Chapter 10: The Family Empire Built On Blood
Richard Mercer stood in the doorway.
For a moment, I couldn’t move.
My mind kept rejecting what my eyes were showing me.
Because Richard wasn’t supposed to be a threat.
He was supposed to be family.
He was the man who carried me on his shoulders when I was eight years old.
The man who taught me how to shake hands properly.
The man who sat beside me at my father’s funeral and whispered:
“Your father would want you to be strong.”
I remembered those words.
I remembered believing them.
Now they sounded different.
Like a line from a script.
Like something an actor practiced before stepping onto a stage.
“You.”
My voice was barely a whisper.
Richard smiled.
Not a villain’s smile.
Not a cruel smile.
Something worse.
A disappointed smile.
The smile of someone who believed they were right.
“Ethan.”
He stepped into the room.
“You look just like your father when you’re angry.”
I felt my hands tighten.
“Don’t talk about him.”
Richard tilted his head.
“Why?”
“Because you don’t get to.”
A quiet laugh escaped him.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“That stubbornness.”
He looked around the room.
“At first, I thought your father’s greatest mistake was creating you.”
The words hit me.
Then Richard continued.
“But I was wrong.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“His greatest mistake was teaching you to question everything.”
Behind me, Vanessa moved closer.
Richard noticed.
His expression changed slightly.
“Vanessa.”
The way he said her name told me everything.
They knew each other.
Of course they did.
“How long?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
My patience disappeared.
“How long have all of you been hiding things from me?”
Richard looked at Vanessa.
Then at Victor.
Then at Dr. Cole.
Finally, he looked at me.
“Longer than you realize.”
The answer made my stomach turn.
I stepped forward.
“Why?”
Richard sighed.
“Because your father left behind a mess.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
He walked deeper into the room.
“Elias Mercer was brilliant.”
A pause.
“But brilliance has a weakness.”
“What?”
“Pride.”
I stared at him.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“I expect you to understand.”
He pointed toward the files.
“Your father discovered something dangerous.”
“The project.”
“Yes.”
“And you wanted it.”
Richard nodded.
“At first.”
The honesty surprised me.
“At first?”
He looked at the documents.
“Do you know what your father created?”
“A medical technology.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“He created a way to understand human decision-making.”
I said nothing.
Richard continued.
“He believed he could use it to help people overcome trauma, addiction, fear.”
He smiled faintly.
“A noble idea.”
“Then why did you turn it into a weapon?”
Richard looked at me.
“I didn’t.”
The answer was immediate.
I almost laughed.
“Everyone says that.”
“I know.”
“Because everyone lies.”
Richard’s expression changed.
A small flash of anger.
Then it disappeared.
“You think I’m the villain because it makes the world easier to understand.”
“Isn’t that convenient?”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“The truth is much more complicated.”
I looked at Victor.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Richard ignored him.
“Your father was not killed because of Project Echo.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Then why?”
“Because he tried to destroy it.”
The room became silent.
“He realized what it could become.”
Richard continued.
“He spent years building something he believed would save humanity.”
A pause.
“Then he discovered someone else had already changed the purpose.”
“Who?”
Richard looked directly at Victor.
“Victor.”
Everyone turned.
Victor’s face hardened.
“That’s a lie.”
Richard smiled.
“Is it?”
The tension between them was immediate.
Not like enemies meeting for the first time.
Like two people carrying years of hatred.
“You betrayed Elias.”
Victor stepped forward.
“And you murdered him.”
Richard didn’t react.
That scared me.
“Enough.”
My voice cut through the room.
“I don’t care about your old war.”
I looked at each of them.
“I want the truth.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Richard reached into his coat.
Nora immediately stepped back.
Dr. Cole tensed.
But Richard only removed an old envelope.
He placed it on the table.
My name was written on it.
Ethan Mercer.
My breathing stopped.
“What is that?”
“Something your father wanted you to have.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Because I took it.”
The honesty was unsettling.
“You stole my father’s letter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because I was afraid of what you would become if you read it.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
My father’s handwriting.
The same handwriting I remembered from birthday cards.
From notes left on the kitchen table.
From old messages he wrote before leaving for business trips.
My hands shook slightly.
Ethan,
If you are reading this, then something has gone wrong.
I stopped.
The room disappeared.
Only the letter existed.
I continued.
You have spent your life believing success comes from strength.
It does not.
Success comes from knowing when you are wrong.
My eyes blurred.
Because my father knew.
He knew something would happen.
He continued:
There are people around you who will tell you they are protecting you.
Some are.
Some are not.
The difference is simple.
The person who protects you gives you freedom.
The person who controls you gives you fear.
I looked up.
My eyes moved toward Vanessa.
She looked down.
Then back to the letter.
Your greatest danger will not come from strangers.
It will come from people who believe they deserve what belongs to you.
My heart started beating faster.
The next sentence made my blood run cold.
The person who destroys Mercer Ridge will not be someone trying to steal it.
It will be someone trying to finish what I started.
I looked at Richard.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
Then the underground speakers turned on again.
A new voice came through.
Not my mother.
Not Richard.
Not Marcus.
A voice I had heard earlier tonight.
A voice that belonged to someone I thought was helping me.
“Ethan.”
I turned.
Dr. Cole froze.
Vanessa’s face changed.
The voice continued:
“You finally found the letter.”
I looked at Dr. Cole.
Because he recognized the voice.
“Who is that?”
The doctor looked terrified.
“No.”
“Who?”
His lips moved.
Then he whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
The speakers crackled.
The voice laughed.
“You always were the smartest one in the room, Adrian.”
Dr. Cole stepped back.
Because now he knew.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
“Who is it?”
The answer came.
A name.
A name that made Richard lose his confidence.
A name that made Victor go silent.
A name that made Vanessa close her eyes.
“The founder of Project Echo.”
A pause.
“The person who created the poison.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
Then the voice said:
“Your father.”
