Chapter 7 - A Father Goes to War
The jury found Charles Mercer guilty on nearly every major count.
Fraud.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Obstruction.
The courtroom remained silent as the verdicts were read.
Charles showed almost no emotion.
Then he turned toward Rowan.
For one second, father and son looked at each other.
Rowan expected anger.
Instead, Charles looked old.
Not powerful.
Not intimidating.
Just old.
Rowan felt no victory.
Only release.
Outside, reporters surrounded him.
“Mr. Mercer, will you return as CEO?”
“Do you forgive your father?”
“Will you sue Grant Holloway?”
“What happens to Mercer Development?”
Rowan stopped.
Microphones crowded forward.
“My children almost lost both parents because adults decided money and power mattered more than family.”
The crowd quieted.
“I won't discuss anything that compromises their privacy. The company will recover. My children come first.”
Then he walked away.
And for once, he meant it literally.
He returned home before dinner.
Micah met him at the door.
“Did you win?”
Rowan smiled.
“It wasn't really about winning.”
“Did Grandpa go to jail?”
“Yes.”
Micah absorbed that.
Then Elsie appeared holding a plastic crown.
“Daddy, you're late for tea.”
Rowan removed his jacket.
“That sounds much more important.”
He spent the evening drinking imaginary tea from a pink cup.
The next week, Mercer Development’s board asked him to return.
He agreed under conditions.
No more seventy-hour weeks.
A new independent compliance department.
Mandatory external audits.
And Grant’s shares would be sold.
The board accepted.
Rowan rebuilt the company differently.
But the greater rebuilding happened at home.
Micah stopped hiding crackers.
That milestone made Rowan cry privately in the pantry.
Elsie returned to preschool.
Her teacher reported that she had begun telling everyone her father made terrible pancakes.
Delaney moved into a smaller house ten minutes away.
The first night the children stayed there again, Micah called Rowan.
“Dad?”
Rowan sat upright.
“Yes?”
“We're okay.”
Rowan smiled.
“Good.”
“I just wanted you to know.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
“And Mom bought food.”
From the background Delaney shouted, “Tell your father I can hear you!”
Micah giggled.
May you like
Rowan laughed.
It was perhaps the most beautiful phone call of his life.
