Chapter 6 - EMILY’S LAST MESSAGE
At 2:13 in the morning, another secret arrived.
This one came from Emily.
Benjamin handed me an old phone.
“Your wife gave this to Charles’s office.”
I stared at him.
“Emily knew my grandfather?”
“Not personally. She contacted me.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before she died.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“You had something from my wife for fourteen months and never told me?”
“She gave instructions.”
“What instructions?”
“If anything happened to her, I was supposed to wait until Margaret made a direct move against Noah.”
I nearly threw the phone across the room.
“She knew my mother was dangerous?”
“She suspected it.”
I turned the phone on.
One video remained.
Emily appeared on the screen.
My Emily.
Hair pulled into a messy bun.
No makeup.
Tired eyes.
Very pregnant.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel, if you’re watching this, something went wrong.”
My knees weakened.
I sat.
Emily continued.
“Your mother has been asking strange questions about the baby. She asked my doctor whether there was any chance Noah wasn’t yours. Then she offered me money.”
I whispered, “What?”
“Five million dollars to disappear before Noah was born.”
Emily looked down.
“I said no.”
My throat closed.
“She told me I had no idea what I was taking from her.”
I covered my mouth.
On-screen, Emily leaned closer.
“So I started digging.”
She held up a bank statement.
“I found transfers from the Mercer family trust into shell companies connected to Margaret.”
Benjamin said quietly, “That was the first proof of embezzlement.”
Emily continued.
“Hundreds of millions may be missing.”
I stared at the screen.
“And Daniel… I found something about your birth mother.”
My heart stopped.
“I don’t believe Rebecca left voluntarily.”
Emily looked afraid now.
“If Margaret learns what I know, she may come after me.”
The video ended.
I sat motionless.
Then another file appeared.
An audio recording.
Emily’s voice.
Margaret’s voice.
Margaret said, “You should take the money.”
Emily answered, “Stay away from my child.”
Margaret laughed softly.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“You think Rebecca was the first woman who tried to take this family away from me?”
Silence.
Emily asked, “What did you do to Rebecca?”
Margaret replied,
“The same thing I’ll do to anyone who leaves me no choice.”
The recording stopped.
I stood.
“Where is Margaret now?”
Benjamin hesitated.
“What?”
He looked at his phone.
“The police went back to formally arrest her.”
“And?”
May you like
Benjamin’s face tightened.
“She’s gone.”
