Chapter 2 - The Account in Evelyn’s Name
“Ms. Reyes? My name is Thomas Grant. I need to speak with you about Mercer Holdings.”
Daniela pulled her wrist free.
Adrian moved between her and the door.
“You don’t need to talk to him.”
Daniela stared at her husband.
“Move.”
“Daniela, you don’t understand what’s happening.”
“Then this is your opportunity to explain.”
Adrian glanced at the family members behind them.
“Not here.”
Daniela almost laughed.
Ten minutes earlier, he had been perfectly comfortable discussing their marriage in front of everyone.
Now privacy mattered.
She reached around him and opened the door.
A man in his late fifties stood outside carrying a leather document case.
Daniela recognized him.
Thomas Grant had been Adrian’s father’s attorney for nearly twenty years.
She had met him twice.
Both times, he had been polite but distant.
Today, he looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Ms. Reyes.”
“Mr. Grant.”
His eyes moved toward Adrian.
“I’m sorry to arrive without warning.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“This isn’t a good time.”
Thomas ignored him.
“I was told Daniela might be leaving today.”
Daniela’s attention sharpened.
“Told by whom?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Your accountant contacted my office.”
Rachel.
Of course.
Daniela stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“No.”
Daniela looked at him.
“This apartment is jointly leased.”
“It’s my family’s home.”
“Then perhaps your family should start paying for it.”
Evelyn stood again.
“That is enough.”
Daniela turned.
“No. It isn’t.”
The movers continued working.
One carried boxes through the living room while another wrapped a framed painting Daniela had purchased during a trip to Santa Fe.
The contrast was almost surreal.
A birthday lunch was still spread across the table.
Half a cake.
Crystal glasses.
Flowers.
And in the middle of it all sat four years of financial records.
Thomas entered.
He placed his case on the dining table.
Evelyn’s face tightened.
“You had no right to come here.”
Thomas looked at her.
“I believe Daniela is the person who should decide that.”
That frightened Evelyn.
Daniela could see it.
Thomas opened the case.
Inside were several folders.
Adrian walked toward him.
“Whatever Rachel thinks she found—”
Thomas raised a hand.
“I suggest you stop talking.”
The room became completely silent.
Daniela had never heard anyone speak to Adrian that way.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m still technically counsel to Mercer Holdings. That means anything you say in front of people who are not represented may complicate matters considerably.”
Daniela felt a chill.
“Complicate what matters?”
Thomas looked at her.
“May I?”
He indicated a chair.
Daniela nodded.
Everyone sat except Adrian.
Thomas removed a document.
“Three years ago, Mercer Holdings began experiencing serious cash-flow problems.”
Daniela looked at Adrian.
He stared at the floor.
Thomas continued.
“Your father-in-law expanded too quickly before his death. Several commercial properties were overleveraged. Adrian inherited assets, but he also inherited significant debt.”
Daniela remembered.
Adrian had described the company as thriving.
He drove expensive cars.
Wore custom suits.
Hosted dinners.
His mother vacationed in Europe twice a year.
“They were broke?” Daniela asked.
“Not exactly. But they were in trouble.”
“How much trouble?”
Thomas paused.
“Enough that banks were unwilling to extend additional credit without new collateral.”
Daniela’s mouth went dry.
She already knew where this was going.
“My company.”
Thomas nodded.
“Your company.”
Adrian finally spoke.
“Daniela, listen.”
She raised a hand.
He stopped.
Thomas continued.
“Your design firm had unusually strong cash reserves. More importantly, you owned it outright before the marriage.”
Daniela had spent eleven years building Reyes Studio.
She had started at twenty-one with a borrowed laptop and two clients.
By thirty, she had twenty-three employees.
Adrian always treated it like something cute.
A hobby.
Something Daniela did until they had children.
Now she understood why.
If he acknowledged its value, he would have had to acknowledge hers.
“How did they access it?”
Thomas glanced at Adrian.
“Authorization forms.”
“The forged signature.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn slammed her palm on the table.
“No one forged anything.”
Thomas turned toward her.
“Mrs. Mercer—”
“She signed documents constantly. She doesn’t remember every piece of paper Adrian brought home.”
Daniela stared at her.
Evelyn had just made a mistake.
A large one.
Daniela slowly asked, “How would you know what Adrian brought me to sign?”
Evelyn froze.
Melissa looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Evelyn’s lips parted.
No answer came.
Thomas reached into the folder.
“The first transfer was eighty-four thousand dollars.”
Daniela had already seen that.
“The second?”
“Forty-six thousand.”
Her stomach tightened.
“The third?”
“One hundred and twelve.”
Daniela gripped the chair.
Thomas continued.
“Then smaller transfers. Twenty. Fifteen. Thirty-two.”
“How much?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Total?”
“Yes.”
“Three hundred and nine thousand dollars.”
The room tilted.
Daniela stared at the untouched birthday cake.
Three hundred and nine thousand.
She thought about employees whose salaries depended on that company.
Clients.
Projects.
Years of work.
“Where did it go?”
Thomas slid a document toward her.
“An account controlled by Evelyn.”
Evelyn stood.
“It was temporary.”
Melissa stared at her mother.
“What?”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“The company needed liquidity.”
“Daniela’s company?” Melissa asked.
“Our company.”
Daniela looked at her.
“No.”
Evelyn turned.
“What?”
“Say that again.”
Evelyn lifted her chin.
“Our family’s company needed—”
“No. The other part.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Daniela stood.
“Reyes Studio is not your company.”
“You married Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“That made you part of this family.”
“Apparently only when my money was needed.”
Evelyn’s face flushed.
Adrian stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Daniela turned toward him.
“You knew?”
He didn’t answer.
“Adrian.”
“I knew about some of it.”
“How much?”
“I didn’t know Mom moved that much.”
Evelyn snapped, “Don’t you dare put this on me.”
Daniela looked from one to the other.
There it was.
The alliance breaking.
Adrian ran both hands through his hair.
“The company was going to collapse.”
“So you stole from mine?”
“I was going to replace it.”
“When?”
“When the refinancing cleared.”
“What refinancing?”
Adrian looked at Thomas.
Thomas said nothing.
Daniela understood.
“There is no refinancing.”
Adrian’s silence answered.
Daniela took out her phone.
“I’m calling Rachel.”
Evelyn stepped toward her.
“Daniela, think carefully.”
Daniela looked up.
“Is that a threat?”
“No.”
“It sounded like one.”
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“You could destroy this family because you’re angry.”
Daniela stared at her.
“You stole more than three hundred thousand dollars from my business, and somehow my anger is still the problem.”
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“You benefited from the Mercer name.”
Daniela almost couldn’t believe it.
“My company existed before I met your son.”
“But it grew after.”
“Because I worked.”
“Because people knew who you married.”
Daniela laughed once.
A quiet sound.
Evelyn had finally said the thing she believed.
Daniela’s success belonged to them.
Her money belonged to them.
Her home belonged to them.
But her voice?
That was the one thing they never wanted.
Thomas closed the folder.
“There is another issue.”
Adrian’s head snapped toward him.
“Thomas.”
Daniela noticed.
“What issue?”
Thomas hesitated.
“I think this should be discussed privately.”
“No.”
“Daniela—”
“Everyone who was comfortable watching my husband throw me out can stay and hear why.”
Thomas looked at Adrian.
Then Evelyn.
Finally, he removed a second folder.
“Two months ago, a loan application was submitted using Reyes Studio as guarantor.”
Daniela stopped breathing.
“For how much?”
“Seven hundred fifty thousand dollars.”
Melissa whispered, “Oh my God.”
Daniela looked at Adrian.
“You used my company to guarantee three-quarters of a million dollars?”
“The loan hasn’t funded.”
“Did I authorize it?”
Adrian looked away.
“Did I authorize it?”
“No.”
The word was barely audible.
Daniela’s hands began trembling.
Not from fear.
From rage.
She put them flat on the table.
“Cancel it.”
Thomas nodded.
“I’ve already contacted the lender and advised them that authorization is disputed.”
“Good.”
“But there may be another problem.”
Daniela closed her eyes.
Of course there was.
“What?”
Thomas removed one final page.
“This morning, someone attempted to change the ownership information for Reyes Studio.”
Daniela opened her eyes.
“To what?”
Thomas slid the page toward her.
She looked down.
The document showed a proposed ownership amendment.
Daniela Reyes Mercer — 49%.
Adrian Mercer — 51%.
Daniela stared at it.
For several seconds she couldn’t process what she was seeing.
Then she noticed the date.
Yesterday.
Her supposed signature appeared at the bottom.
Again.
Almost perfect.
Almost.
Adrian spoke quickly.
“I can explain that.”
Daniela looked up.
“No.”
“It was for the loan.”
“No.”
“The lender needed—”
“No.”
Her voice was louder now.
Not screaming.
But absolute.
Adrian stopped.
Daniela picked up the document.
“You weren’t trying to save your family company.”
He said nothing.
“You were trying to take mine.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You’re being dramatic.”
Daniela turned toward her.
“And you were helping him.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what I’ve done for my son.”
“That’s becoming very clear.”
The movers returned.
Marcus approached Daniela.
“We’ve finished the blue-tagged items.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything else?”
Daniela looked around.
At the table she bought.
The chairs she paid for.
The artwork.
The television already gone.
The expensive coffee machine Evelyn used every morning when she visited without calling.
Daniela suddenly realized something.
She didn’t want all of it.
She didn’t want to drag four years of resentment into whatever life came next.
“Only my personal things.”
Marcus nodded.
Adrian stared at her.
“You’re really doing this.”
Daniela picked up her purse.
“You told me where the door was.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because I was angry.”
“No. Because now you understand I can actually walk through it.”
Her phone rang.
Rachel.
Daniela answered.
“Rachel?”
“Are you somewhere safe?”
Daniela looked at Adrian.
“Yes.”
“I need you to leave that apartment.”
Daniela’s pulse changed.
“Why?”
“I found something while tracing the loan documents.”
“What?”
Rachel took a breath.
“Adrian didn’t just submit ownership papers.”
Daniela waited.
“He filed something with the state three weeks ago.”
“What did he file?”
“I’m sending it now.”
The phone buzzed.
Daniela opened the attachment.
At first, the legal language meant nothing.
Then she saw the heading.
DISSOLUTION OF REYES STUDIO LLC.
Her heart stopped.
Below it was a proposed transfer of assets to a newly formed corporation.
Mercer Creative Group.
Daniela slowly looked at Adrian.
He knew exactly what she had received.
His face told her.
Rachel spoke through the phone.
“Daniela?”
“Yes.”
“There’s one more page.”
Daniela scrolled.
A list of directors appeared.
Adrian Mercer.
Evelyn Mercer.
And a third name Daniela had never expected to see.
She read it twice.
Then looked across the room at Adrian’s sister.
Melissa Mercer.
Melissa saw Daniela’s expression.
“What?”
Daniela turned the screen toward her.
Melissa stared at it.
Her face drained white.
“I didn’t sign that.”
Adrian moved toward the door.
Thomas stepped in front of him.
“Where are you going?”
Adrian stopped.
Then Daniela’s phone chimed again.
A security alert from Reyes Studio.
Someone had just entered her office using an executive access card.
At 3:08 on a Sunday afternoon.
Daniela opened the live camera feed.
A figure walked toward the locked records room.
May you like
She enlarged the image.
And recognized the person immediately.
