Chapter 10 - The Last Week of Ava Mercer
Adrian nearly overturned the table.
Elena stepped between him and Daniel before security could intervene.
“Adrian.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“He’s talking about Ava.”
“I know.”
“Move.”
Elena held his gaze.
“If you hit him, he stops talking.”
Adrian’s breathing was heavy.
For one terrible moment, Elena saw the reckless twenty-eight-year-old she once loved.
Then he stepped back.
“Talk.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Ava became sick six weeks after Elena disappeared.”
“She was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition.”
“We know that,” Vivian said.
Daniel looked at her.
“You know what the doctors told you.”
Vivian’s face drained of color.
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing I can prove.”
Adrian’s voice turned cold.
“Then explain.”
Daniel rubbed his hands together.
“Ava contacted me repeatedly during the first year after Elena left.”
“She wanted financial records.”
“Emails.”
“Travel logs.”
“I gave her some.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
Elena almost laughed.
Daniel looked at her.
“You can hate me.”
“You should.”
“But I began understanding what Julian was doing.”
“He wasn’t trying to protect Adrian.”
“He was building control.”
“And Victoria was pushing him.”
Mara interrupted.
“What does this have to do with Ava’s illness?”
Daniel continued.
“Ava told me she had found someone inside Grantwell willing to testify.”
“Matthew?”
“Yes.”
Matthew, who had remained silent at the back of the room, looked down.
“She planned to meet him in Chicago.”
“She never arrived.”
Adrian frowned.
“Because she was hospitalized.”
“Yes.”
“She developed severe symptoms the night before the flight.”
Vivian sat slowly.
“I remember.”
Daniel continued.
“After that, Ava became convinced someone knew about the meeting.”
Elena whispered.
“Did she think someone made her sick?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“She didn’t know.”
“Neither do I.”
Mara spoke carefully.
“We need to be very cautious here.”
“There are many medical reasons someone can become seriously ill.”
Daniel nodded.
“I’m not claiming otherwise.”
“But Ava started documenting everything.”
“Food.”
“Medication.”
“Visitors.”
“She became suspicious.”
Adrian’s face tightened with grief.
“She never told me.”
“She believed your communications were monitored.”
“That doesn’t explain years of silence.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She also believed you would confront Julian immediately.”
Adrian said nothing.
Everyone knew she had been right.
Daniel continued.
“Three days before Ava died, she called me.”
“She said she had finally found something that could prove Julian had ordered the surveillance around Elena.”
“What?”
“She wouldn’t say over the phone.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian pointed toward Benny.
“Was it on the card?”
“No.”
“Box 417?”
“Maybe.”
Mara reviewed the remaining unopened folder.
She pulled out several photographs.
One showed Julian entering a private clinic.
Another showed Daniel himself meeting with Mark Ellison.
The third showed a woman.
Elena leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Daniel went pale.
Vivian whispered the answer.
“Victoria.”
The woman in the photograph appeared to be in her late fifties.
Dark hair.
Sharp posture.
Large sunglasses.
She was standing outside Grantwell headquarters.
The date stamp was from three years earlier.
The exact week Elena was hired.
Elena stared.
“She was there.”
Matthew stepped forward.
“Yes.”
Everyone turned.
Elena looked at him.
“You knew?”
Matthew swallowed.
“Victoria was the one who told me to hire you.”
Adrian moved toward him.
“Explain.”
Matthew lifted both hands.
“I didn’t know what Julian had done to Elena.”
“I only knew she was important to the Mercer trust.”
“Victoria said keeping her employed inside Grantwell made her easier to protect.”
Elena’s anger rose.
“You watched me for three years?”
“I made sure you were financially stable.”
“That isn’t protection.”
“I understand that now.”
“You knew who my children were?”
“I suspected.”
Adrian’s voice became dangerous.
“You suspected my children existed for three years and said nothing?”
Matthew looked at him.
“I had no evidence they were yours.”
“You had enough to watch them.”
“Yes.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Did Victoria ever meet them?”
“No.”
“Did Julian?”
“Not knowingly.”
“Then why was I suddenly ordered to Aspen?”
Matthew looked confused.
“I didn’t order you to Aspen.”
“You approved the retreat.”
“There was no retreat.”
Elena’s phone vibrated.
A work email appeared.
SUBJECT: EXECUTIVE RETREAT CONFIRMATION.
She opened it.
The sender was Matthew Cole.
Matthew stared at the screen.
“I did not send that.”
Mara examined the email headers.
“Someone spoofed his account.”
Adrian looked toward Daniel.
“Julian?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Too obvious.”
Vivian’s expression became increasingly uneasy.
“Victoria.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You think Victoria is moving independently?”
“I know she is.”
“How?”
Vivian removed her phone.
“I received this yesterday.”
She opened a voicemail.
A woman’s voice filled the conference room.
Elegant.
Controlled.
Cold.
“Vivian.”
“Christmas has always been about family.”
“This year, I’m bringing mine home.”
The voicemail ended.
Adrian stared at the phone.
“When was that?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t understand what she meant.”
Elena looked toward the children’s room.
“Now you do.”
Vivian nodded.
Mara checked the hotel security system.
“No unauthorized access after Daniel.”
Adrian turned to his security chief.
“No one gets near the twins.”
Elena’s phone buzzed again.
This time it was not a message.
It was a live video link.
She should not have opened it.
But she did.
The screen showed the Mercer family estate.
Snow covered the front lawn.
Christmas lights glowed around every window.
A woman stood on the front steps.
Victoria Mercer.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she smiled.
“Hello, Elena.”
Everyone in the conference room froze.
Victoria continued.
“Bring Adrian and the children home.”
May you like
“Or tomorrow morning, the whole world learns exactly who they are.”
The video ended.
