Chapter 11 - ELENA FIGHTS BACK
At 5:00 p.m., Elena held her own press conference.
Hundreds of reporters crowded the ballroom.
She walked to the podium alone.
No prepared statement.
No board members.
No public-relations team beside her.
“My name is Elena Mercer.”
Cameras flashed.
“Twenty-five years ago, my father disappeared.”
The room went quiet.
“Until last week, I believed he had abandoned me.”
She paused.
“I was wrong.”
Elena told them enough.
Not everything.
Federal investigators had asked her to protect certain evidence.
But she publicly confirmed Mercer Global had been infiltrated through shell companies.
She announced an independent audit.
She waived executive privilege over relevant records.
Then she said the sentence Marcus never expected.
“If crimes were committed using my company, I want the people responsible prosecuted.”
A reporter shouted:
“Even if that includes you?”
Elena looked directly into the cameras.
“Especially if that includes me.”
The room erupted.
Her phone buzzed afterward.
Marcus.
She answered.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You taught me.”
“You think you’ve won?”
“No.”
Elena looked through the ballroom windows.
“I think you’re scared.”
Marcus laughed.
Then stopped.
May you like
“You should check on your mother.”
The line went dead.
