Chapter 9
We opened the flash drive at Rebecca’s kitchen table.
Nobody trusted anybody.
That was probably the only honest thing left between us.
The police stayed outside.
Ryan’s attorney had arrived and immediately told him not to speak.
Ryan ignored him.
Again.
Dad sat across from Charles.
Rebecca stayed beside me.
Vanessa used her laptop.
The flash drive was encrypted.
She looked at Ryan.
“Password?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“Yes.”
She tried my mother’s birthday.
Nothing.
My birthday.
Nothing.
David Mercer.
Nothing.
Then Rebecca whispered, “Try Bluebonnet.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Margaret’s favorite flower.”
Vanessa typed it.
Wrong.
Rebecca thought again.
“Bluebonnet18.”
The drive unlocked.
Dad stared at her.
“How did you know?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Because before you entered her life, she had an entire life you never bothered to learn about.”
Dad looked hurt.
He deserved it.
The drive contained hundreds of files.
Financial records.
Audio.
Scanned letters.
Photographs.
A folder named EMILY.
I almost clicked it.
Then I stopped.
“What?”
Vanessa asked.
“I’m scared.”
It was the first time I had admitted it aloud.
Rebecca touched my hand.
I almost pulled away.
Then I didn’t.
I opened the folder.
There was one video.
Margaret_Final_Message.
The date was two days before my mother died.
My chest tightened.
“Play it.”
My mother appeared on the screen.
Thin.
Tired.
A blanket around her shoulders.
But alive.
My mother.
I covered my mouth.
Nobody spoke.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Emily.”
I started crying before she said anything else.
“If you are watching this, then something went wrong.”
She paused to breathe.
“I wanted to tell you everything myself.”
My father closed his eyes.
“But I also wanted to protect whatever time I had left with you.”
Tears rolled down my face.
“You deserved a mother in your final memories.”
She smiled weakly.
“Not an accountant. Not a witness. Not a woman surrounded by lawyers.”
I laughed through tears.
That sounded exactly like her.
“I need you to know first that I chose you.”
Rebecca began crying beside me.
Margaret continued.
“Rebecca gave birth to you. That truth belongs to her and to you, and I hope someday you can hear her story without feeling that mine becomes smaller.”
I stared at the screen.
“It doesn’t.”
My voice broke.
“It never could.”
She continued.
“You were the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”
Dad covered his face.
“Thomas was not your biological father, but he loved you from the day you came home.”
I looked at him.
He was sobbing.
“For all his failures, believe that part.”
I hated that she could still protect him.
Even now.
My mother went on.
“Your biological father, David Mercer, died because he discovered crimes tied to Harrison Development.”
Charles looked down.
“I discovered those same crimes years later.”
Her breathing grew heavier.
“I also discovered that some of them never stopped.”
Dad stared at the screen.
“Thomas repeated financial structures created by his father.”
Dad whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Margaret continued.
“I believe Thomas did not understand the full history when he began using those accounts.”
Dad’s face collapsed in relief.
Then she added, “But once I told him, he refused to stop.”
Dad froze.
I looked at him.
He stared at the screen.
“He said too many people depended on the company.”
Rebecca whispered, “Of course.”
Margaret continued.
“I told him a company built on hidden crimes does not become innocent because innocent employees depend on it.”
Dad lowered his head.
“I planned to take evidence to federal investigators.”
My heartbeat increased.
“Ryan Carter helped me collect that evidence.”
Ryan stared at the screen.
“For a time, I trusted him.”
His jaw tightened.
“I no longer do.”
Vanessa looked at him.
Margaret continued.
“Ryan copied records without permission.”
“He approached Thomas directly.”
Dad glanced at Ryan.
“He demanded money.”
Ryan said nothing.
“I realized then that I had brought another dangerous man into our lives.”
My mother coughed hard.
The video paused for several seconds.
I wanted to reach through the screen.
To hold her.
To tell her none of this mattered anymore.
Then she looked at the camera again.
“Ryan also discovered the truth about you.”
My stomach tightened.
“He found David Mercer’s records.”
“He knows you are David’s daughter.”
Ryan watched me.
“He knows you may have a legal claim connected to Mercer & Hale assets.”
Charles’s face changed.
I turned toward him.
He whispered, “Oh God.”
Margaret continued.
“Walter Hale benefited financially after David died.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“If David’s partnership agreement was altered after his death, Emily may be entitled to part of the ownership transferred to Walter.”
I stared at Charles.
“How much?”
He couldn’t answer.
The video continued.
“I do not know the value.”
Charles whispered, “A lot.”
“How much?”
He looked at me.
“Possibly hundreds of millions.”
Nobody moved.
I almost laughed because the number was absurd.
“I don’t want it.”
Charles said, “That may not matter.”
Margaret continued.
“This is why Ryan became interested in you.”
The room went cold.
I stared at him.
No.
He shook his head.
“Emily.”
My mother’s voice kept going.
“Ryan knows that if you establish David Mercer as your biological father, you become a legal threat to the Hale family and possibly to Harrison Development.”
Charles looked stunned.
Margaret continued.
“I believe Ryan intends to use you.”
My stomach twisted.
“He has already asked me questions about whether Thomas would approve of him dating you.”
I stopped breathing.
Dad looked at Ryan.
“You approached Margaret about Emily?”
Ryan said nothing.
The video was made before I supposedly met him.
Before the charity event.
Before the first date.
Before the flowers.
Before he held my hand.
Before he told me our meeting felt like fate.
I turned toward him.
“You planned it.”
“No.”
“My mother knew.”
“She misunderstood.”
“You asked about dating me.”
“Yes.”
“Before we met.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
I stood.
Ryan stood too.
“Emily, listen.”
“You targeted me.”
“At first.”
The admission destroyed something final.
“At first?”
“Yes.”
My father surged from his chair.
“You son of a—”
Police entered again.
I raised my hand.
“Stay back.”
Dad looked at me.
I wanted to hear it.
All of it.
I looked at Ryan.
“You married me because you thought I might inherit money from a dead man I didn’t know was my father.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I approached you because of the Mercer claim.”
My chest hurt.
“But that is not why I married you.”
I laughed.
“Do you hear yourself?”
“I fell in love with you.”
Vanessa made a sound somewhere between disgust and disbelief.
Ryan looked at her.
“I did.”
She stared at him.
“You told me you still loved me.”
“I did love you.”
“Oh, how generous.”
I looked at the laptop.
“Keep playing.”
My mother’s video continued.
“Emily, I know you may be angry that I did not warn you sooner.”
“You tried.”
My voice broke.
“I am trying now.”
She smiled faintly.
“I have moved money into a trust under David Mercer’s name.”
Ryan leaned toward the screen.
“The money belongs to you.”
My throat tightened.
“I instructed Ryan to process the transfer before I stopped trusting him.”
Ryan looked almost vindicated.
“But I changed the final access requirements without telling him.”
His expression changed.
Rebecca smiled faintly.
Margaret continued.
“Only Emily can release it.”
Vanessa looked at Ryan.
“So you couldn’t steal it.”
He ignored her.
“The money is not meant to make you wealthy.”
Margaret looked directly into the camera.
“It is meant to make you free.”
I started crying again.
“If Thomas is arrested, you can walk away from Harrison.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“If Ryan turns against you, you can walk away from him.”
Ryan looked like he had been struck.
“If the Hale family tries to bury David’s story, you will have enough resources to fight.”
Charles watched silently.
“And if all of us fail you, you will not be trapped by our failures.”
My mother’s voice weakened.
“I hope you never need that money.”
She smiled.
“I hope I am wrong about everyone.”
A tear slid down her cheek.
“But if I’m not, take it and build a life that belongs only to you.”
I covered my mouth.
The video continued.
“One more thing.”
Everyone leaned closer.
“My death is coming.”
My heart cracked.
“I know that.”
She paused.
“But I have reason to believe someone may try to use my death.”
Dad’s eyes opened.
“The insurance policy connected to Harrison Development was changed without my approval.”
Ryan went still.
“I discovered a modification that sends ten million dollars through Red Cedar.”
Dad stared at Ryan.
“I did not sign it.”
Ryan’s face drained.
“She told me to move the money.”
Margaret continued.
“I believe Ryan prepared the amendment.”
I looked at him.
He shook his head.
“But I do not believe Ryan created the idea.”
We all froze.
My mother looked exhausted.
“I found an email.”
A file name appeared on the screen.
“From Thomas’s account.”
Dad stood.
“What?”
Margaret continued.
“The message instructed Ryan to change the distribution.”
Dad shook his head violently.
“No.”
“If Thomas sent it, then he lied to me.”
“I didn’t.”
“If he did not send it, someone had access to his account.”
Dad stared at the laptop.
“I never sent that.”
Margaret continued.
“I have included the email and server information.”
Vanessa paused the video.
“Should we open it?”
“Yes.”
She found the email.
Sender: Thomas Harrison.
Recipient: Ryan Carter.
Change Margaret policy distribution. Route 10M through Red Cedar. Complete before month end. Do not discuss with Margaret.
Dad stared at it.
“I did not write that.”
Ryan looked at him.
“You expect me to believe you now?”
Dad turned.
“You received this?”
“Yes.”
“And you followed it?”
“Yes.”
“Without asking me?”
“You told me not to discuss it.”
“I DIDN’T SEND IT!”
The officer at the doorway stepped inside.
Dad lowered his voice.
“I didn’t send it.”
I looked at the metadata.
The email originated from an IP address.
Harrison Development headquarters.
Executive floor.
A specific workstation ID.
Charles stood.
“What number?”
Vanessa read it.
“HD-EX-14.”
Charles’s face went pale.
Dad looked at him.
“What?”
Charles stepped backward.
“No.”
“What?”
“That wasn’t Thomas’s computer.”
Dad stared at him.
“How do you know?”
Charles swallowed.
“Because executive workstations were numbered by office.”
“What office was fourteen?”
Charles looked at me.
“Mine.”
The room changed.
I stared at him.
“You sent the email.”
“No.”
“It came from your computer.”
“I did not send it.”
Ryan laughed.
“Welcome to the club.”
Charles shook his head.
“I swear.”
Rebecca stood.
“Who had access to your office?”
“My assistant.”
“Who?”
Charles hesitated.
Then looked at Dad.
“Rachel.”
Dad’s face changed.
I knew Rachel.
Rachel Simmons.
My father’s executive assistant.
She had worked at Harrison Development for almost thirty years.
She had organized my childhood birthday parties.
She had sat beside me at my mother’s funeral.
She had helped plan my wedding.
My stomach dropped.
“Rachel had access to Charles’s office?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She handled board materials.”
Dad whispered, “She had access to everything.”
The video resumed by itself.
My mother’s voice filled the room again.
“If I am right, there is someone else inside Harrison.”
Nobody moved.
“Someone who has been there longer than Ryan.”
Dad stared at the screen.
“Someone who knew David Mercer.”
Rebecca’s face went pale.
“Someone who knew Walter Hale.”
Charles whispered, “No.”
“And someone who has spent years standing close enough to our family that nobody sees her anymore.”
I felt cold all over.
Margaret’s final words came softly.
“Emily, if Rachel Simmons tells you she loved me, believe her.”
I stared at the screen.
May you like
Then my mother finished.
“But do not believe that love made her innocent.”
