Chapter 9 - For a second, I couldn't move.Victoria lowered the gun.
Paul lay on the pier.
Sabrina screamed.
“You shot him!”
Victoria stared at the body.
“He deserved it.”
I stepped between her and Sabrina.
“Put the gun down.”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“You still don't understand.”
“I understand plenty.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You think I'm the villain.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I had to.”
“You stole money.”
“I had to.”
“You tried to fake my death.”
“I didn't.”
I froze.
“What?”
Victoria looked at Raymond's old photograph.
“Raymond did that.”
“Then why did you help him?”
“Because he threatened Sabrina.”
Sabrina stared at her.
“With what?”
Victoria's face crumpled.
“With the truth.”
She looked at Sabrina.
“Your grandfather didn't just leave you money.”
“What?”
“He left evidence.”
“Of what?”
Victoria looked at me.
“Of a murder.”
Silence.
“Whose murder?”
“My father's.”
I stared.
“My father died naturally.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
“He had a heart attack.”
“No.”
“He was seventy.”
“It wasn't natural.”
She took a breath.
“Your father was killed.”
I felt the world shift beneath my feet.
“Who killed him?”
Victoria whispered:
“Paul.”
I looked at the body.
“But why?”
“Because your father discovered the fraud.”
“And you?”
“I was there.”
Sabrina whispered:
“You were there?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“The night your grandfather died, I saw everything.”
I stepped toward her.
“What did you see?”
“Paul poisoned him.”
My stomach turned.
“And you did nothing?”
“I was pregnant.”
“You could have called the police.”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“Your father's records.”
I stared.
“He had evidence against me.”
Victoria's voice broke.
“He said if I spoke, he would ruin Sabrina before she was even born.”
I looked at Sabrina.
“How did my father become involved?”
Victoria cried.
“He loved me.”
That sentence made something inside me collapse.
“You had an affair with my father.”
“Yes.”
“And Sabrina is his child.”
“Yes.”
“And you married me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were kind.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That was your reason?”
“You didn't know.”
“No.”
“You loved Sabrina.”
“Yes.”
“You became her father.”
“Yes.”
“I thought…”
She stopped.
“I thought eventually I could tell you.”
“But you never did.”
“I became afraid.”
“And then Raymond came back.”
“He wanted money.”
“So you gave him mine.”
“He knew about the trust.”
“Then why did he pretend to be Sabrina's father?”
“He thought if Sabrina rejected you, you would die without defending yourself.”
I looked at her.
“You planned to destroy me.”
She whispered:
“I planned to survive.”
Sabrina suddenly stepped forward.
“You kept saying you protected me.”
Victoria looked at her.
“I did.”
“No.”
Sabrina's voice hardened.
“You protected yourself.”
Victoria began crying.
Sabrina removed her engagement ring.
She handed it to her mother.
Then she said:
“I don't want this wedding.”
Victoria stared.
“I don't want any of it.”
She walked toward me.
“Dad…”
I held her.
Then a police siren sounded in the distance.
Paul groaned.
He was alive.
The officers rushed onto the pier.
They arrested him.
Victoria surrendered her gun.
But before they took her away, she grabbed my sleeve.
“Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“There is something you still don't know.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“Your father didn't create the trust to protect Sabrina.”
“Then why?”
“Because he knew someone was going to come after you.”
“Who?”
Victoria stared into my eyes.
“The person who owns Raymond's offshore account.”
I waited.
She leaned closer.
“It isn't Raymond.”
“Then who?”
Her voice dropped to almost nothing.
“It's Sabrina's fiancé.”
I turned toward the wedding venue.
The groom.
Evan Carter.
The man who had been marrying my daughter.
The man who had access to every financial document.
The man who had insisted on a sudden change to the prenuptial agreement.
I pulled out my phone.
Thirty-seven missed calls.
All from Evan.
Then a message arrived.
Mr. Mercer, we need to talk before Sabrina signs anything.
I opened the attachment.
It was the final prenuptial agreement.
Sabrina had never seen it.
And one clause made my blood run cold.
If the marriage occurred, control of her inheritance transferred to Evan.
All sixty million dollars.
I looked toward the ballroom.
The wedding had not been canceled yet.
Guests were still waiting.
Evan was still smiling.
And suddenly, I realized.
May you like
The man I thought was trying to marry my daughter...
had never been in love with her at all.
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