.
Alexander looked at him sharply.
Victoria went still.
I stared at Mercer.
"Twenty million?"
"Deposited into an account in your sole name, subject to appropriate legal documentation."
I thought of the collection notices.
The hospital bills.
The house I had sold.
The mornings when I had sat in my car wondering whether I could afford groceries.
Twenty million dollars.
Enough to buy back my mother's house.
Enough to recover my business.
Enough to walk away from Alexander Whitmore and never look back.
Mercer watched me carefully.
"You're a practical woman, Emily."
I said nothing.
"You know what debt does to a family."
I looked at him.
"Yes."
"Then let me correct what has happened."
I thought about the photograph.
The amended death certificate.
The woman who looked like my mother.
And the fact that Mercer had arrived within minutes of the truth becoming public.
"What would I have to sign?"
His expression brightened.
"A standard sale and release agreement."
"Would it include my father's company?"
"Your beneficial interests, yes."
"And my mother's trust?"
Mercer's smile faltered.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
"I don't believe we need to complicate this conversation with unverified trust claims."
I looked at Richard.
He was watching me intently.
I turned back to Mercer.
"Then my answer is no."
Mercer stared.
"Emily."
"No."
"You haven't read the offer."
"I don't need to."
His pleasant expression disappeared.
"Don't let your husband's betrayal make you reckless."
I stepped closer.
"My husband lied to me for eighteen months."
"Yes."
"My mother-in-law helped steal everything I owned."
Victoria protested.
"That is not—"
"And you want to give me twenty million dollars before I've even seen the documents proving what belongs to me."
Mercer said nothing.
I smiled.
For the first time all evening, it was a real smile.
"That tells me you're afraid of what I'll find."
His eyes hardened.
"You have your mother's temperament."
I froze.
"You knew her well?"
He looked away.
"Well enough."
"Did you love her?"
The question surprised even me.
Mercer turned back slowly.
His expression changed in a way I couldn't immediately understand.
Then he said:
"Your mother was the only person who ever cost me something I couldn't replace."
I stared at him.
"What did she take?"
He answered without blinking.
"My daughter."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
I looked at Margaret.
Her face had drained of color.
Richard closed his eyes.
Alexander whispered, "Daniel, stop."
May you like
But Mercer kept looking at me.
"Ask them who Eleanor Vale really was to me."
