Chapter 6
Thomas Mercer had supposedly died twelve years earlier.
Ryan had cried at the funeral.
Diane had worn black for months.
There had been a coffin.
A cemetery plot.
A death certificate.
Apparently none of it meant anything.
At the police station, Martinez showed us security footage from the airport.
The image was grainy.
But Margaret recognized him immediately.
“That’s Thomas.”
He was older.
Thinner.
But alive.
Walking beside Rebecca.
I stared at the screen.
“Ryan knows?”
“We don’t know,” Martinez said.
“I want to ask him.”
This time, Ryan looked genuinely stunned.
“My father is alive?”
“You tell me.”
“I watched them bury him.”
“So did everyone else.”
Ryan stared at the photograph.
His face slowly lost color.
“That’s him.”
“You really didn’t know?”
“No.”
I believed him.
And that somehow made everything worse.
Ryan covered his face.
“My mother knew.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because she disappeared for three days before his funeral.”
“Where did she say she went?”
“To identify his body.”
There had been no body to identify.
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“My entire life is a lie.”
I didn’t feel sorry for him.
Not enough.
“Welcome to the club.”
He looked at me.
“I can help.”
“You already had your chance.”
“Emily, if Dad is alive, Mom will talk.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s terrified of him.”
I remembered Diane in my kitchen.
Cold.
Cruel.
Controlling.
I couldn’t imagine her terrified of anyone.
But when detectives told Diane they had found Thomas, everything changed.
She demanded an attorney.
Then she demanded protection.
Then she started talking.
Thomas and Rebecca had created the plan years ago.
Thomas disappeared after authorities began investigating one of his companies.
Rebecca arranged false documents.
Diane stayed behind.
Ryan was raised believing his father was dead.
Then my father unknowingly hired Rebecca again through a different firm years later.
That gave Rebecca access to his estate planning.
And to me.
“She introduced Ryan to you,” Diane admitted during questioning.
I watched through one-way glass.
“She arranged for him to attend the charity gala.”
“Did Ryan know?” Martinez asked.
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“Before the wedding.”
My chest tightened.
So Ryan had lied again.
He knew before marrying me.
Diane continued.
“Thomas wanted the Bennett assets returned.”
“Returned?” Martinez repeated.
“They belonged to him.”
“Legal records disagree.”
“Charles stole them.”
“By exposing Thomas’s embezzlement?”
Diane said nothing.
Then Martinez placed the photograph from the airport in front of her.
“Where are they going?”
Diane stared at Thomas.
“I don’t know.”
“Rebecca attempted to transfer Lily Bennett’s trust.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas needs access to the holding company.”
“Why now?”
Diane looked at the camera.
Almost like she knew I was watching.
“Because Lily turns three next month.”
My heart jumped.
Martinez leaned forward.
“What happens when Lily turns three?”
Diane smiled bitterly.
“Ask Emily’s father.”
“He’s dead.”
“Yes.”
“That makes asking difficult.”
Diane’s eyes hardened.
“Charles built a trigger into the trust. Lily’s third birthday activates permanent ownership.”
“Ownership of what?”
“The company.”
I thought of Ryan saying forty-three million dollars.
Diane shook her head when Martinez mentioned the number.
“That’s old.”
“How old?”
“Years.”
“How much is it worth now?”
She whispered the number.
“Eighty-one million.”
I grabbed the edge of the observation table.
Eighty-one million dollars.
Lily was two years old.
And people had spent years preparing to take control of her life.
“Can the transfer be stopped?” Martinez asked.
“Only before her birthday.”
“How?”
Diane swallowed.
“By removing Emily as guardian.”
My skin went cold.
That explained everything.
The arguments.
The recordings.
The false reports.
The plan to frame me as unstable.
They didn’t necessarily need to harm me.
They needed a judge to take Lily away.
Then Thomas’s people could control whoever became guardian.
Martinez leaned closer.
“Who would become guardian?”
Diane didn’t answer.
“Ryan?”
“No.”
“Rebecca?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Diane looked toward the camera again.
“Margaret.”
I spun toward my mother.
Margaret looked as shocked as I felt.
“That’s impossible.”
Diane continued.
“Rebecca found her years ago.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“She never contacted me.”
But Diane said something else.
Something devastating.
“Margaret signed the paperwork six months ago.”
I looked at my mother.
She slowly released my arm.
“Emily…”
My voice cracked.
“Tell me she’s lying.”
Margaret looked down.
May you like
And I knew.
She wasn’t.
