Chapter 9 - GRACE CAME HOME
Grace was released from the hospital six days later.
Ethan did not take her back to the mansion.
He rented a quiet house outside the city with private security.
When Grace stepped inside, she stopped.
There were no family portraits.
No marble staircases.
No staff waiting for instructions.
Just sunlight.
A sofa.
A kitchen.
And silence.
“I like it.”
Ethan smiled.
“So do I.”
Grace looked at him.
“You hate small houses.”
“I’m learning.”
She laughed softly.
It was the first real laugh Ethan had heard from her since finding her.
He nearly cried.
That night they sat together on the porch.
Grace rested one hand over her belly.
“The baby kicked.”
Ethan immediately placed his palm there.
Another small movement.
He smiled.
“Strong.”
“Stubborn.”
“Definitely yours.”
Grace looked offended.
“Mine?”
Ethan laughed.
For a moment, they were simply husband and wife again.
Then Grace became serious.
“Ethan.”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to understand something.”
He waited.
“I can forgive you for believing I left.”
His smile disappeared.
“But I can’t pretend nothing changed.”
“I know.”
“You trusted your mother more than you trusted what you knew about me.”
“I know.”
“You saw blood.”
“My ring.”
“An empty nursery.”
“And you accepted the story because it came from someone you had trusted your entire life.”
Ethan lowered his head.
“I failed you.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“I need time.”
“You can have all of it.”
“I don’t know what happens to us after this.”
“I do.”
She looked at him.
“I spend however long it takes becoming someone you can trust again.”
Grace said nothing.
Ethan didn’t ask her to forgive him.
He simply sat beside her.
The next morning, federal investigators arrived.
They needed Grace’s statement.
She told them everything.
The enclosure.
The sedatives.
Rebecca.
Evelyn.
Charles.
Then the investigator asked one final question.
“Mrs. Hargrove, did Charles Mercer ever tell you why he was so afraid of your investigation?”
Grace hesitated.
“He said I had found the wrong account.”
The investigator leaned forward.
“What account?”
Grace looked at Ethan.
“One that wasn’t stealing from Hargrove Industries.”
“What was it doing?”
Grace swallowed.
“Paying people.”
“For what?”
“I never figured that out.”
The investigator opened a folder.
“We did.”
Inside were names.
A city inspector.
A corporate attorney.
Two executives.
A private investigator.
Rebecca Sloan.
And one name Ethan recognized immediately.
The obstetrician Grace had been seeing before she disappeared.
Grace stared at the page.
“My doctor?”
The investigator nodded.
“He received three payments from a Mercer-controlled company.”
Ethan felt the room tilt.
May you like
Grace’s hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
The conspiracy had reached her pregnancy long before anyone locked her behind bars.
