Chapter 6: The Man My Father Chose
The room turned toward Thomas as if someone had pulled a single invisible string.
He stood beneath the ballroom lights, hands at his sides, his face unreadable.
Adrian held the letter like it had burned his fingers.
"You're lying," he said.
Thomas looked at him.
"No.""
"Then explain this.""
Adrian raised the paper.
"My father wrote that you were supposed to take control if Evelyn died.""
Thomas nodded.
"That's correct.""
A collective gasp moved through the room.
I stared at him.
"You were named my successor?""
"Not successor.""
His eyes met mine.
"Guardian.""
The distinction should have comforted me.
It didn't.
"Guardian of what?""
"Your voting rights. Your trust interests. Your private assets.""
I took a step toward him.
"Why?""
Thomas glanced at the cameras.
"Not here.""
"No.""
My voice came out sharper than intended.
"You don't get to say that anymore.""
People shifted closer.
An investor whispered something to his colleague.
Phones were recording again.
I held Thomas's gaze.
"You knew about my father's plan.""
"Yes.""
"You knew about the trust.""
"Yes.""
"You knew Adrian was involved in the financial transfers.""
"Yes.""
"You knew my mother-in-law was involved.""
"Yes.""
"Then why should I trust you?""
Thomas's expression softened.
"You shouldn't.""
That answer stunned me more than a denial would have.
Adrian laughed.
"See?""
Thomas turned toward him.
"I never asked Evelyn to trust me.""
"Then what did you want?""
"To keep her alive.""
Adrian's expression changed.
The room went silent.
I felt my pulse hammering.
"Keep me alive from whom?""
Thomas looked directly at Margaret.
She closed her eyes.
"Tell her," Thomas said.
Margaret didn't answer.
"Tell her what you did.""
Adrian stepped toward his mother.
"Mom.""
Margaret shook her head.
"I can't.""
Thomas's voice remained calm.
"You can.""
She looked at me.
"I never wanted you dead.""
My chest tightened.
"That's a strange thing to say unless someone was planning it.""
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"There were plans.""
My mouth went dry.
"Whose?""
She looked at Adrian.
He stared back at her.
"Mom," he whispered.
"I tried to stop him.""
Adrian recoiled.
"Stop me from what?""
Margaret's face crumpled.
"From making the same mistake your father made.""
I didn't understand.
Thomas did.
He stepped forward.
"Tell her about the accident.""
Adrian suddenly went pale.
"What accident?""
I looked between them.
"What accident?""
Margaret didn't respond.
Thomas continued.
"Six years ago. Three months before your wedding.""
My mind flashed to a memory.
Rain.
A dark road.
My father's driver arriving at the hospital.
My father saying there had been a collision.
I had never seen the police report.
I had never known who caused it.
I had only known that my father survived with a broken shoulder and a damaged spine.
"What about it?""
Thomas looked at me.
"Your father wasn't supposed to survive.""
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the back of a chair.
"What are you saying?""
"The brakes were cut.""
No one breathed.
Adrian shook his head.
"That's insane.""
Thomas looked at him.
"The mechanic who inspected the car disappeared two days later.""
Margaret whispered, "He was paid to disappear.""
I stared at her.
"By whom?""
She looked at Adrian.
He took a step back.
"No.""
"You were there," Margaret whispered.
"I was not.""
"You knew about the plan.""
"I knew nothing.""
Thomas reached into the red folder.
He removed a photograph.
Then another.
He handed them to me.
The first showed a damaged vehicle outside a repair shop.
The second showed Adrian standing with a man I didn't recognize.
The date beneath the image was six weeks before my father's accident.
I looked closer.
Adrian had one hand on the man's shoulder.
The man was holding a set of car keys.
I looked up.
"Who is this?""
Adrian didn't answer.
Thomas did.
"Leon Voss.""
"Who?""
"The contractor who arranged the brake failure.""
Adrian shook his head.
"No.""
The word came out desperately.
"I've never met him.""
I turned the photograph over.
On the back was handwriting.
My father's.
*Adrian knows.*
My fingers tightened around the paper.
"Did you?""
Adrian stared at the photograph.
"I don't remember this.""
"Convenient.""
"It's not what you think.""
"Then tell me what it is.""
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
I stepped closer.
"Did you know about the accident before it happened?""
His silence was answer enough.
I felt something inside me break loose.
Not heartbreak.
Something colder.
Understanding.
Six years ago, my father had survived an attempt on his life.
Then he had allowed me to marry the man he suspected.
Why?
Because perhaps my father didn't believe Adrian had acted alone.
Perhaps he believed marriage was the only way to keep the enemy where he could watch him.
My phone vibrated.
James again.
I answered.
"James.""
"Evelyn, you need to leave the ballroom.""
"Why?""
"We traced the latest anonymous message.""
My eyes moved toward Thomas.
"What did you find?""
"The message was sent through a device registered to Vale Meridian's executive security network.""
My stomach tightened.
"Can you identify the device?""
"Yes.""
I waited.
Then James said:
"It's registered to Thomas Reed.""
My head snapped up.
Thomas was watching me.
Adrian noticed my expression.
"What did he say?""
I lowered the phone.
"Your security network sent the message.""
Thomas looked surprised.
Then not surprised at all.
"That wasn't me.""
"How do I know?""
"You don't.""
Adrian pointed at Thomas.
"I told you.""
Thomas didn't react.
"You've been playing her.""
"No.""
"You had access to every part of her life.""
"Yes.""
"You knew every move.""
"Yes.""
"You knew the trust.""
"Yes.""
Adrian stepped forward.
"Then maybe you were behind everything.""
Thomas finally looked at him.
"Maybe.""
The answer silenced even Adrian.
Then Thomas looked at me.
"But I'm not the one you're looking for.""
I frowned.
"Who, then?""
Thomas pointed toward the ballroom entrance.
"Daniel Mercer.""
My blood ran cold.
My father's former attorney.
The man in the photograph with Adrian and Natalie.
The man who had access to my inheritance records.
James had warned me the archive records were altered.
Daniel had disappeared.
And now Thomas was naming him.
"Where is he?""
Thomas shook his head.
"That's the problem.""
Adrian looked confused.
"What problem?""
Thomas said, "Daniel Mercer died three days ago.""
The ballroom erupted.
"What?""
I stared at him.
"That's impossible.""
Thomas nodded.
"Exactly.""
He reached into the folder again.
This time, he removed a death certificate.
I read the name.
*DANIEL JONATHAN MERCER.*
Date of death.
Three days earlier.
Cause.
Cardiac arrest.
But beneath the certificate was another document.
A bank transfer.
Made yesterday.
From an account belonging to Daniel Mercer.
I stared at the date.
Yesterday.
"He's alive.""
Thomas nodded.
"Or someone wants us to believe he is.""
Adrian rubbed his temple.
"This is insane.""
I turned to him.
"No.""
I pointed at the document.
"This is the first thing tonight that actually makes sense.""
He looked at me.
I continued.
"Someone falsified Daniel's death.""
"Why?""
"To disappear.""
"From whom?""
I looked around the ballroom.
"From us.""
Then every light in the ballroom went out.
A woman screamed.
The emergency lights came on a second later.
Red.
Dim.
Uneven.
Security personnel moved instantly toward the exits.
Thomas grabbed my arm.
"Stay behind me.""
I pulled free.
"No.""
He looked at me.
"This isn't a suggestion.""
Before he could say anything else, glass shattered near the stage.
Everyone ducked.
A bullet struck the marble wall behind Adrian.
Screams erupted.
Chairs overturned.
People ran.
Thomas tackled me to the floor.
Another shot cracked through the room.
Then silence.
Thomas lifted his head.
"Are you hit?""
"No.""
He looked toward Adrian.
Adrian was crouched behind a table, staring in horror.
Natalie was beside him.
Margaret was nowhere in sight.
A security guard shouted, "Lock the east doors!""
Thomas pulled me toward a service corridor.
"Move.""
I resisted.
"Where is my mother-in-law?""
"Alive.""
"How do you know?""
"Because she was the target.""
I stopped.
"What?""
Thomas looked at me.
"The shooter wasn't aiming at you.""
He pointed toward the stage.
At the exact spot where Margaret had been standing ten seconds earlier.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Someone wasn't trying to kill me.
They were trying to silence Margaret.
And she had just vanished.
Thomas pulled out his phone.
His expression changed.
"What?""
"What?""
He turned the screen toward me.
A live security alert had appeared.
*PRIVATE GARAGE — MOTION DETECTED.*
I looked at him.
"Who's in the garage?""
Thomas's face hardened.
"Margaret.""
Then a second alert appeared.
*VEHICLE STARTED.*
And beneath it was the license plate.
The silver Bentley.
The one I had repossessed.
The one nobody was supposed to be able to start.
I looked at Thomas.
"How?""
He stared at the screen.
"Because someone still has the master access code.""
A third alert appeared.
*DESTINATION SET: HARTWELL ESTATE.*
My father's estate.
The archive room.
The missing originals.
And Margaret racing there in the middle of the night.
I turned toward the exit.
Thomas followed.
"What are you thinking?""
I grabbed my coat.
"I'm done waiting for people to tell me the truth.""
Then I looked at him.
"We're going to my father's house.""
His expression tightened.
"That's exactly where they want you to go.""
I stopped.
"Who?""
Thomas looked at the security alert again.
Then quietly said:
"The person who sent you that message.""
His phone buzzed.
A final notification appeared.
*ONE OCCUPANT DETECTED AT HARTWELL ESTATE.*
Thomas's face went pale.
"That's impossible.""
"Why?""
He looked at me.
"Because the estate has been empty for six years.""
I stared at the screen.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
*WELCOME HOME, EVELYN.*
