Chapter 10 - NINE A.M.
At 8:57 a.m., I walked into Mercer Development headquarters wearing my father’s oversized coat over a hospital discharge outfit.
Not glamorous.
Not powerful.
Gray leggings.
Flat shoes.
Hair tied badly.
I had slept eleven minutes.
Maybe twelve.
Eleanor was furious anyway.
She stood at the head of the boardroom table.
“What are you doing here?”
I looked around.
“Good morning to you too.”
Dominic sat near the far end.
He looked like hell.
Wrinkled shirt.
Bloodshot eyes.
No tie.
He stood when he saw me.
I ignored him.
My father entered behind me with two attorneys.
Peter followed.
Then two federal financial investigators.
That changed the room.
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“This is a private board meeting.”
One investigator showed identification.
“Not anymore.”
Nobody spoke.
I sat.
My father whispered,
“You should be in bed.”
I whispered back,
“You should mind your business.”
He almost smiled.
Eleanor slapped a folder onto the table.
“Dominic Mercer has mismanaged company funds.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Mom.”
She didn’t look at him.
“I move to terminate him as CEO immediately.”
Chloe sat beside her mother.
Still wearing yesterday’s wedding makeup.
Her hair was tied in a messy knot.
No white gown now.
Just sunglasses and anger.
Dominic laughed softly.
“You’re blaming me?”
Eleanor finally looked at him.
“You made the decisions.”
“You told me to.”
“I advised you.”
“You signed the authorizations.”
“Because you brought them to me.”
Their voices rose.
The board members stared.
I said nothing.
They were destroying each other better than I could.
Then Chloe snapped.
“Stop acting like Dominic did this alone.”
Eleanor turned.
“Be quiet.”
“No.”
Chloe removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were swollen.
“You said Vivienne would never find out.”
The room went still.
Eleanor’s face changed.
“Chloe.”
“You said her trust was so big nobody would notice twenty-eight million.”
I looked at my father.
He looked at the investigator.
The investigator was writing.
Eleanor realized.
Too late.
Again.
She pointed at Chloe.
“You spoiled idiot.”
Chloe stood.
“At least I didn’t plan to frame her for fraud!”
Dominic’s mouth fell open.
Even he hadn’t known all of it.
Eleanor stood too.
“You think any of you would have anything without me?”
There it was.
The real Eleanor.
No polished smile.
No society manners.
Just rage.
She looked at Dominic.
“You were weak.”
At Chloe.
“You were useless.”
Then at me.
“And you…”
She laughed.
“You walked into this family pretending to be nobody.”
I leaned back.
“Still stuck on that?”
“You wanted us to underestimate you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I wanted a normal life.”
She laughed again.
“Well, congratulations.”
She gestured around the room.
“You failed.”
That one landed.
Because she was right.
I had wanted normal.
I had hidden my family name.
My wealth.
My connections.
I had believed secrecy would protect something real.
Instead, it gave dishonest people room to invent who I was.
That part was my mistake.
But what they did with that room—
That was theirs.
The investigator closed his notebook.
“Mrs. Mercer, we need to speak privately.”
Eleanor grabbed her purse.
“No.”
She headed toward the door.
A second investigator blocked it.
She stopped.
Then the fire alarm began screaming.
Everyone jumped.
Red lights flashed.
The boardroom doors unlocked automatically.
People rushed into the hallway.
May you like
And in the confusion—
Eleanor disappeared.
