Chapter 13 - The Person My Father Feared
For the first time, my mother refused to look at me.
“Mom?”
She sat down.
“I never told you everything about your father.”
My heart began pounding.
Evelyn explained that Thomas had become obsessed with protecting North Star during his final year.
He suspected money was being stolen from both sides of the partnership.
At first, he blamed Frank.
Then Denise.
Eventually, he started suspecting someone had access to information neither family should possess.
“Who?”
Evelyn began crying.
“My father.”
My grandfather, Walter Hale.
The man who taught me to ride a bicycle.
The man who died when I was twenty-three.
Walter had hated my father.
I remembered that much.
I had always assumed it was ordinary family tension.
It wasn’t.
Walter believed Thomas had stolen Evelyn away from the Hale family and gambled family money on North Star.
According to Dad’s ledger, Walter secretly financed Arthur Mercer.
Not to kill Dad.
To force him out of North Star.
But somewhere between intimidation, insurance fraud, and corporate sabotage, the plan became something nobody could control.
Samantha traced old payments.
Walter paid Mercer.
Mercer paid a mechanic.
The mechanic had worked on Dad’s car the day before the crash.
Denise had known afterward and used the secret to blackmail Frank.
Frank helped cover the fraud because exposure would reveal his own theft.
Elaine forged Evelyn’s signature.
Everyone had one piece.
Nobody had the whole crime.
Except Mercer.
And he was still alive.
Worse, he knew Lily had been born.
We learned that because the hospital’s records showed an unauthorized access attempt four hours after delivery.
The login credentials belonged to a retired physician.
Arthur Mercer.
I immediately pulled Lily closer.
“What did he access?”
Samantha’s investigator answered.
“Her blood type. Birth certificate worksheet. Parent information.”
Mark stood.
“Why?”
Nobody knew.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered on speaker.
An elderly male voice said, “Rachel, your father made the same mistake you’re making.”
My blood went cold.
“Mercer?”
“You think ownership is the secret.”
“What do you want?”
“The envelope Evelyn gave you.”
Everyone froze.
He knew about it.
“How?”
Mercer laughed softly.
“Because Thomas didn’t write it to protect you from Denise.”
I looked at my mother.
“Then who?”
May you like
His answer came quietly.
“Evelyn.”
