Chapter 8 - The Signature He Needed

By 3:40 a.m., Miriam's legal team had located the documents.

There were seventeen.

Most were harmless.

Insurance forms.

Travel authorizations.

Corporate disclosures.

Two were not.

One transferred Elena's voting proxy in Aurelia Management during periods of medical incapacity.

The second amended spousal succession rights concerning certain privately held assets.

Elena stared at the copies.

“I don't remember signing this.”

Miriam pointed to the date.

“You were hospitalized.”

Elena's skin went cold.

Seven months earlier, she had undergone emergency surgery for appendicitis.

Julian had spent the first evening beside her hospital bed.

He brought documents the following morning.

He told her the board needed signatures before a financing deadline.

She had been exhausted.

Medicated.

Trusting.

She signed where he pointed.

Richard stood beside the conference table.

His face had lost all color.

“Would these documents have given him control?”

“Not immediately,” Miriam said.

“But if Elena had died or been declared incapacitated, he could have asserted substantial rights.”

Richard looked at his daughter.

Elena could barely breathe.

“Why?”

She whispered.

Nobody answered.

She looked toward Miriam.

“Could he have known I was sick before the surgery?”

“It was appendicitis.”

“I know.”

Elena pressed her palms against the table.

“But why prepare succession documents before a routine emergency surgery?”

Miriam hesitated.

“They were drafted three days before you went to the hospital.”

The room became silent.

Elena slowly lifted her head.

“Three days?”

“Yes.”

A chill moved along her arms.

Her appendicitis had begun suddenly.

Or that was what she had believed.

Richard turned toward Miriam.

“I want the medical records.”

“All of them?”

“Everything.”

Elena shook her head.

“Dad.”

“No.”

Richard's voice was controlled but fierce.

“This has gone beyond protecting your feelings.”

Elena wanted to object.

Then her phone rang.

Unknown number.

She answered cautiously.

“Hello?”

A woman's voice whispered.

“Mrs. Mercer?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Claire Benton.”

Elena looked at Miriam.

The name meant nothing to her.

“I worked as Mr. Mercer's executive assistant until last year.”

Elena remembered.

Claire had resigned suddenly.

Julian said she left for family reasons.

“What do you want?”

“I saw what happened tonight.”

Elena waited.

Claire took a shaky breath.

“I have something you need.”

“What?”

“Emails.”

Miriam moved closer.

Elena put the call on speaker.

“What emails?”

“Between Mr. Mercer and Marcus Hale.”

Richard's eyes narrowed.

“About what?”

Claire hesitated.

“Your family.”

Elena gripped the phone.

“How long ago?”

“Almost eighteen months.”

Miriam immediately began writing.

“Claire, where are you?”

“I don't want to say over the phone.”

“Are you in danger?”

“I don't know.”

Her voice cracked.

“I copied the emails because I thought Mr. Mercer was planning something illegal.”

Elena's heart pounded.

“What did they say?”

Claire became silent for several seconds.

Then she whispered.

“They were trying to figure out how Julian could gain control if something happened to you.”

Elena closed her eyes.

Claire continued.

“And there was one email about your surgery.”

Richard went completely still.

Elena forced herself to speak.

“What did it say?”

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Claire answered.

“It said the hospital window was their best opportunity.”