Chapter 5 - Annika’s Confession
Annika Mercer had always been beautiful in an exhausting way.
Perfect hair.
Perfect clothes.
Perfect contempt.
She borrowed my emerald earrings three years earlier and returned empty box.
When I asked, she said:
“You probably misplaced them. You’re always disorganized.”
I believed her.
That memory sat between us now.
“I forged your signature,” she repeated.
“Why?”
“Edwin asked.”
“Why did you agree?”
She looked at hands.
“Because he knew about Mom.”
“Gambling?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“More than you know.”
“Did Beverly know you were stealing from me?”
Annika started crying.
“She knew some.”
“How much is some?”
“She knew jewelry was sold.”
There.
Not accidental.
“What did Edwin say fake company was for?”
“At first? Tax planning.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“How long before you knew?”
“Immediately.”
At least honest.
“Then why?”
“Because if Mom’s debt came out, Edwin said lenders might use it to question family-company expenses.”
“So you forged me instead.”
“Yes.”
“How did you get my documents?”
“Edwin had copies.”
“Social Security?”
“Yes.”
“Signature?”
“From trust paperwork.”
“Old reports?”
“Beverly told movers to give your office boxes to Edwin.”
My jaw tightened.
Nothing in that house happened accidentally.
Then:
“Did you open bank account?”
“With Edwin.”
“Was Lauren there?”
“No.”
“Did Lauren know company was fake?”
Annika hesitated.
“I don’t know when she learned.”
Important.
Not assume.
Then jewelry.
Annika admitted selling:
emerald earrings,
Cartier bracelet Dad gave me at graduation,
two watches,
and one necklace from my grandmother.
Total resale:
approximately $140,000.
“Why didn’t I notice all?”
Because jewelry box remained.
Copies? She sometimes replaced with lower-value replicas.
I felt stupid.
Then corrected myself.
No.
They were deceptive.
I was trusting.
Different.
“Where did money go?”
“Mom’s debt.”
“All?”
“Most.”
“Anything to you?”
“Twenty thousand.”
“For?”
“Credit cards.”
Annika’s shame finally looked real.
Then:
“Did Edwin know Beverly humiliated me?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell her to?”
“No.”
“Did he stop her?”
“No.”
Of course.
Then the dog.
“Did Edwin ever use Brutus like that before?”
She looked sick.
“He used dog to scare staff once.”
“Who?”
Housekeeper Maria.
Why?
She threatened to quit after seeing Lauren in house.
Edwin stood in doorway with Brutus and said she shouldn’t “leave angry.”
Not physically attacked.
But intimidation.
Maria later signed NDA and left.
Potential witness.
Then Annika said:
“Camila, Clause One scared him.”
“Good.”
“No. I mean he expected it.”
My body stiffened.
“What?”
“He knew your father had some kind of emergency provision.”
“How?”
“Beverly overheard George talking to Wayne at Christmas.”
“What did she hear?”
“Something about if Edwin ever restricted your access to money or movement.”
The locked door.
Could that have been intentional test?
Did Edwin lock me in knowing it might trigger?
Why?
Maybe he didn’t believe it.
Annika continued:
“He thought your father was bluffing.”
“So he dared me.”
“Yes.”
“He knew Clause One existed and still—”
“He thought you’d never use it.”
That was worse.
He believed he understood me completely.
Then:
“Why tell me now?”
“Because Edwin told me to take blame for everything.”
There.
“What exactly?”
“He wants me to say I created company, forged signature, stole documents, routed funds, and hid it from him.”
“Did you?”
“Some.”
“Not all.”
“No.”
“What did he offer?”
“Pay Mom’s debts and my legal fees.”
“And if you refuse?”
“He’ll tell prosecutors I stole from Crestview without his knowledge.”
Family cannibalism had begun.
Then Annika produced texts.
Edwin:
You handled setup. Keep story simple.
Annika:
You approved every invoice.
Edwin:
Careful.
Annika:
You used Camila because George would never suspect her.
Edwin:
Delete this thread.
She didn’t.
Good.
Then Beverly.
Did she know fake company?
Annika:
“Not at first.”
“Later?”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She told Edwin you were too stupid to discover it.”
I laughed.
Could not help it.
Annika looked startled.
“Sorry.”
“No. It’s funny.”
Because Beverly’s entire image of me depended on me remaining woman who asked permission.
Then Annika said:
“There’s something else about Dad.”
Edwin’s father? James Mercer died years earlier maybe.
“What?”
“Mom didn’t start gambling after he died.”
“She started before?”
“Yes.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because some debt wasn’t gambling.”
“What?”
“Payments to a man.”
Extortion?
Affair?
She showed old transfers.
Recipient:
Victor Hale.
Who was he?
Private investigator.
He had worked for Beverly.
Why?
To investigate George Stanford.
My father.
For years.
Beverly had been collecting information about Dad because she believed he was planning to take Crestview.
Victor’s reports included:
Dad’s health.
Trust structures.
My relationship with Wayne.
My inheritance exposure.
Then one memo:
Upon George Stanford’s death, Camila likely gains expanded beneficial authority. Edwin should obtain spousal waivers beforehand.
This was two years old.
The paper I almost signed was not spontaneous.
It was plan.
Then another memo:
Best leverage remains marital reconciliation risk. Camila highly conflict-avoidant.
That sentence cut deeper than insults.
They had studied my patience as vulnerability.
Then Annika whispered:
“Victor has more.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who pays him now?”
She looked at me.
“Lauren.”
May you like
My husband’s mistress was not simply receiving money.
She had hired investigator who had been tracking my father.
