Chapter 7
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
"My firm?"
"Yes," Rebecca said. "Not you personally. Your employer was named as an eligible independent reviewer."
I leaned against my car.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
Rebecca explained that Margaret had commissioned an outside review before her death.
She had suspected financial wrongdoing but wanted a firm with no ties to the Mercer family.
My employer had been on a list of approved specialists.
Margaret had never known me.
She certainly couldn't have known I would become engaged to Daniel.
The coincidence was extraordinary.
But it also created a serious conflict.
I couldn't investigate my former fiancé through my own employer while I was personally involved in the case.
Rebecca agreed.
"The independent trustee will appoint a separate team. You must stay out of that engagement."
I understood.
For once, I was relieved to let someone else handle the numbers.
What I wanted most was to protect Emily.
Two days later, the trustee, a retired attorney named Samuel Price, met with Rebecca and Emily.
Samuel was a quiet man in his seventies.
He had known Margaret for almost thirty years.
When Emily entered the room, he stood.
"Your grandmother would be proud of you."
Emily's eyes filled.
"I wish she were here."
"So do I."
He placed a small velvet pouch on the table.
Inside was a silver key.
Emily gasped.
"That's Grandmother's."
Samuel nodded.
"She gave me a duplicate for safekeeping. She worried the original might disappear."
I looked at Emily.
She smiled through her tears.
"For once, Father wasn't the smartest person in the room."
Samuel almost smiled.
With appropriate authorization, Emily and Samuel arranged to open the bank storage box.
Rebecca attended.
I waited outside the bank with Maya.
After nearly an hour, Emily emerged carrying a sealed document case.
She looked as though she had seen a ghost.
"Claire."
I stood immediately.
"What happened?"
She gripped my hand.
"Grandmother knew everything."
Inside the case were copies of corporate records, correspondence, account reconciliations, and detailed notes.
Margaret had documented questionable payments to consulting companies.
She had identified transactions that appeared to benefit Richard personally.
She had also preserved records suggesting Daniel had approved invoices for services that were never performed.
And there was something else.
A digital storage device.
Its contents required forensic examination before anyone could draw conclusions.
Samuel arranged for independent specialists to preserve and analyze it.
Over the following weeks, the investigation expanded.
The state authorities began examining allegations involving Emily's treatment and possible financial exploitation.
Financial investigators reviewed the company's transactions.
The trust's independent auditors conducted their own examination.
My personal attorney continued responding to Daniel's accusations.
Then, one Friday morning, Marcus called.
"Claire, we found something useful."
"What?"
"The supposed extortion evidence."
I sat forward.
"Daniel submitted a screenshot of a message he claimed you sent."
"I never sent him anything."
"We know. The image contains inconsistencies, and the phone records supplied under the formal process don't support his version."
My pulse quickened.
"Can we prove it?"
"We have strong evidence the screenshot was fabricated. We're asking the appropriate authorities to review the false allegations and supporting material."
I covered my face.
For the first time in weeks, I felt the pressure in my chest begin to loosen.
A few days later, my employer informed me that the internal investigation had found no evidence of misconduct by me.
I was cleared to return to my normal assignments, subject to the Mercer conflict restrictions.
James called personally.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this."
"Thank you for taking it seriously."
"We take accusations seriously. That includes accusations made against our employees."
I nearly cried.
After the call, I looked at the engagement ring I had left in a drawer.
It seemed to belong to another life.
I placed it inside a small box.
I intended to return it through counsel.
There would be no private meeting.
No final embrace.
No opportunity for Daniel to talk his way back into my life.
That evening, Emily and I sat in the kitchen of the apartment she had rented with help from the trustee.
It wasn't enormous.
There were no chandeliers or marble floors.
Just two bedrooms, a small balcony, and a kitchen with yellow curtains.
Emily loved it.
She had spent an hour choosing the curtains herself.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Anything."
"Do you miss him?"
I looked down at my tea.
"Sometimes I miss who I thought he was."
She nodded.
"I understand."
I studied her.
"Do you miss your family?"
She thought for a long moment.
"I miss the family I wanted."
My throat tightened.
We sat in silence.
Then Emily smiled.
"But I have something better now."
"What?"
She gestured around the little apartment.
"A front door I can lock."
I reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
Rebecca.
"Claire, turn on the news."
I opened a live broadcast.
A reporter stood outside Mercer Biomedical headquarters.
The headline announced that federal and state investigators had executed search warrants at several business locations.
I stared at the screen.
Emily moved beside me.
The reporter mentioned possible financial fraud and falsified corporate records.
Then the camera shifted.
Daniel was being escorted out of the building by investigators.
He wasn't handcuffed.
But his face was pale.
Richard followed with an attorney.
Victoria stood near a waiting car.
Emily gripped my arm.
"Is it happening?"
I nodded slowly.
"The investigation is moving."
She watched Daniel disappear into the car.
Then she whispered, "I thought nobody would ever believe me."
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
"They're listening now."
My phone vibrated again.
A message from an unknown number.
THIS ISN'T OVER, CLAIRE.
I showed it to Rebecca immediately.
Then another message arrived.
ASK EMILY WHAT REALLY HAPPENED THE NIGHT GRANDMOTHER DIED.
May you like
I looked at Emily.
She had gone completely white.
