Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Framed Us Both
My mother had spent years building a lie.
But we didn't know why.
Henry explained that she had suspected Celeste was planning to manipulate both Adrian and Evelyn.
So she created false evidence showing Evelyn was Marcus Mercer's daughter.
The goal was not to hide the truth.
The goal was to make the wrong people believe it.
“She wanted Celeste to think Evelyn was protected by blood,” Henry said.
I frowned.
“Protected how?”
“Because Celeste wouldn't kill a Mercer heir if doing so risked exposing her own claim.”
Adrian shook his head.
“So my mother used Evelyn as bait.”
Henry nodded.
“And then she disappeared.”
I thought about the woman who had raised me.
For years, I had remembered her as gentle.
Now every memory seemed to have another meaning.
That evening, Adrian and I sat across from each other in the library.
There were no attorneys.
No guards.
No cameras.
Just us.
“I don't know how to fix this,” he said.
I looked at him.
“Neither do I.”
“If you want to leave, I will understand.”
“I already signed the divorce.”
He stared down.
“Technically, yes.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“Because the divorce was never what I wanted.”
My eyes filled.
“Adrian.”
“I was stupid.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid.”
“Yes.”
“I thought sending you away would protect you.”
“It didn't.”
“I know.”
I looked at him for a long time.
Then I asked the question I had been avoiding.
“Did you ever love Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
“No.”
That answer came easily.
“What about me?”
He swallowed.
“I have loved you every day I've known you.”
I looked away.
“Then why did it take almost losing me to say it?”
“Because men like me mistake control for protection.”
That answer stayed with me.
The next day, Vanessa confessed something else.
She had been working with Celeste.
Only at first.
Celeste had promised to keep Adrian alive.
Instead, Vanessa became trapped.
When Vanessa finally tried to leave, Celeste threatened her family.
“I thought I could fix it,” Vanessa said.
“You couldn't.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
I believed she meant it.
But forgiveness was not something I could give yet.
That night, Gabriel revealed the insider.
It was not a guard.
It was Adrian's financial director.
Richard Hale.
For years, Richard had been moving money through shell companies tied to Celeste.
Adrian confronted him.
Richard laughed.
“You think Celeste is the villain?”
Adrian's face hardened.
“She is.”
Richard shook his head.
“She didn't order Julian's death.”
“Who did?”
“Your father.”
The room went silent.
Richard continued.
“Marcus wanted Julian gone because Julian intended to give federal investigators the ledger.”
Adrian's expression cracked.
“And Celeste?”
“She covered it up.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I stared.
Adrian was silent.
Richard smiled.
“Your father never wanted you as his successor. He wanted Julian.”
That explained everything.
Julian had been the favored son.
Adrian had been the inconvenient one.
Yet Julian wanted out.
Adrian was the one who survived.
Richard leaned closer.
“You think you built Mercer Continental yourself?”
Adrian said nothing.
“Your father built the machine. Julian inherited the power. You inherited the ruins.”
Richard looked at me.
“And Evelyn was the last piece.”
“What piece?”
“The evidence your mother hid.”
I felt cold.
Richard laughed softly.
“Your mother's original ledger is not in Chicago.”
“Where is it?”
“With you.”
I froze.
He pointed to my necklace.
I touched it.
The pendant had belonged to my mother.
Richard said, “She hid the key inside it.”
Adrian took the necklace from me.
He opened the pendant.
Inside was a tiny metal key.
A number was engraved on it.
We found the corresponding storage locker at Union Station.
Inside was the real ledger.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
And one final record.
A photograph of Marcus Mercer with another man.
The man was Henry Wallace.
I looked at Adrian.
“Why would Henry be in the photograph?”
Adrian's face changed.
“He wasn't just my brother's investigator.”
The photograph flipped over.
My mother's handwriting was on the back.
Henry is the real architect. Marcus was only the face.
I whispered, “What?”
A phone rang.
Adrian answered.
The voice on the other end was Henry.
“You found it.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Yes.”
Henry laughed.
“Then you finally understand.”
A gunshot sounded through the phone.
Then a woman's scream.
May you like
Vanessa.
The line went dead.
