Chapter 6 - The Wedding Nobody Expected
Hannah spent one night in jail.
Grant spent the same night dismantling the evidence.
The transfers had been made through an old account.
The authorization signature looked like Hannah's.
But the banking records contained a flaw.
The login had come from a computer in Mercer Vale headquarters.
Grant knew immediately.
Someone inside the company had framed her.
By morning, his attorneys had obtained security footage.
A Mercer Vale executive named Alan Pierce had accessed the system.
Alan had worked for Richard for seventeen years.
Grant confronted him.
Alan broke in less than ten minutes.
“I was ordered to do it.”
“By Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the money?”
Alan looked terrified.
“Gone.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred forty thousand.”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Alan handed him a key.
“There’s a storage locker.”
Inside was another box.
Documents.
Photos.
A birth certificate.
And a recording.
Grant played it.
Thomas Mercer’s voice filled the room.
I knew Eleanor would fight. So I gave her a choice. Leave Pittsburgh, or watch her daughter disappear into the system.
Grant stopped the recording.
His hands shook.
Hannah was released that afternoon.
Grant was waiting outside.
She walked toward him.
“I hate you.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“I missed dinner.”
“I know.”
“I don't want to hear that.”
“I’m sorry.”
She stood in front of him.
“What did you find?”
“Enough to clear you.”
“And Richard?”
“Not yet.”
She looked exhausted.
Grant reached out.
She stepped into his arms.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Hannah whispered, “I was scared.”
“I was too.”
“I don't want to live like this.”
“You won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I'm going to end it.”
That evening, Grant called a press conference.
He announced that Mercer Vale would suspend the redevelopment.
He disclosed the land dispute.
He disclosed the forged property transfer.
And he publicly accepted responsibility for failing to discover it sooner.
The city erupted.
But Richard retaliated.
He filed a lawsuit claiming Hannah had no legal ownership.
The court scheduled an emergency hearing.
Nora prepared the case.
Margaret provided testimony.
Victoria gave her statement.
Everything seemed to be turning.
Until the judge asked for proof of Hannah’s biological claim.
Nora placed an old sealed document on the table.
It was a paternity acknowledgment signed by Eleanor’s first husband.
Hannah stared at it.
Her name appeared beside his.
The court recognized her as the legal heir.
Briar House was hers.
So was the controlling share of the original land trust.
Richard lost his case.
But he had one weapon left.
The media.
A fabricated story claimed Grant had planned to marry Hannah to seize control of her inheritance.
Hannah read the headline.
Then she looked at Grant.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Not even when you first learned about the trust?”
“No.”
She believed him.
But she still needed to ask.
“Would you marry me if none of this existed?”
Grant stared at her.
“Yes.”
“Even if I had nothing?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Briar House disappeared?”
“Yes.”
She smiled through tears.
“Then ask.”
Grant's expression changed.
“Now?”
“Unless you have another board meeting.”
He laughed.
Then knelt.
He didn't have a diamond prepared.
He had a simple ring from his mother's jewelry box.
“Victoria gave me this,” he said. “She said it belonged to the woman my father couldn't destroy.”
Hannah looked at the ring.
“Margaret?”
“Eleanor.”
Hannah covered her mouth.
Grant held out the ring.
“Hannah Price, will you marry me?”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
Sophie screamed from the doorway.
Evelyn began crying.
Leonard shouted, “Finally!”
Everyone laughed.
But while the room celebrated, Richard Mercer sat alone in his office.
He opened the final document.
A marriage agreement.
A clause Hannah didn't know existed.
A clause that would transfer the remaining Mercer family shares to the surviving spouse if Grant married outside the family.
Richard smiled.
May you like
Because he hadn't lost.
Not yet.
