Chapter 4 - The Child in the Red CoatEveryone in the boardroom froze.
The voice came again.
"Mr. Brooks?"
Daniel turned toward the door.
"No."
A young girl appeared in the hallway.
She couldn't have been more than seven.
She wore a red coat.
Her dark hair was braided into two loose plaits.
A woman from security followed behind her.
"She said she knows Mr. Brooks."
Daniel looked at the girl.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
I saw it immediately.
He knew her.
The girl looked at him.
"Papa?"
The word landed like a gunshot.
I couldn't breathe.
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel took one step backward.
"Hannah..."
I raised my hand.
"Don't."
The little girl looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
"Are you my daddy?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
The room became impossibly quiet.
I stared at him.
"Answer her."
He whispered.
"Yes."
The girl smiled.
She ran toward him.
Daniel caught her.
She wrapped both arms around his waist.
He held her tightly.
I watched them.
A strange calm came over me.
"What's her name?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Emma."
"Emma Brooks?"
He hesitated.
"Emma Whitmore."
Claire's face collapsed.
I turned toward her.
"She's yours."
Claire nodded.
"Yes."
The girl looked up.
"Mommy said Daddy was coming home."
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
"How long?"
Daniel looked at me.
"She's seven."
"No."
I shook my head.
"How long have you known?"
"Since before I met you."
I laughed.
It was the sound a person makes when reality becomes too absurd to survive.
"You married me knowing you had a child."
"I never knew about her at first."
Claire interrupted.
"He knew."
Daniel looked at her.
"Not all of it."
"What didn't you know?"
Claire took Emma's hand.
"You didn't know who her real father was."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Don't."
"Tell her."
"Claire."
"Tell her the truth."
I stared between them.
"What truth?"
Claire took a breath.
"Emma isn't Daniel's daughter."
Daniel's face went white.
"What are you talking about?"
Claire looked at him.
"Your DNA test was altered."
Silence.
I could hear the air conditioner humming.
"Who is her father?" I asked.
Claire looked at me.
"Your father."
I stopped.
"My father?"
She nodded.
"Thomas Mercer."
The room erupted.
Marcus stood.
"That's impossible."
Claire shook her head.
"No. It's not."
Daniel looked at Emma.
"What?"
Claire swallowed.
"Emma was born after I worked for Thomas Mercer."
I stepped backward.
"My father had an affair with you?"
"No."
Claire's voice trembled.
"We had a business relationship."
"Then how?"
"Because someone stole your father's genetic material."
Marcus went pale.
"What did you say?"
Claire looked at him.
"Your father had samples stored at a private medical facility."
My mind raced.
"What does that have to do with Emma?"
"Someone used them."
"Who?"
Claire looked at Daniel.
"Your father."
Daniel's entire body stiffened.
"My father?"
"Robert Brooks."
The room went silent again.
Daniel whispered:
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he needed an heir."
I stared at Claire.
"An heir to what?"
She smiled bitterly.
"That's what nobody told you."
Marcus suddenly sat down.
"What is it?"
He looked at me.
"Your father's original estate plan."
He opened a drawer in his briefcase.
There was another file.
Thicker than the others.
"Thomas Mercer had no intention of leaving his empire to one person."
I stared.
"Then who?"
Marcus opened the document.
"Half to Hannah Mercer."
He turned the page.
"And half to the first legitimate child born from a Mercer bloodline."
I frowned.
"Emma."
Marcus nodded.
"But Emma isn't a Mercer."
"According to the DNA records, she was."
I looked at Claire.
"And someone changed the records."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Because whoever controls Emma controls half your father's empire."
The room went cold.
Emma was still holding Daniel's hand.
She looked confused.
"Why is everybody upset?"
I stared at the child.
Seven years old.
Completely innocent.
And suddenly I understood.
Daniel hadn't married me because he loved me.
He hadn't been trying to steal my money.
He had been trying to make sure Emma could inherit.
But that still didn't explain the money.
It didn't explain the secret meetings.
It didn't explain why he left me tonight.
"Why did you go with Claire?"
Daniel looked at me.
"I thought she was going to be killed."
Claire nodded.
"Elliot discovered who altered the DNA."
"Who?"
Claire's lips trembled.
"He sent me a message three days ago."
She reached into her coat.
She handed me her phone.
One unsent message remained open.
If anything happens to me, Hannah Mercer is the only person you can trust.
I looked up sharply.
"Then why didn't you come to me?"
Claire looked at Daniel.
"Because someone inside your company was watching us."
I stared at the board members.
One of them lowered his eyes.
Marcus noticed it too.
"Nobody move."
Security closed the door.
A board member named Richard Cole stood suddenly.
His chair fell backward.
He reached for his phone.
Marcus shouted.
"Take the phone!"
Security grabbed him.
Richard fought.
"Get off me!"
His phone fell to the floor.
The screen lit up.
A message appeared.
Phase Two complete. Hannah knows about Emma. Proceed with the transfer.
I stared at the screen.
"Transfer what?"
Richard said nothing.
Marcus picked up the phone.
Then his expression changed.
"Hannah."
"What?"
"You need to see this."
I took the phone.
A bank transfer was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
Amount:
$412,000,000
Destination:
An offshore entity.
Beneficiary:
Emma Whitmore Trust.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked just as shocked.
"That wasn't me."
"I know."
"Then who arranged it?"
Marcus looked at Richard.
Richard smiled.
May you like
And finally said the one sentence that made my blood run cold.
"Your father never trusted you either, Hannah."
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