Chapter 10 - The Night Grace Was Framed
The emerald bracelet.
Victoria threw it.
Nathan instinctively looked toward it.
Grace moved.
She covered the distance before he could recover.
Her first kick struck his forearm.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Julian tackled Nathan from the side.
Victoria scrambled for the weapon.
Nathan struck Julian and threw him against the wall.
Grace attacked again.
Nathan was stronger than Damon.
He had trained.
But Grace had something he did not.
Patience.
She let him commit his weight.
Then used it.
Nathan hit the stone floor.
Victoria grabbed the gun.
For one terrifying second, she pointed it at Grace.
Everyone froze.
Grace looked into Victoria’s eyes.
“You still have a choice.”
Victoria’s hands trembled.
Nathan laughed from the floor.
“She doesn't.”
Victoria turned the gun.
Toward Nathan.
Then lowered it.
She removed the magazine and kicked both pieces toward Grace.
“I do now.”
Federal agents stormed the passage seconds later.
Nathan was arrested.
Charles Bennett was taken into custody upstairs.
It should have ended there.
It didn't.
Nathan smiled while agents handcuffed him.
“You think you won?”
Grace hated how calm he looked.
“You killed my father.”
“You’ll have to prove that.”
“We will.”
Nathan glanced at Julian.
“Ask him about the trust.”
Julian frowned.
“What?”
Nathan laughed.
“You still haven't read the final amendment.”
Grace felt cold.
There was another document.
Nathan claimed Richard had changed the trust days before his death.
If true, Grace’s authority could disappear.
Worse, Nathan claimed Julian knew about the amendment.
Grace looked at Julian.
He seemed genuinely confused.
Nathan was removed.
But doubt remained.
The amendment surfaced hours later.
Charles had hidden it.
It appeared to transfer control to Julian.
Grace examined the signature.
Something bothered her.
Daniel had taught her to notice balance in an opponent.
Documents had balance too.
The signature looked perfect.
Too perfect.
A forensic examiner agreed.
It had been digitally reproduced.
Nathan's final weapon was division.
Even in custody, he tried to make Grace distrust Julian.
The fraud failed.
But another problem emerged.
Police found evidence planted inside Grace’s apartment.
The missing company funds.
Copies of Julian’s passwords.
A weapon.
Someone had prepared a complete case framing Grace as the architect of the conspiracy.
The setup dated back months.
If Grace had not stopped Damon, she might have been arrested within days.
Julian saw photographs of the evidence.
“This was happening while she worked in my house.”
Ruiz nodded.
“Victoria helped prepare it.”
Julian confronted Victoria.
She did not deny it.
“I thought Grace was disposable.”
Grace heard those words directly.
They hurt more than insults about her uniform ever had.
Victoria continued.
“I was wrong.”
“That doesn't erase it.”
“I know.”
Victoria accepted a cooperation agreement.
She would testify against Nathan, Damon, Charles, and Martin.
She would also plead guilty to fraud, conspiracy, evidence tampering, and other charges.
There would be prison.
No miracle absolution.
No billionaire saving her.
Grace respected that more than another apology.
That evening, the mansion became quiet.
The fake wedding flowers still covered the ballroom.
Grace began picking up broken glass.
Julian found her.
“You know we have staff for that.”
“I am staff.”
He looked at her.
“No.”
Grace straightened.
“Don't do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn me into something heroic because you feel guilty.”
Julian was silent.
“I’m a housekeeper,” Grace said. “I was also a taekwondo competitor. I’m a daughter. I almost became a physical therapist. None of those things cancels the others.”
Julian nodded.
“What do you want to be now?”
Nobody had asked her that in years.
Grace looked around Mercer Hill.
“I don't know.”
For once, not knowing felt like freedom.
Later, she visited the underground archive alone.
Her father's letter remained there.
She read the final page.
One sentence had been overlooked because it was written inside the envelope fold.
Grace carefully opened it.
Daniel had left one final instruction.
Richard hid the original evidence where Nathan would never willingly look.
Grace frowned.
Below it were three words.
UNDER HIS NAME.
She thought of Nathan.
His name.
His grave.
Nathan had a memorial plot despite his missing body.
Grace called Ruiz.
The next morning, police obtained permission to inspect the memorial.
Beneath the stone was a waterproof container.
Inside were Richard Mercer’s original files.
Financial records.
Recordings.
Photographs.
And evidence connecting Nathan to Daniel’s death.
But one photograph made Grace stop.
Daniel stood beside Richard.
Between them was Charles Bennett.
On the back Daniel had written:
CHARLES TRIED TO WARN US.
Grace stared at it.
Charles had been identified as Nathan’s inside man.
But Daniel's note suggested something else.
She called Ruiz.
No answer.
Then her phone rang.
Charles Bennett was calling from federal custody.
Grace answered.
His first words were:
“Nathan has someone else.”
Grace gripped the phone.
“Who?”
Charles whispered the name.
Grace looked toward the open archive door.
May you like
Footsteps were descending the stairs.
And the person Charles had just named walked into the room.
