Chapter 4 - The Heir Clause
Police questioned everyone until nearly midnight.
Julian insisted Chloe had locked herself in the room during an emotional episode.
Chloe insisted Julian had taken her phone and prevented her from leaving.
Because there were no cameras in the upstairs hallway and no witness had seen him lock the door, the officers documented the dispute but made no immediate arrest.
Chloe refused to remain in the house.
Clara arranged for her to stay at a secure hotel under a name provided by Marcus.
The decision surprised everyone, including Chloe.
“You don’t owe me protection,” Chloe said as they sat in Marcus’s car outside the hotel.
“No,” Clara replied. “But I need the truth.”
Chloe looked down at her hands.
“And after I tell you?”
“That depends on the truth.”
Marcus sat in the driver’s seat, listening.
Chloe took a slow breath.
She had met Julian eighteen months earlier at a foundation fundraiser.
He told her he and Clara were separated privately but maintaining public appearances because of business obligations.
“He said the divorce would happen after the trust review,” Chloe explained. “He said Evelyn hated scandal.”
“You believed him?” Clara asked.
“At first.”
“And later?”
Chloe’s silence answered.
She had continued the affair after realizing Julian was still living with Clara as her husband.
That truth hurt, but Clara refused to allow it to distract her from the larger question.
“The pregnancy,” Marcus said. “Was it planned?”
Chloe nodded.
“Julian said the trust required a direct Mercer heir before his thirty-sixth birthday. He said if we had a child, he would gain control and could finally leave the family.”
Clara frowned.
“Julian turns thirty-six in two months.”
“Yes.”
“Why not have a child with me?”
Chloe looked toward Clara with visible discomfort.
“He said you couldn’t.”
Clara felt as though the air had disappeared from the car.
“What?”
“He told me you had a medical condition.”
Clara’s voice became very quiet.
“I don’t have a medical condition.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“I know that now.”
For years, Clara and Julian had delayed having children.
At first it had been her decision. She wanted to stabilize the company.
Then, when she finally felt ready, Julian began delaying.
The market was uncertain.
The timing was difficult.
They should travel first.
He wanted to be a better husband before becoming a father.
Each explanation had sounded thoughtful.
Now Clara understood.
If they had produced a child together, Julian would have gained control of the trust while still tied legally and financially to her.
Perhaps Evelyn feared Clara would then gain influence over Mercer Holdings.
Chloe continued.
“The fertility clinic arranged everything. Julian was present for the procedures.”
“What procedures?” Marcus asked.
“Insemination.”
Clara watched her carefully.
“You didn’t conceive naturally?”
“No. Julian said the clinic would provide medical documentation proving the child was his.”
Marcus looked at Clara.
“Documentation required by the trust.”
Clara remembered the payment from their joint account.
Four million dollars labeled property maintenance.
“Did you see the genetic records?” Clara asked.
“Evelyn handled them.”
“Did the clinic confirm Julian’s paternity?”
“They said the samples were verified.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What is the clinic called?”
“Meridian Reproductive Institute.”
He typed the name into his phone.
Clara asked, “Why did you call me today?”
Chloe rubbed the red mark on her wrist.
“Because I overheard Evelyn and Julian arguing. Evelyn said your finance team had accessed the loan guarantee. She told Julian they needed a confession from me before you discovered the shell companies.”
“What shell companies?”
“Julian used my name to register one of them.”
Clara’s chest tightened.
“Which one?”
“North Crest Materials.”
Nina had identified it among the companies receiving millions from the Lake Ashford project.
“Did you receive the money?”
“No. Julian controlled the account.”
“Why would you let him create a company in your name?”
“He said it was for tax planning.”
Clara nearly laughed at the familiar excuse.
Julian had told her the same thing about countless structures and transfers.
Marcus asked, “What changed? Why stop cooperating now?”
Chloe placed a hand on her belly.
“Last week, I found a medical file in Evelyn’s office. My name was on it.”
“What did it say?”
“I only saw part of it before Evelyn came in.”
Chloe’s voice trembled.
“It said the embryo identification number didn’t match the one listed in my treatment records.”
Clara stared at her.
“You think they implanted the wrong embryo?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you confront Julian?”
“Yes. He said it was a clerical error. Then he and Evelyn began watching me constantly.”
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered and stepped out of the car.
Clara remained beside Chloe.
The younger woman wiped tears from her face.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don’t know what I feel yet.”
“I deserve whatever you decide.”
“This isn’t about what you deserve tonight. It’s about what Julian and Evelyn are hiding.”
Marcus opened the car door.
His expression had changed.
“That was Nina.”
Clara straightened.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to transfer twenty-three million dollars from the Lake Ashford account to an offshore bank.”
“Did she stop it?”
“Yes.”
“Who authorized it?”
“The credentials belonged to Julian.”
Chloe covered her mouth.
Marcus continued.
“Ten minutes after the transfer failed, the server containing the original loan files was attacked.”
Clara reached for her phone.
“Are the records safe?”
“Nina created backups.”
A message appeared before Clara could call her.
It came from the unknown number.
Do not trust the prenatal report. The child was created for the trust, but Julian was never the donor.
Attached was a photograph.
It showed a medical storage label bearing Chloe’s name.
Under Donor Identification was a code.
AM-1958.
Clara stared at it.
May you like
Arthur Mercer had been born in 1958.
Julian’s father had supposedly died fifteen years earlier.
