Chapter 7 - The Device in Richard's Study)
Richard crossed the hall so quickly that Caroline had to run to follow.
His private study occupied the western side of the house.
Unlike Evelyn's archive office, Richard's room was exactly what Caroline had always imagined power looked like.
Dark wood.
Leather chairs.
Framed magazine covers.
Corporate awards.
A photograph of Richard shaking hands with a governor.
Another of Richard standing beside the first tower Mercer Development had built after the recession.
His laptop sat on the desk.
Open.
Richard stopped.
"I closed this last night."
Evelyn remained in the doorway.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Did you lock the study?"
"No."
Caroline looked at him.
"Why would you? It's your house."
Richard turned toward her.
She immediately regretted the sentence.
Evelyn did not react.
Malcolm approached the desk without touching anything.
"When did you last use the laptop?"
"At the airport around eight."
"And here?"
"I don't think I did."
Richard looked toward Evelyn.
"I came home after eleven."
"11:18," she said.
Caroline stared.
"You remember the exact time?"
"I was waiting for him."
Malcolm called the security team again.
Within twenty minutes, two internal cybersecurity employees were examining the machine remotely while no one touched it.
The preliminary answer came faster than expected.
The laptop had been active at 11:34.
The estate portal opened at 11:35.
Derek's credentials entered at 11:36.
The trustee replacement request was accessed but not resubmitted.
Richard frowned.
"If the request was filed fourteen days ago, why reopen it last night?"
Malcolm answered.
"To check its status."
Caroline stared toward the hallway.
"Derek knew we were coming here. He probably wanted to see whether Evelyn had been removed before we moved in."
Richard nodded slowly.
"Then the chore list wasn't just arrogance."
Caroline looked down.
The folded page remained in her hand.
Evelyn asked, "What did Derek tell you about moving here?"
"That Dad had finally agreed."
"I never did," Richard said.
Caroline looked at him.
"I know that now."
"What else?"
She tried to remember.
Derek had been unusually insistent.
We need to go tonight.
Your father won't say no once we're already there.
Evelyn will make a fuss, but ignore her.
You're his daughter.
The house is basically yours anyway.
Caroline felt sick.
"He told me we'd stay until my trust distribution."
Malcolm looked up.
"What distribution?"
"When I turn thirty-five."
"That's nearly three years away."
"Derek said we needed to stop wasting money on rent."
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
"He expected access to the trust by then."
Caroline whispered, "Or sooner."
No one needed to finish the thought.
Remove Evelyn.
Install Mercer Private Management.
Use Richard's corporation as trustee.
Then exploit access through a company system Derek already understood.
Richard's anger became quiet.
That was always when he was most dangerous.
"He married my daughter and spent years positioning himself around her assets."
Caroline flinched.
"Dad."
"I'm talking about him, not you."
"It feels like you're talking about me."
Richard looked at her.
For once he stopped before answering.
"You're right."
She seemed surprised.
He continued.
"I am angry with you too."
Her face hardened.
"But not because someone deceived you. I'm angry because you made deception easy."
Caroline stared.
"You didn't read contracts. You didn't open your own mail. You didn't check your accounts. You treated every inconvenience as someone else's job."
Her eyes filled.
Richard's voice softened.
"And I taught you to do that."
Caroline looked away.
Evelyn said nothing.
This was not her apology to receive.
Richard continued.
"When your mother died, I couldn't bear watching you hurt. So I removed every other kind of pain I could."
Caroline laughed bitterly.
"You weren't around enough to remove anything."
The room went silent.
Richard stopped.
She finally looked at him.
"You think writing checks meant you were protecting me?"
"Caroline."
"You missed my graduation dinner because you were closing a deal."
"I arrived later."
"At eleven-thirty."
Richard said nothing.
"You sent flowers to my first store opening."
"I was in London."
"You promised Mom you'd come to my counseling appointment after she died."
Richard's face changed.
Caroline's voice cracked.
"You sent your assistant."
He looked down.
"I know."
"No, you don't. Every time you weren't there, you bought something."
Richard sat.
The anger left him.
"I didn't know how to talk to you."
"So you solved me."
That phrase sounded like Anne.
Richard covered his mouth with one hand.
Evelyn turned toward the window.
This family had spent years calling money love because love required conversations none of them wanted to have.
Caroline wiped her face.
"And Derek was there."
Richard looked up.
"When?"
"All the time."
She laughed softly.
"He remembered birthdays. He came to meetings. He sat through my stupid boutique presentations. He made me feel like someone actually wanted to be in the room."
Her eyes closed.
"And I guess he was taking notes."
No one contradicted her.
Malcolm's phone vibrated.
He checked an incoming file from security.
"There's another issue."
Richard looked exhausted.
"What now?"
"The study camera."
Richard frowned.
"There is no camera in here."
"The hallway camera."
Evelyn remembered the system upgrade installed six months earlier.
"It captures the doorway."
Malcolm nodded.
"They've pulled last night's footage."
Caroline whispered, "Derek went in."
Malcolm hesitated.
"Yes."
Richard stood.
"What time?"
"11:31."
"So that's it."
"Not exactly."
Malcolm enlarged an image on his phone.
Derek appeared entering the study.
Three minutes later he emerged.
Then, at 11:38, another person entered.
Caroline leaned closer.
Her stomach dropped.
"That's impossible."
Richard stared at the image.
Evelyn did not move.
The second person was Caroline.
Caroline looked at them in horror.
"I was asleep."
Malcolm scrolled to another frame.
The woman wore Caroline's green dress and cream cardigan.
Same blonde hair.
Same build.
But the face was turned away.
Caroline whispered, "Someone dressed like me."
Evelyn looked toward the staircase.
"No."
She remembered something from the previous night.
Caroline had arrived wearing a long camel coat.
She had removed it in the foyer.
Underneath, green dress.
Cream cardigan.
Evelyn had seen the outfit.
So had Derek.
But there had been someone else outside.
The SUV driver.
A woman.
Caroline looked at Evelyn.
May you like
"What?"
Evelyn said, "Derek didn't bring you here alone."
