Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW MY HUSBAND'S SECRETGrant's mother lived alone in Connecticut.
Her name was Eleanor Mercer.
I had met her twice.
She had always been polite.
Cold.
Distant.
When I arrived at her house, she looked frightened.
“Mara?”
“I need to talk to you.”
She stepped aside.
We sat in her living room.
I placed a photograph on the table.
Grant.
Vanessa.
Together.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“You know.”
“I know enough.”
She looked at me.
“Does Grant know you came here?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She stood and locked the front door.
Then she whispered:
“You have to leave him.”
“I intend to.”
“Not because of the affair.”
“I know.”
“Because he was raised to believe your family destroyed his.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
Eleanor explained.
Twenty years earlier, Grant's father had tried to acquire Kingsley Holdings.
My father stopped him.
The Mercer family lost almost everything.
Grant grew up believing the Kingsleys had ruined his childhood.
His father spent years teaching him one thing.
“Take back what belongs to us.”
I shook my head.
“So Grant married me to get revenge?”
Eleanor nodded.
“But that wasn't the original plan.”
“What changed?”
“Your father became suspicious.”
I frowned.
“Then why did Grant continue?”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“Because he fell in love with you.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He didn't expect to.”
For the first time, the story became complicated.
Grant had started with an agenda.
But somewhere along the way, he had actually loved me.
Then Ellie was born.
And everything changed.
Eleanor explained that Grant's father discovered the Bluebird Trust.
He demanded Grant take control.
Grant resisted.
Until his father threatened Vanessa.
“Why Vanessa?”
“She knew too much.”
I stared.
“Where is Grant's father now?”
“Dead.”
“How?”
“Heart attack.”
I didn't believe her.
Neither did Eleanor.
She gave me another document.
A medical report.
The cause of death was listed as natural.
But a handwritten note appeared on the final page.
Possible poisoning.
My stomach dropped.
“Who investigated?”
“No one.”
“Why?”
“Because your husband stopped the investigation.”
I stood.
“Grant killed his father?”
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Grant didn't.”
“Then who?”
She whispered:
“Vanessa.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Vanessa wasn't Grant's mistress by accident.”
Eleanor explained.
Vanessa had been working for Grant's father.
She had manipulated Grant for years.
She wanted Bluebird.
She wanted Kingsley Holdings.
And she knew something Grant didn't.
Grant was never the mastermind.
He was another piece on the board.
I suddenly understood the hotel scene.
Vanessa hadn't looked surprised when I arrived.
She had looked amused.
Because she knew Grant would humiliate me.
She knew the custody plan.
She knew about Bluebird.
And she was waiting for Grant to take control.
But there was one problem.
She needed Ellie.
Not just the trust.
Ellie herself.
Eleanor leaned toward me.
“She believes if she controls your daughter, she controls the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because Bluebird contains a condition.”
“What condition?”
Eleanor looked directly into my eyes.
“Ellie must voluntarily approve any transfer when she turns eighteen.”
I stared.
“So they can't simply take the money.”
“No.”
“Then why custody?”
“Because they want to isolate her.”
I felt cold.
“They want to raise her.”
Eleanor nodded.
“And teach her to sign away everything.”
I closed my eyes.
The plan wasn't to steal my daughter's inheritance.
It was to control my daughter.
For fifteen years.
I opened my eyes.
“Then we stop them now.”
Eleanor nodded.
“But Mara…”
“What?”
“There is one more thing.”
She handed me a photograph.
It showed Grant.
Vanessa.
And another man.
My blood froze.
May you like
The third person was Daniel.
My uncle.
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