Daniel nodded.
"Or confirming you already took it."
A sound came from the kitchen.
I turned.
Daniel whispered,
"Stay here."
Absolutely not.
I followed.
We found the back door open.
Curtains moved in the night breeze.
Nobody was there.
Detective Brooks arrived seconds later with officers.
She was furious when she saw me.
"You entered?"
I nodded.
"I specifically told you not to place yourself in danger."
"You hadn't specifically told me that yet."
Her stare could have cracked glass.
"Do not make jokes."
"I'm not."
She ordered us outside while officers searched the property.
Twenty minutes later, they confirmed the house was empty.
Claire was gone.
So was something else.
My mother's backup laptop.
I felt sick.
"She knew it was there."
Only three people knew Mom kept a backup computer in the study safe.
Mom.
Me.
Claire.
Maybe Victor.
I looked at him.
He shook his head.
"I didn't know."
I wasn't sure I believed him.
That was the problem now.
Every truth had another truth behind it.
Detective Brooks pulled the alarm logs.
Claire's code had been used.
But that didn't prove Claire herself entered.
Codes could be stolen.
Then the security camera at the rear gate gave us our first useful image.
A black sedan.
Partial license plate.
Driver hidden.
One passenger visible for less than two seconds.
Female.
Dark hair.
Claire had dark hair.
So did thousands of women.
I called her.
Disconnected.
Daniel tried.
Same.
Then I called her sister.
No answer.
At two in the morning, we returned to the Solmere.
I refused to sleep in my mother's house.
Daniel arranged the private penthouse suite.
Technically, it was mine.
That felt meaningless.
I stood by the window looking over the city.
"Tell me everything."
Daniel sat at the dining table.
Victor stood across from him.
For once, neither man argued.
Victor spoke first.
"Your mother discovered unexplained losses sixteen months ago."
"How much?"
"At first, twelve million."
"At first?"
"It grew."
He hesitated.
"Nearly seventy million."
My stomach tightened.
"How does seventy million disappear?"
"Slowly."
He explained.
Small transfers.
Consulting contracts.
Renovation overruns.
Vendor companies charging more than they should.
Money scattered across enough accounts that no single payment looked enormous.
My mother noticed because profits were strong but available cash kept shrinking.
"Why didn't she call the police?"
"She didn't know who she could trust."
Daniel added,
"Some transactions appeared to have her own authorization."
My eyes narrowed.
"Forged?"
"Possibly."
"Like the estate amendment."
"Yes."
I looked at Victor.
"Where does Claire fit?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Eleanor trusted Claire completely."
"So did I."
Daniel looked at me.
"That doesn't mean she's guilty."
"She entered Mom's house tonight."
"Her code did."
I knew he was right.
I hated it.
Victor opened his tablet.
"Three months ago, Eleanor asked me to investigate four companies."
Names appeared.
Northlight Consulting.
Arden Projects.
Crestfall Management.
Bellmere Advisory.
"Who owns them?"
"That's the problem."
Victor showed me corporate records.
Layers of shell companies.
Nominee directors.
Overseas entities.
Then one name appeared repeatedly as registered agent.
Mercer Legal Group.
I slowly looked at Daniel.
His face went white.
"No."
I stared at him.
"Your firm?"
"My former firm."
"Former?"
"I left Mercer Legal eight years ago."
"But your name is Mercer."
"It was founded by my father."
Victor continued.
"Your older brother still runs it."
Daniel stood.
"This is impossible."
"Is it?"
"My brother has never worked with Vale Holdings."
Victor turned the screen.
"His firm formed all four companies."
Daniel stared at the records.
For the first time since this began, he looked genuinely shaken.
"What is your brother's name?" I asked.
"Samuel."
I remembered him.
Samuel Mercer.
Older than Daniel.
Polished.
Quiet.
He attended my mother's funeral.
He hugged me.
Told me Eleanor had been extraordinary.
My stomach turned.
Daniel took out his phone.
"Don't call him," Victor said.
Daniel stopped.
"If he's involved, we can't warn him."
Daniel looked furious.
"That's my brother."
"And Charlotte's mother is dead."
The room went silent.
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
That decision cost him something.
I could see it.
I sat down.
"What exactly did Mom know before she died?"
Victor opened another file.
"Two days before the accident, she emailed me."
He showed me.
Victor,
I know who authorized Northlight.
I need independent proof before I move.
Do not speak to Daniel yet.
I stared at the last line.
"Why not Daniel?"
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"Because of Samuel."
Victor nodded.
"She may have suspected someone in your family."
Daniel sat down heavily.
Then I noticed the attachment icon.
"What's attached?"
Victor opened it.
A photograph.
My mother had taken it from somewhere hidden.
Samuel Mercer stood beside a black car.
Claire was next to him.
They were outside a restaurant.
Holding hands.
Daniel stared.
"I didn't know they knew each other."
Neither did I.
Victor zoomed in.
On Claire's other side stood a third person.
A man facing away from the camera.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Something about him felt familiar.
"Who is that?"
Victor shook his head.
"I don't know."
Daniel stared longer.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
He pointed toward the man's hand.
A gold ring.
Large black stone.
"I've seen that ring."
"Where?"
He looked at me.
"At your mother's funeral."
My pulse jumped.
"Who wore it?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Then he said,
"Your uncle Richard."
My father's younger brother.
May you like
"THIRTY MINUTES! GO STAND IN THAT CORNER!"
My stepdaughter slammed a thick wedding expense folder onto the dining r...
The sound of my stepmother's hand striking my face was so loud that my f...
The man who gave the eulogy.
The man who had spent my entire life telling me the Solmere Empire would always belong to our family.
Chapter 4
Uncle Richard answered my call on the second ring.
"Charlotte?"
His voice was warm.
Concerned.
Perfect.
"It's three in the morning. Are you all right?"
I looked at Daniel.
He shook his head slightly.
Don't reveal anything.
"I'm fine."
"Where are you?"
"The Solmere."
A pause.
Small.
But there.
"I heard there was an incident."
Of course he had.
Videos of Vanessa dragging me across the lobby had spread everywhere.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"Are you?"
Silence.
"What does that mean?"
I forced myself to breathe.
"I'm tired."
"You've had a terrible day."