Chapter 14 - Evelyn’s Choice
Evelyn didn’t deny it.
They were back at the hospital.
Dominic stood near the window.
Hannah sat beside her sister.
The triplets slept in the next room.
“Were you investigating him?” Hannah asked.
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
“Yes.”
Dominic’s face remained unreadable.
“When did it start?”
“Before we married.”
Hannah stared.
“You married him while investigating him?”
“I didn’t intend to marry him.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“That’s romantic.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I was working as an accountant for a law firm that handled Vale companies.”
Hannah waited.
“I found transactions that didn’t make sense. I started copying records.”
“And then?”
“I met Dominic.”
Dominic stared through the window.
Evelyn continued.
“I expected a monster.”
Hannah glanced at him.
“Some days were better than others.”
Dominic looked offended.
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“He was complicated.”
“Still am.”
“You’re interrupting.”
“Still do that too.”
For one second, they looked like a married couple again.
Then reality returned.
Evelyn continued.
“I learned the truth wasn’t simple. Dominic had done things I hated.”
He didn’t argue.
“But Julian was building an operation inside the family. Trafficking stolen cargo. Paying officials. Framing Dominic for things he didn’t authorize.”
Hannah’s stomach tightened.
“So you changed targets.”
“I changed the investigation.”
Dominic finally spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
“You married me.”
“I loved you.”
“That isn’t the same thing?”
“No.”
His face tightened.
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“I loved you enough to want the truth about you.”
Dominic absorbed that.
Not happily.
But honestly.
“And now?” he asked.
Evelyn looked at the next room.
Three tiny sleeping girls.
“Now I want them raised somewhere they don’t need armed guards at breakfast.”
Dominic flinched.
Hannah stayed silent.
Evelyn continued.
“I want them to go to school without bodyguards.”
“I can protect them.”
“I don’t want their father teaching them that fear is protection.”
That one landed.
Dominic looked down.
“What are you asking me to do?”
“Walk away.”
“From everything?”
“From the illegal part.”
“That isn’t something you simply resign from.”
“Then find a way.”
Dominic looked toward his daughters.
For thirty seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally he nodded.
“I already started.”
Evelyn blinked.
“What?”
“Julian wanted the empire.”
Dominic gave a tired smile.
“So I gave half of it to federal prosecutors.”
Hannah almost choked.
Evelyn stared.
“You’re cooperating?”
“My lawyer prefers the phrase negotiating.”
Evelyn laughed for the first time.
A real laugh.
Dominic smiled.
Then a nurse entered.
“There’s something for Ms. Mercer.”
She handed Hannah a padded envelope.
No return address.
Inside was a small audio recorder.
Daniel Mercer’s voice began immediately.
“Hannah, there is one last truth you deserve.”
She stopped breathing.
“If you found Evelyn, then you found your sister.”
A pause.
“But there is something neither of you were ever told.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
Daniel’s voice shook.
“The woman you were told was your mother did not die when you were children.”
Hannah’s entire body went cold.
Evelyn whispered, “What?”
Daniel continued.
“Claire Mercer is alive.”
The recorder clicked.
Then his final sentence played.
“And if she is still alive when you hear this…”
May you like
A long pause.
“…she already knows where you are.”
