Chapter 13 - The Betrayal I Never Saw ComingDaniel raised the gun.
Mike stepped in front of Tyler.
Victor reached for his own weapon.
"Don't," Daniel said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
My stomach tightened.
"You?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Give me the ledger."
"No."
"You don't understand what's in it."
"I know enough."
"Then you know these names can destroy innocent people."
"Or guilty ones."
His jaw tightened.
Victor said,
"Richard trusted you."
"Richard trusted too many people."
"Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Lily?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Daniel looked at the ledger.
"Your father."
I stared.
"What?"
"He created the entire situation."
"Why?"
"Because he wanted to expose Mercer."
"By risking Lily?"
"I never knew about Lily."
"You're lying."
Daniel looked away.
"The night Richard died, he gave me an instruction."
"What instruction?"
"To protect you."
"From whom?"
"Everyone."
He lowered the gun slightly.
"I was the one who ordered the hospital to lock the records."
My hands shook.
"Why?"
"Because someone inside the hospital was trying to access them."
"Who?"
"Dr. Reeves."
We all looked at him.
"He was already compromised."
Victor said,
"You worked with Mercer."
Daniel nodded.
"I infiltrated the network."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Your father needed someone inside."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the network was larger than either of us understood."
He pointed at the ledger.
"That book doesn't expose Mercer."
"Then who?"
"Government officials. Bank executives. Judges."
The room fell silent.
"And you?"
"I was buying time."
"For four years?"
"I had to."
"Then why now?"
He looked at the clock on the wall.
"Because Caleb has finally decided to stop hiding."
Victor lowered his weapon.
"Where is he?"
Daniel shook his head.
"Not far."
The screen flashed.
Caleb appeared.
"I told you, Daniel, that secrecy had a price."
Daniel's face hardened.
Caleb continued.
"Stephanie, there is one fact you still don't know."
"What?"
"Richard didn't put your name in the trust because you were his daughter."
My throat tightened.
"He put your name there because you are the legal heir to Mercer Holdings."
I stared.
"What?"
Caleb smiled.
"The entire company."
I couldn't understand.
"My father owned Mercer Holdings?"
"No."
He leaned toward the camera.
"Your biological father did."
Mom whispered,
"Caleb."
He turned toward her on screen.
"You should have told her."
I looked at Mom.
"Is it true?"
She nodded slowly.
"Your father was a Mercer by blood."
I looked at Victor.
"You're a Mercer."
"Yes."
"Then I am too."
Victor nodded.
Caleb continued.
"Richard changed the trust so that the company could pass to you without the Mercer family realizing it."
"Why hide ownership?"
"Because the company was built on stolen money."
I looked at the ledger.
"Then why did you want it?"
"Because if the company collapses, so do hundreds of people who depend on it."
"You could have sold it."
"Not without exposing the network."
"So you blackmailed us."
"I tried to contain it."
"You threatened Tyler."
"I never threatened the boy."
I looked at Mike.
He shook his head.
"Caleb never contacted Tyler."
"Then who did?"
No one answered.
A second notification appeared on the screen.
LIVE CALL FROM IRENE
Mike answered.
Irene was crying.
"Mike."
"Where are you?"
"They found me."
"Who?"
"Your mother."
I froze.
Irene continued.
"She knows about the account."
Mom looked away.
"Which account?" I demanded.
Irene whispered,
"The one Richard created after he found out."
"What did he hide?"
"The money."
"Which money?"
"The money used to buy the Hawthorne House."
Silence.
Irene said,
"Stephanie, the house was never Richard's."
I stared.
"Then whose was it?"
"The trust purchased it."
"With what?"
"Your inheritance."
My heart stopped.
"My inheritance?"
"Money left by your biological grandfather."
I felt dizzy.
"How much?"
Irene's voice trembled.
"Enough to make you the richest person in the family."
Then the call ended.
Mom started crying.
"You were never poor, Stephanie."
I looked at her.
"You all just made sure I believed I was."
The screen changed again.
Caleb's face filled it.
"Now you know the truth."
"Then what do you want?"
"The company."
"No."
"Then the people named in that ledger will come after you."
"Let them."
Caleb smiled.
"That's exactly what your father said."
The screen went black.
Outside, sirens approached.
Victor looked through the window.
Police cars were surrounding the farmhouse.
Daniel lowered his gun.
"Whatever happens next, do not give the ledger to the police."
"Why?"
"Because half the names in it control the people who arrest the other half."
I looked at the ledger.
My father's final note was still visible.
The person giving the orders lives under my roof.
I thought of Mom.
But then I noticed something.
May you like
The handwriting beneath the sentence was not my father's.
It was Daniel's.
