Chapter 9 - LUCAS
“Walk away from the door.”
Adrian’s voice was steady.
Lucas laughed.
“You don’t want to shoot me.”
“I don’t want you near my daughter.”
“Then listen.”
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
Lucas swore.
“Vanessa messed up.”
Adrian said nothing.
“She was supposed to keep you calm until the marriage.”
“What marriage?”
“The one that would’ve made everything easy.”
Sophie squeezed Adrian’s arm.
Lucas continued.
“She got emotional. That’s her problem.”
“You broke into my home to criticize your sister?”
“I broke in because she’s going to get us both buried.”
Adrian frowned.
“What did she do?”
“I need protection.”
“From who?”
Silence.
Then Lucas said something Adrian didn’t expect.
“From Vanessa.”
The sirens grew louder.
Lucas moved away from the door.
“Tell the cops I’ll talk.”
Adrian stayed where he was.
Seconds later, security tackled Lucas in the hallway.
By sunrise, Lucas was sitting in an interview room downtown.
His lawyer had not arrived yet.
But fear had.
Daniel met Adrian outside the station.
“He wants immunity.”
“He’s not getting immunity.”
“He says he can prove Vanessa planned the fraud.”
“So can we.”
“He says that’s not the worst part.”
Adrian stopped.
“What is?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“He says Vanessa researched ways to have you involuntarily committed.”
Adrian stared at him.
“She wanted me declared mentally unfit.”
“That’s what he claims.”
“To access Sophie’s trust.”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Daniel continued.
“He says she recorded arguments, edited audio, planted medication in your office, and kept a journal pretending to document your breakdown.”
Adrian felt physically sick.
“She was building a psychiatric case.”
“Exactly.”
Then the detective approached.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“Your attorney should come too.”
Inside, Lucas looked exhausted.
The arrogance from the night before was gone.
He looked at Adrian.
“I didn’t know she was hurting the kid.”
Adrian’s voice turned cold.
“Don’t use my daughter to make yourself look better.”
Lucas looked down.
“Fair.”
“Talk.”
Lucas exhaled.
“Vanessa found you first.”
Adrian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She didn’t meet you by accident.”
The room went silent.
“She spent months researching wealthy widowers.”
Adrian’s stomach turned.
Lucas continued.
“She wanted someone with money, a child, and emotional vulnerability.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“And the charity dinner?”
“Planned.”
“How?”
“She paid someone on the organizing committee to seat her near Adrian.”
Adrian stared at Lucas.
Every memory shifted.
Every laugh.
Every coincidence.
Every carefully timed kindness.
Lucas looked ashamed.
“She studied Emily too.”
Adrian’s hands clenched.
“What did you say?”
“Your wife.”
Lucas swallowed.
“Vanessa knew what perfume Emily wore. What books she liked. What charities she supported.”
Adrian’s face went white.
“She copied her.”
Lucas nodded.
“She thought it would make you trust her.”
Adrian stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
May you like
Then Lucas added one final sentence.
“She even bought the same blue sweater.”
