Chapter 3 - The Man I Thought I Knew
We reached my apartment at 3:17 a.m.
The laundromat downstairs was still open.
Machines turned in endless circles.
A television behind the counter played an old sitcom.
Everything looked normal.
That made it worse.
Nathaniel's driver stayed outside while two of his security men checked the hallway.
One returned.
“Clear.”
I unlocked my door.
The apartment had been searched.
Drawers open.
Books scattered.
Mattress shifted.
Kitchen cabinets emptied.
A framed photograph of my mother lay broken on the floor.
I stopped.
Nathaniel noticed.
“You okay?”
I crouched and picked it up.
My mother was smiling in the picture.
She had been dead for seven years.
“She hated messes,” I whispered.
Nathaniel knelt beside me.
“I'll replace the frame.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want a new one.”
He understood.
He picked up the pieces carefully.
I moved toward the bedroom.
The box was gone.
My heart dropped.
“They found it.”
Nathaniel entered behind me.
“What was in the box?”
“Nothing important.”
He looked at me.
“Don't lie to me.”
I sighed.
“Old letters.”
“From?”
“My mother.”
His expression changed.
“Where did you keep the drive?”
I pointed to the closet.
A loose floorboard.
Nathaniel lifted it.
The flash drive was still there.
And beneath it was something else.
An envelope.
My mother's handwriting.
Amelia.
I stared at it.
“That's impossible.”
Nathaniel picked it up.
“Open it.”
My hands trembled.
Inside was a letter.
My daughter,
If you're reading this, you are finally old enough to understand why I made you promise never to ask about your father.
I have spent years pretending he was a stranger.
He wasn't.
Your father was part of the Mercer family.
I stopped reading.
Nathaniel stood beside me.
“Mercer?”
I nodded.
The letter continued.
His name was Evan Mercer.
Your father died because he tried to leave the organization.
I looked at Nathaniel.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“My mother.”
I stared.
My entire life had just become a lie.
Nathaniel took the letter.
He read it silently.
Then he looked at me.
“Your father was my brother.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Then Daniel…”
“Was not your boyfriend's middle name by accident.”
I backed away.
Daniel.
My Daniel.
Daniel Evan Reeves.
A Mercer family secret.
Maybe that was why Nathaniel had recognized me.
Maybe that was why he had chosen me.
But another thought came first.
“Did you know about me before the gala?”
Nathaniel answered honestly.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“How long?”
“Three months.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel was connected.”
“Yes.”
“You knew everyone was using me.”
“I suspected.”
I turned away.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wanted proof.”
“And I was the proof?”
His silence answered.
I felt betrayed.
Not by Daniel.
Not by Blackridge.
By the one person who had made me feel safe.
“You used me.”
“I protected you.”
“Those aren't the same thing.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“I had no idea if you were part of it.”
I stared.
“You thought I was a spy?”
“I thought you might have been.”
He looked devastated by the admission.
“I couldn't risk trusting the wrong person.”
“And now?”
“Now I'd burn every bridge I have to keep you alive.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Don't say things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because I might believe you.”
His voice softened.
“I hope you do.”
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
He listened.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
He handed me the phone.
A security recording played.
Daniel entering Blackridge headquarters at 1:42 a.m.
Daniel had not gone home after the gala.
He had gone straight into the executive archive.
We watched as he opened a locked cabinet.
Removed a folder.
Then stopped.
He looked directly at the camera.
As if he knew he was being watched.
He mouthed something.
I read it.
I'm sorry.
Then he left.
Nathaniel stared at the screen.
“That's not what I expected.”
“Neither did I.”
“Your boyfriend may be trying to help you.”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
Nathaniel looked at me.
I wasn't sure why correcting myself mattered.
But it did.
Daniel had made his choice.
I was beginning to make mine.
The next morning, Nathaniel took me to Blackridge headquarters.
The lobby went silent when we entered.
Employees stared.
Whispers spread.
The woman Daniel publicly rejected was walking beside Nathaniel Mercer.
We entered the executive elevator.
The doors opened directly onto Grant Holloway's office floor.
Grant was waiting.
He looked at me.
Then Nathaniel.
“You're making this personal.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“It became personal when you fired her.”
“She violated internal confidentiality.”
“She discovered fraud.”
Grant's expression stiffened.
“Prove it.”
I placed the flash drive on his desk.
His face changed.
Nathaniel saw it.
So did I.
“You know what's on there.”
Grant reached for the drive.
Nathaniel's hand landed on the desk first.
“Don't.”
Grant looked at him.
“You're threatening me in my own office?”
“No.”
Nathaniel's voice was calm.
“I'm reminding you whose city you're standing in.”
Grant backed down.
I plugged in the drive.
The files appeared.
Payments.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
And something I had not seen before.
A hidden payroll account.
The account received millions every month.
Recipient:
Evan Mercer Memorial Trust.
I stared.
“My father?”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
The money had been paid for seven years.
Since Evan's death.
But one account had accessed the trust every week.
The user ID was mine.
I almost stopped breathing.
“That can't be me.”
Grant looked horrified.
Nathaniel stared at the screen.
“Someone cloned your credentials.”
I whispered, “Why?”
“Because they needed a dead employee.”
“I wasn't dead.”
“Not officially.”
Nathaniel turned toward Grant.
“Who authorized the account?”
Grant said nothing.
I looked at him.
“Tell me.”
He sighed.
“Your mother.”
I froze.
“She died seven years ago.”
Grant looked away.
“Exactly.”
Nathaniel stepped forward.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Before Grant could answer, the office door opened.
Daniel stood there.
He looked exhausted.
His tie was gone.
His eyes were red.
He stared at me.
“Amelia.”
I crossed my arms.
“What do you want?”
He swallowed.
“I need five minutes.”
“You had eleven months.”
“Please.”
Nathaniel moved between us.
Daniel looked at him.
“You have no idea what you're standing in the middle of.”
Nathaniel replied, “Then explain.”
Daniel looked back at me.
“I chose Madeline because my father threatened to destroy you.”
I didn't move.
“He said if I refused, he would accuse you of stealing from the Mercer trust.”
My heart stopped.
Daniel continued.
“I thought I could protect you from inside.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So you broke my heart to save me?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Did Madeline know?”
“Yes.”
“And she agreed?”
“No.”
A new voice came from the doorway.
Madeline.
She walked in.
Her face was pale.
“I didn't know all of it.”
She looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared.
“You knew enough.”
She lowered her head.
“I was trying to save my family.”
Nathaniel looked at both of them.
“Everybody in this building has an excuse.”
Then he looked at me.
“Only one person is telling the truth.”
My eyes moved to Daniel.
I didn't know what to believe anymore.
Then Madeline whispered the sentence that changed everything.
“The woman Nathaniel thinks is your mother…”
May you like
She looked at me.
“…is alive.”
