Chapter 2 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The man standing beside Raymond Mercer was holding the red leather ledger.
Grant Mercer stopped breathing for a second.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he knew exactly what that ledger meant.
For seventeen years, that book had been the one thing his family protected more carefully than money, power, or reputation.
And now it was sitting in the hands of someone who should never have been near it.
Raymond stepped into the clinic room first.
His expensive gray suit was perfectly pressed.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
Behind him stood a man in his late fifties with silver hair, tired eyes, and a scar running across his jaw.
Grant stared at him.
He had seen that face before.
Not in person.
In photographs.
Old photographs his father kept locked away.
Daniel Prescott.
The man who supposedly stole millions from the Mercer family.
The man who disappeared seventeen years ago.
The man who was supposed to be dead.
Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the blanket covering her.
Grant noticed immediately.
She knew him.
“Impossible,” Grant whispered.
Raymond smiled slightly.
“That word has caused your family a lot of trouble.”
Grant’s hand moved toward his weapon.
Raymond noticed.
“Still threatening people before asking questions.”
“You brought a dead man into my clinic.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
“I was never dead.”
The room became silent.
Grant looked at Evelyn.
Then Raymond.
Then the ledger.
“Where did you get that?”
Daniel held the red leather book tighter.
“From the person who stole it before Evelyn ever touched it.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Daniel did not answer.
Raymond walked further into the room.
“You see the problem, Grant? This is why I wanted you to trust me.”
Grant almost laughed.
“Trust you?”
His voice became colder.
“You told me Evelyn betrayed me.”
“She did take the ledger.”
Evelyn looked at Raymond.
A quiet anger appeared in her eyes.
“I took it to save him.”
Raymond looked at her.
“You expect him to believe that?”
Grant stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Everyone went silent.
Grant looked at Evelyn.
For four years, she had been the person standing beside him.
The person who organized his life.
The person who knew every weakness in his empire.
And now he was discovering that almost everything about her had been hidden.
But something bothered him.
She had never looked like someone trying to destroy him.
She looked like someone trying to survive.
“Explain,” Grant said.
Evelyn slowly sat up.
Daniel moved toward her.
Grant immediately blocked him.
Daniel stopped.
“That’s why she trusted you.”
Grant’s eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
Daniel looked at him calmly.
“You think I’m the enemy because that’s what your family taught you.”
“My family told me you stole millions.”
Daniel gave a bitter smile.
“And your family told you your father died because of an accident.”
Grant froze.
Nobody mentioned his father casually.
Not ever.
Raymond’s expression changed slightly.
Only slightly.
But Grant noticed.
“What does my father have to do with this?”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
She lowered her eyes.
Then she whispered:
“Everything.”
Grant turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“I knew pieces.”
“Pieces?”
“I spent four years searching for the truth.”
“You worked in my company.”
“Yes.”
“You had access to my private files.”
“Yes.”
“You were looking for something.”
Evelyn didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than a lie.
Grant stepped back.
“Then Raymond was right.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I never wanted to hurt you.”
The room became quiet.
Grant hated that he believed her.
He hated that after everything, he still believed her.
Raymond placed the ledger on the table.
“You are making this too emotional.”
Grant looked at him.
“Funny coming from the man who manipulated an entire family.”
Raymond’s smile disappeared.
“I protected this family.”
“No.”
Grant stared at him.
“You protected yourself.”
For the first time, Raymond looked angry.
Daniel noticed.
And that reaction told Grant more than words could.
“Why are you afraid of him?” Grant asked.
Raymond looked away.
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Grant walked toward the ledger.
He opened it.
The pages were filled with numbers, names, and dates.
But something was wrong.
The handwriting.
It wasn’t his father’s.
Grant knew his father’s handwriting.
He had spent years seeing signatures on contracts.
Documents.
Letters.
This was different.
Someone had copied it.
“Someone forged these pages.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Grant looked up.
“Then why hide it?”
“Because the original ledger contained something much more dangerous.”
“What?”
Daniel looked directly at him.
“Proof that your father didn’t build the Mercer empire alone.”
Grant stared.
“Who helped him?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then said:
“The same people who are trying to destroy you now.”
Evelyn reached for the tablet beside her.
She opened another file.
“Grant.”
He looked over.
On the screen was a list of payments.
Old payments.
Hidden payments.
All connected to companies that no longer existed.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Hale Holdings.
Grant’s face changed.
Madison.
Daniel watched him carefully.
“Now you understand why the flash drive had that name.”
Grant looked at Evelyn.
“Madison?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You said someone wanted me to believe she was involved.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked toward Raymond.
Nobody spoke.
That silence was the answer.
Grant turned slowly.
His uncle’s face remained calm.
But his eyes had changed.
“You.”
Raymond sighed.
“You always were too much like your father.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you ask questions too late.”
Grant stepped closer.
“You knew about Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the ledger.”
“Yes.”
The honesty was worse than a denial.
Grant stared.
“Why?”
Raymond looked at him.
“Because your father made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted the wrong person.”
A sudden noise came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
Cole, Grant’s driver, appeared at the door.
His face was pale.
“Boss.”
Grant looked at him.
“What?”
Cole held up a phone.
“This was delivered to the front desk.”
Grant took it.
No name.
No number.
Only a photograph.
He looked down.
And his entire body went still.
It was a picture of his father.
Alive.
Standing beside Daniel Prescott.
Taken seventeen years ago.
On the back of the photograph were four words.
YOU NEVER KNEW HIM.
Grant felt the room closing around him.
“My father…”
Daniel looked away.
“He wanted you protected.”
“Protected from what?”
Nobody answered.
Grant turned the photograph over again.
There was another message underneath.
A time.
A location.
And one name.
His own.
Evelyn saw it.
Her face turned pale.
“Grant.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
She whispered:
“That meeting place…”
A cold silence filled the room.
“What about it?”
Evelyn stared at the address.
“I know where that is.”
“Where?”
Her voice dropped.
“That’s where my father disappeared.”
Grant looked back at Daniel.
Daniel was already watching him.
Then the lights in the clinic suddenly went out.
Everything went black.
A second later, the emergency lights turned on.
Red.
Dim.
Violent.
Grant reached for his weapon.
Raymond was gone.
The clinic door was open.
May you like
And on the floor outside the room was a single envelope with Grant’s name written across the front…
But inside was a message signed by the one person who was supposed to be impossible to reach.
