Chapter 8 - What Evelyn Hid
Ethan confronted Evelyn.
She did not deny it.
“I changed the timeline.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
“For twenty years?”
Evelyn began crying.
“The recording was made before the crash. Rachel knew something was coming.”
“Then why tell me she recorded it afterward?”
“Because if you knew she expected the crash, you would ask what she had already discovered.”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
Evelyn looked toward Sophia.
Then told them.
Rachel had uncovered a secret within Brooks Global’s earliest corporate structure.
Thomas Brooks had not founded the company alone.
There had been a third founder.
His name had been removed from every official history.
Gabriel Mercer.
A mathematical prodigy who designed the risk software that made Brooks Global valuable.
He vanished shortly before Ethan was born.
Ethan frowned.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Gabriel was Rachel’s first husband.”
Silence.
Not boyfriend.
Husband.
Thomas Brooks had married Rachel after Gabriel disappeared.
Ethan’s birth certificate listed Thomas.
But privately, Rachel told Evelyn that Ethan was conceived before Gabriel vanished.
Ethan sat down.
Sophia remained beside him.
Not touching.
But present.
“Gabriel Mercer is my father?”
“I believe so.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor apparently discovered the truth years later.
If Gabriel lived, he could potentially challenge ownership of intellectual property that formed the foundation of Brooks Global.
Billions were at stake.
But Rachel’s death still made no sense.
Why kill her twenty years later?
Evelyn answered:
“Because Gabriel contacted her.”
Three weeks before the crash.
He was alive.
He had proof that Victor and another executive had stolen ownership rights, diverted funds, and arranged his disappearance.
Rachel began preparing to expose them.
Then she died.
Michael Reed disappeared.
Gabriel vanished again.
Ethan asked:
“Who was the other executive?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“I never knew.”
Nathan entered Room 417 before she could say more.
His face was grim.
“The board vote moved.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Ethan stood.
“Victor can’t vote while detained.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
Nathan handed him the resolution.
Someone had acquired enough proxy votes to remove Ethan.
“Who?”
“An entity called Mercer Strategic Trust.”
Ethan froze.
Mercer.
Nathan continued:
“It acquired the shares eleven years ago.”
“When Dad died?”
“Three days before.”
Sophia whispered:
“Gabriel?”
Nathan shook his head.
“The trust beneficiary isn’t Gabriel Mercer.”
Ethan took the document.
The beneficiary name made no sense.
Sophia Reed.
Sophia stared at it.
“What?”
She had never owned a single share of Brooks Global.
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Yet according to the trust, Sophia controlled nearly twelve percent of Ethan’s company.
Enough to decide whether he remained CEO.
