Chapter 14 - My Mother’s Missing Year
I hung up and stared at my mother.
She didn’t defend herself.
That frightened me more than denial would have.
“What is he talking about?”
Evelyn whispered, “There was a year after you were born when I was sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“I don’t know.”
She remembered migraines, missing time, medication Mercer prescribed, and arguments between Dad and Grandpa Walter.
Dad had eventually taken her away for several months.
Afterward, Mercer disappeared from their lives.
Or so she believed.
Samantha examined Dad’s statement again.
One paragraph had always seemed vague.
Evelyn must never be held responsible for documents executed during the Mercer period. She did not understand what she was signing.
My mother covered her mouth.
Mercer had used her too.
Not as mastermind.
As another instrument.
Then Mark’s phone buzzed.
A message from Denise.
I KNOW WHERE MERCER IS.
Denise demanded immunity.
She wasn’t getting it, but she was terrified enough to cooperate.
She told investigators Mercer had contacted her after Lily’s birth.
He wanted the original ledger.
Denise claimed she refused.
“Why would you refuse after everything you’ve done?” I asked.
Her answer surprised me.
“Because I finally understood why he wanted the baby.”
My arms tightened around Lily.
“What?”
Denise looked at Mark, then me.
“The trust has a second clause.”
Samantha found it.
If criminal misconduct rendered the Hale-Walker ownership structure invalid, the controlling shares would pass entirely to Thomas Hale’s youngest living direct descendant.
Lily.
Not me.
Lily could eventually own the controlling interest in land and commercial properties now worth tens of millions.
Mercer didn’t need my daughter physically.
He needed documents allowing someone else to act on her behalf.
A guardianship arrangement.
A parental authorization.
A father willing to sign.
Everyone looked at Mark.
His face collapsed.
“I didn’t sign anything.”
Denise laughed bitterly.
“You almost did.”
She revealed that Mercer had prepared paperwork naming Mark as sole custodian of Lily’s trust interests if I became “medically incapacitated.”
My C-section recovery had created the perfect window.
That was why Denise had wanted me dragged to her house.
Not for lunch.
Not to clean.
Mercer was supposed to be waiting there with documents.
My body went cold.
Then Denise’s phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Mercer.
Samantha motioned for silence.
Denise answered.
His voice came through.
“Bring Rachel and the child.”
Denise asked, “Where?”
Mercer gave an address.
Evelyn’s face changed.
I knew why.
May you like
It was my father’s old accounting office.
The building had been abandoned for nineteen years.
