Chapter 4 - the signature from the hospital)
Mara had imagined many reasons Arthur Mercer might have abandoned her.
Grant had told her his father blamed her for the crash.
Vanessa had claimed Arthur was disgusted by the scandal surrounding the divorce.
The lawyers had said the Mercer family wanted privacy.
Nobody had ever told her she had been accused of theft.
"How much?"
Arthur looked uncomfortable.
"Eleven million dollars."
Mara laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the number was absurd.
"You thought I stole eleven million dollars?"
"Your signature appeared on authorization documents."
"When?"
"During the six months before your accident."
"I never authorized anything like that."
"I know that now."
"You know now?"
Arthur lowered his voice.
"I have reason to believe the documents were forged."
Mara turned to Grant.
His eyes were fixed on the silver key in her hand.
"Did you tell him I stole it?"
Grant's expression barely moved.
"Mara, don't start making accusations."
"You knew."
"We're standing at my wedding."
"You knew he thought I stole eleven million dollars."
Grant moved closer.
"I knew there was an investigation."
"And you let me leave believing everyone hated me because of the accident."
"Mara."
"You let me spend three years wondering why your father never called Lily."
Arthur flinched.
Grant's voice sharpened.
"This isn't the place."
Claire stepped away from him.
"No. I think this is exactly the place."
Grant looked at her.
"Claire."
"What documents?"
"You don't need to involve yourself."
"I am supposed to become your wife in less than an hour."
"Exactly."
"And yesterday a forensic accountant told me the Mercer Foundation has been making payments to a company registered under Mara's maiden name."
Vanessa's head snapped toward her.
Arthur stared.
Grant's face changed.
Mara looked at Claire.
"You found what?"
Claire took a folded page from the pocket hidden inside her robe.
"I wasn't going to show this until I had proof."
Grant lunged toward it.
Arthur stepped between them.
"Don't."
Claire handed the page to Mara.
The company name was Ellis Consulting Holdings.
Mara had never seen it before.
Below the name was an address.
An address she recognized.
Mercer House.
"This isn't mine."
"I know."
"How?"
"Because it was incorporated while you were unconscious."
Mara stopped breathing.
Claire pointed to the date.
Two days after the crash.
Mara remembered nothing from that week except fragments.
White ceiling.
Morphine.
A doctor explaining that saving her leg had no longer been possible.
Grant crying beside her.
Vanessa holding paperwork.
Mara looked at Vanessa.
"What did you make me sign?"
Vanessa scoffed.
"Nothing."
"You brought documents to my hospital room."
"Your attorney brought documents."
"Your attorney."
Grant stepped closer.
"Mara, you were on medication. Your memories aren't reliable."
The sentence hit her harder than a slap.
It was exactly what he had told her for years.
Maybe you remember it wrong.
Maybe the medication confused you.
Maybe the crash happened differently.
Mara's hand began trembling.
Lily noticed.
"Mommy?"
Mara crouched immediately.
"I'm okay."
Arthur looked toward the wedding coordinator.
"Take Lily inside."
"No," Mara said.
The coordinator stopped.
Mara held her daughter's hand.
"She stays with me."
Grant sighed.
"This is getting ridiculous."
Claire turned to him.
"Did you know about Ellis Consulting Holdings?"
"No."
"Did Vanessa?"
"I don't know."
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"Why would I?"
Arthur looked between his children.
Then at Mara.
"The box connected to that key contained original foundation authorizations. Not copies. Originals."
"Why were they in a box?"
"Because I found irregularities three years ago. I removed the documents from our main office so nobody could alter them."
"And then?"
"They disappeared."
"When?"
Arthur's voice became quieter.
"The night of your crash."
Mara could hear her own heartbeat.
"Where was the box?"
"In my wife's old sitting room."
Vanessa said, "Dad, this is enough."
Arthur continued.
"I put it in a locked cabinet and kept the only key."
Mara held up the silver key.
"This key?"
Arthur nodded.
"I kept it on a chain."
Vanessa touched the empty ring on her wrist before realizing what she was doing.
Mara saw it.
Claire saw it.
Arthur saw it.
Even Grant saw it.
Vanessa slowly lowered her arm.
Arthur's face became unreadable.
"Why were you wearing my key?"
Vanessa stared at him.
"I wasn't."
"I saw the chain."
"It's an old key ring."
"Where is the box?"
"I don't know."
Arthur stepped closer.
"Vanessa."
"I said I don't know."
Grant interrupted.
"This is going nowhere."
Mara stood.
"Then I am taking Lily and leaving."
She took one step.
Grant grabbed her arm.
Her entire body went rigid.
"Let go."
"We haven't finished."
Mara looked at his hand.
"Let go of me."
Claire whispered, "Grant."
Arthur said his son's name sharply.
Grant released her.
Mara rubbed her arm.
Something in Arthur's face shifted.
Perhaps he had finally seen what Mara had tried to tell him years ago.
Grant could appear charming for hours.
For days.
For months.
Until someone denied him something.
Then the mask slipped.
Arthur looked toward the mansion.
"Nobody leaves."
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"What?"
"We find the box."
Grant's expression darkened.
"The ceremony is in forty minutes."
May you like
Arthur answered without looking at him.
"If what I suspect is inside that box, there may not be a ceremony."
