Chapter 10 - The Secret Inside Mercer Ridge
Rebecca caught the syringe.
She injected Graham.
His heart rate stabilized before the ambulance arrived.
Marcus escaped.
But he left something behind.
A phone.
Its encrypted files revealed payments, forged documents, surveillance photographs, and one final plan.
PROJECT SUCCESSION.
Marcus intended to kill Thomas, frame Vanessa, declare Graham incompetent, and seize Mercer Ridge using the forged transfer.
Lily had destroyed the entire scheme by noticing one bottle.
Graham recovered slowly.
His hearing improved each day.
Not completely.
Perhaps never completely.
But enough.
Thomas, now in federal custody, requested to see him.
Graham refused.
Then Thomas sent a message.
MARCUS HAS NORA’S MOTHER’S FILE.
Ruth Bennett.
Nora believed her mother had died naturally.
The file proved otherwise.
Ruth had been poisoned too.
Not by Thomas.
By Marcus.
Marcus had spent years eliminating anyone who could expose Mercer Ridge’s hidden research.
Graham told Nora.
She cried quietly.
Then wiped her face.
“What do we do?”
“We finish it.”
The final evidence was hidden inside Mercer Ridge’s original server room.
Marcus was heading there.
Graham, federal agents, and Daniel entered the building after midnight.
Lily stayed with Rebecca and Evelyn.
In the server room, they found Marcus.
He had already begun deleting files.
Graham confronted him.
“You were my friend.”
Marcus laughed.
“I was your employee.”
“I gave you half of everything.”
“You gave me what you thought I deserved.”
Marcus pulled a gun.
Agents shouted.
He grabbed Graham.
For several tense seconds, they stood beside the server racks.
Then the building alarms activated.
Every screen displayed the same image.
Lily.
She was at the estate, using Evelyn’s old computer.
She had accidentally—or perhaps deliberately—triggered the remote backup.
Every deleted file was being copied to federal servers.
Marcus stared.
“No.”
Graham almost smiled.
“You underestimated her again.”
Marcus fired at the server.
Agents tackled him.
The gun skidded away.
Marcus was arrested.
It should have ended there.
It did not.
Because one recovered file contained a video recorded the night Alexander died.
Graham watched.
His brother stood in a parking garage.
Marcus confronted him.
Thomas arrived.
They argued.
Alexander threatened to expose them.
Then a car approached.
The video ended before impact.
But the driver was visible.
Vanessa Hale.
Graham stared at the screen.
Vanessa had told him Thomas ordered Alexander’s death.
She had never mentioned she was driving the car.
His phone rang.
Hospital security.
Vanessa had disappeared from her room.
Graham immediately called Nora.
No answer.
He called Rebecca.
No answer.
Then Lily video-called him.
The camera shook.
Lily was hiding beneath a table.
She signed one sentence.
“Pretty lady came back.”
Behind Lily, a pair of silver heels stopped.
Vanessa’s voice whispered:
May you like
“Come out, sweetheart.”
And Lily’s screen went dark.
