Chapter 16 - The Woman Who Wanted the Company.
Claire asked Elaine to meet at Rachel's office the next morning.
Elaine arrived with her own attorney.
That alone answered one question.
She no longer intended to pretend this was a conversation between relatives.
Rachel's conference room had glass walls and no family photographs, no holiday decorations, and no dining table where anyone could rewrite what had happened.
Claire preferred it immediately.
Sophie sat beside her.
Elaine looked at her daughter and seemed wounded by the seating arrangement.
Sophie did not move.
Rachel placed a printed copy of Elaine's handwritten ownership calculation on the table.
"Did you write this?"
Elaine's attorney began to speak.
Elaine stopped him.
"Yes."
Claire studied her mother-in-law.
"Why were you adding my shares to Daniel's?"
Elaine took a slow breath.
"Because together they could block Martin."
Rachel shook her head.
"Your note says control, not block."
Elaine's eyes flicked toward the paper.
"I was thinking through possibilities."
Claire leaned forward.
"You were planning a takeover."
Elaine did not deny it.
The silence told the story before her words did.
Finally, she said, "Martin was going to destroy the company."
"So you decided you should run it."
"Someone had to stop him."
"That answer seems very popular in your family."
Elaine's expression tightened.
Claire continued.
"Martin says he hurts people for the company."
"Daniel says he lies for the family."
"You say you used me to stop Martin."
Claire tapped the paper.
"Every Mercer does exactly what they want and gives it a noble name afterward."
Sophie looked down, but Elaine stared at Claire.
"You think I wanted what happened at dinner?"
"I think you wanted a confrontation."
"Yes."
"I think you wanted Martin recorded while he pressured me."
"Yes."
"I think you told Daniel not to let me leave."
Elaine swallowed.
"Yes."
"And I think you lied about calling for help because you didn't want Sophie to stop recording."
Elaine's face changed.
Her attorney placed a hand over his notes.
"My client should not answer that."
Claire looked at him.
"Then she can sit there while I answer it for her."
Elaine spoke anyway.
"I thought if Sophie knew help was coming, she would stay calm."
Sophie stared at her mother.
"You told me help was coming because you wanted me to keep the camera up."
"I wanted proof."
"You had the security camera."
"Martin controlled that server."
Sophie laughed through tears.
"So Claire was your insurance policy?"
Elaine flinched.
"No."
"Then what was she?"
Elaine could not answer.
Claire placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Elaine holding Claire's company tablet inside 18C before dinner.
"Why did you have this?"
Elaine stared at the image.
"I was copying files."
"Which files?"
"Northline records."
Rachel asked, "How did you unlock Claire's tablet?"
Elaine looked toward her attorney.
He told her not to answer.
Claire already knew enough.
"Daniel gave you my passcode too."
Elaine closed her eyes.
Sophie whispered, "Mom."
Elaine opened them again.
"Yes."
Claire felt disgust rather than surprise.
"Did you create the wire authorization?"
"No."
"Did you sign my name?"
"No."
"Did you submit it?"
"No."
Rachel watched Elaine carefully.
"Were you in Claire and Daniel's apartment at 2:14 a.m.?"
Elaine froze.
That was new.
Claire turned toward Rachel.
Rachel slid a building-access report across the table.
A keycard assigned to Elaine had entered the private elevator at 1:56 a.m.
It exited at 2:22.
The forged wire authorization had been submitted at 2:14.
Elaine's attorney immediately requested a break.
Elaine refused.
"I went back for the tablet."
Claire stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because Martin had taken it from 18C."
"So you knew it was in my apartment."
"Yes."
"How?"
Elaine looked at Sophie.
"Your father called me."
Rachel asked, "From where?"
"I don't know."
"What did he say?"
"He said everything had gone wrong and told me to destroy the tablet."
Claire almost stood.
"And you went?"
"To get it away from him."
"Did you destroy it?"
"No."
"Where is it?"
Elaine's eyes filled with fear.
"It wasn't there."
The room went quiet.
According to the network logs, Claire's tablet had connected through the apartment router at 2:14.
Elaine said she was physically inside the apartment at that exact time.
Yet she claimed the tablet was not there.
Rachel leaned forward.
"Did you see anyone else?"
Elaine shook her head.
Then she stopped.
"I heard the service elevator."
Claire felt her pulse jump.
"Who uses it?"
"Staff."
Sophie looked at Claire.
"And Tom."
Everyone turned toward her.
Sophie explained that Thomas Vale hated the main elevators because photographers occasionally waited in the lobby during high-profile company events.
He often used the service entrance when visiting Martin.
Rachel immediately contacted building security.
Thirty minutes later, an access image arrived.
At 2:03 a.m., a man wearing a dark coat and a striped scarf entered the service corridor on Claire's floor.
At 2:18, he left carrying a slim black case.
Thomas Vale.
Elaine stared at the image.
"Martin sent him."
Claire looked at her.
"Maybe."
Elaine frowned.
Claire continued.
"Or maybe Vale was never just Martin's friend."
Rachel's phone rang.
Maya Torres had found something in Northline's ownership records.
Thomas Vale owned forty percent.
Martin owned thirty percent through a trust.
The remaining thirty percent belonged to a holding company established eight years earlier.
The holding company's beneficial owner was hidden behind a trust name.
Rachel asked Maya to send it.
The document appeared seconds later.
Sophie read the trust name first.
Her face went blank.
"Mom."
May you like
Claire looked at the screen.
The beneficial owner of the final thirty percent of Northline was Elaine Mercer.
