Chapter 8 - Victoria’s Real Debt
Grace Miller.
Grace stared at her own name.
“No.”
Julian read it again.
The document was authentic enough to warrant immediate legal examination.
Grace stepped away from the table.
“I was twenty-two.”
“That may have been the point,” Julian said.
“Your father barely knew me.”
“He trusted Daniel.”
Richard had apparently designed the trust as an emergency safeguard.
Grace did not own Mercer Harbor.
She had no automatic claim to Julian’s fortune.
But if certain fraud conditions were proven, the trustee possessed temporary voting authority over a block of protected company shares until the board completed an independent investigation.
Daniel had been chosen.
After Daniel’s death, Grace became the named successor.
Nathan had spent years searching for the document.
Suddenly Grace understood why he had watched her.
Why Victoria had wanted control over her.
Why Damon was ordered to kill her.
Grace was not merely a maid who noticed too much.
She was the last lock Nathan could not open.
The lawyers confirmed the trust the following morning.
Nathan’s fraud triggered it.
For the duration of the investigation, Grace held extraordinary authority over shares Nathan needed.
She almost laughed at the absurdity.
Twenty-four hours earlier she had been changing linens.
Now attorneys were explaining corporate voting rights.
Julian watched her carefully.
“You don't have to do anything you don't want.”
Grace thought of her father.
“I want to finish what he started.”
Victoria heard about the trust.
Her reaction surprised Grace.
She smiled.
“Nathan must be furious.”
“You sound pleased.”
“I hate him more than I hate you.”
“That isn't reassuring.”
Victoria revealed another truth.
Her family’s debt had originally been purchased by Nathan.
He owned the loans.
He manufactured her desperation before approaching her.
“He studied people,” Victoria said. “Found the crack, then pushed.”
Grace understood.
Her crack had been Linda.
Victoria’s had been status.
Martin’s had been fear.
Julian’s had been trust.
Nathan turned weaknesses into doors.
“But you still walked through yours,” Grace said.
Victoria nodded.
“I did.”
Two days before the wedding, another message arrived.
This time directly to Grace.
YOU’RE SITTING IN MY CHAIR.
She showed Julian.
“What chair?”
“Company control.”
Grace typed nothing back.
Nathan sent another message.
YOUR FATHER MADE THE SAME MISTAKE.
Grace’s calm broke.
She wanted to respond.
Julian gently took the phone.
“He wants you angry.”
“I know.”
“Then don't give him what he wants.”
She looked at him.
For once, the billionaire was helping the fighter control her temper.
Grace almost smiled.
The next message contained a photograph.
Daniel’s wrecked car.
The image had never been released publicly.
Nathan had been there.
Ruiz reopened Daniel’s death as a homicide investigation.
Forensic records revealed brake-line damage that investigators had missed.
Grace went into the bathroom and vomited.
Her father had not died in an accident.
Someone had killed him.
Julian waited outside.
When Grace emerged, she had washed her face.
“You can stop,” he said.
“No.”
“You don't have to prove anything.”
“I’m not proving anything.”
“What are you doing?”
Grace looked toward the ballroom where workers were preparing a wedding designed to catch a murderer.
“Protecting the people he hasn't hurt yet.”
That evening, Martin Shaw surfaced.
He walked into a police station in New Jersey and surrendered.
He wanted immunity.
Ruiz refused full immunity but negotiated cooperation.
Martin confirmed Nathan ordered Daniel’s death.
He also claimed Nathan had another person inside Mercer Hill.
Someone who had never appeared in any investigation.
“Who?” Ruiz asked.
Martin refused to say until transferred into federal protection.
During transport, the convoy was attacked.
Martin survived.
One officer was wounded.
Nathan remained ahead of them.
Then Martin finally talked.
Ruiz called Julian at 2:13 a.m.
Grace stood beside him when he answered.
Ruiz spoke for less than thirty seconds.
Julian’s expression became unreadable.
“What?” Grace asked after he hung up.
Julian looked toward the dark hallway.
“Martin identified Nathan’s inside man.”
“Who?”
Before Julian could answer, footsteps sounded upstairs.
Someone was moving through Mercer Hill.
Security reported every authorized person accounted for.
Grace and Julian looked toward the staircase.
A shadow appeared at the top.
Then a familiar voice called Grace’s name.
It belonged to someone who should have been sleeping safely at the rehabilitation center.
“Grace?”
May you like
Her mother stepped into view.
And a man stood behind her.
