Chapter 13 - THE EMPIRE COLLAPSES
By 9:30 a.m., every financial network in the country was talking about Mercer Global.
Fraud allegations.
Suspicious transfers.
Frozen trading.
Executive conspiracy.
Our stock hadn't collapsed yet because trading was halted.
But panic had already started.
Dad sat in the back of the SUV while his lawyers worked three phones at once.
Richard was in surgery under police guard.
Vanessa was in custody.
Marcus was recovering.
Adrian was being treated.
And somehow the battle had become bigger.
“Richard planted false accounting records,” Dad said.
“To make it look like Mercer Global was stealing from Vale Meridian?”
“Worse.”
Daniel, cleared provisionally after police confirmed his location during key meetings, turned his laptop toward us.
“It makes it look like Thomas used Eleanor's marriage to secretly acquire control of Vale Meridian.”
I stared at the screen.
“But we didn't.”
“Correct.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Daniel hesitated.
Too long.
Dad answered.
“Long enough to hurt us.”
My phone rang.
Adrian.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
“What?”
“I can help.”
I laughed bitterly.
“With what?”
“Richard's records.”
“You're in a hospital.”
“My general counsel kept backups of every lender negotiation Vale Meridian completed.”
“So?”
“Some of those records show your father refused opportunities to take direct ownership.”
Dad looked at me.
“That could help.”
Adrian continued.
“I have board minutes showing you never voted on our deals.”
“Because I wasn't on your board.”
“Exactly.”
I closed my eyes.
He could help prove my father had not secretly controlled the company.
“Send everything to Daniel.”
“I already did.”
I paused.
“Thank you.”
“Eleanor.”
“What?”
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“I mean it.”
I looked out the window.
“Adrian, helping us clean up a crime doesn't erase what you did.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to become the hero because you finally did one decent thing.”
“I know.”
His voice was quiet.
No defense.
No excuses.
For the first time, maybe he actually understood.
Then he said, “There's something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“Vanessa made me sign documents.”
“When?”
“Over the last month.”
“What documents?”
“I thought they were related to the divorce.”
My pulse quickened.
“And?”
“They gave her proxy control over some of my shares.”
Dad leaned closer.
“How much?”
“Eleven percent of Vale Meridian.”
Daniel swore under his breath.
If Richard had arranged an outside buyer—
Dad asked, “Who owns the proxy now?”
Adrian said, “That's the problem.”
“What problem?”
“I checked before calling you.”
His voice tightened.
“The proxy was transferred at 7:04 this morning.”
“To whom?”
A pause.
“Mercer Strategic Holdings.”
Dad froze.
“There is no Mercer Strategic Holdings.”
Daniel was already searching.
Then his face changed.
“There is now.”
I leaned toward the screen.
The company had been incorporated three weeks earlier.
The owner was hidden behind a trust.
Daniel dug deeper.
One filing contained an authorized signatory.
I recognized the name.
I whispered it aloud.
“Mom?”
Dad stopped breathing.
The authorized signatory was Caroline Mercer.
May you like
My mother.
Who had been dead for eleven years.
