Chapter 3 - What Grant Had Hidden
Natalie did not touch the USB drive.
Neither did Rachel.
Adrian looked as if someone had removed the floor beneath him.
Elise Warren closed her identification wallet.
“I’m not here to arrest anyone.”
“That’s comforting,” Rachel said.
Elise almost smiled.
“I’d like to speak with Mrs. Mercer.”
“My client won’t answer questions without understanding the purpose.”
Natalie glanced at Rachel.
My client.
The words made everything feel suddenly real.
Elise pulled out a chair but did not sit.
“We’re reviewing disclosures connected to Mercer Axis’s proposed acquisition of Calder Systems.”
“Proposed?” Natalie asked.
Elise looked at her carefully.
“Yes.”
“Grant announced the acquisition was completed.”
“I’m aware.”
Adrian leaned back.
Rachel said, “We’re done.”
Natalie put a hand on her arm.
“Wait.”
Rachel looked at her.
Natalie asked Elise, “Did my husband lie to investors?”
“I can’t characterize evidence for you.”
“That sounds like yes.”
“I can tell you we’re examining whether public representations accurately reflected the transaction’s status.”
Natalie thought of last night.
The champagne.
The enormous screen displaying MERCER AXIS + CALDER.
Grant accepting congratulations.
Financial reporters posting photographs.
Stock prices rising after-hours.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Elise’s expression changed.
“Your name appears on documents authorizing voting actions related to the deal.”
Natalie felt Rachel stiffen.
“I didn’t sign them.”
Elise said nothing.
Natalie continued.
“My signature was forged.”
Rachel interrupted.
“That is my client’s current understanding. We will provide a formal statement after reviewing the documents.”
Elise nodded.
“That would be useful.”
Adrian looked toward Natalie.
“So now you see.”
She did.
Grant had not merely stolen from her.
He may have used her identity to support a transaction he publicly misrepresented.
Natalie looked at Elise.
“Does Grant know you’re talking to me?”
“No.”
“Does he know about the investigation?”
“I can’t answer that.”
Which meant maybe.
After Elise left, Rachel closed her laptop.
“You’re not going anywhere without me for the foreseeable future.”
Natalie nodded.
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I should have told you sooner.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Grant convinced me you knew.”
Natalie stared at him.
“He showed me documents with your signature. Emails from your account. Instructions supposedly sent by you.”
“I sent none of them.”
“I know that now.”
Rachel asked, “Do you still have the emails?”
“Yes.”
“Preserve everything.”
Adrian nodded.
Natalie felt anger replace shock.
Not hot anger.
Something colder.
More useful.
“What would happen if I accepted the trust today?”
Adrian looked at Rachel.
Rachel answered.
“If the trust is still valid, you become beneficial controller of the voting interest.”
“Can Grant stop me?”
“He can challenge it.”
“Would he win?”
“I don’t know.”
Natalie looked at Adrian.
“What would eight percent do to him?”
Adrian’s answer came quickly.
“It could cost him control of Mercer Axis.”
That surprised her.
“He owns thirty-nine percent.”
“Ownership isn’t the same as board control. Mercer Axis has nine directors. Grant controls four. Two independents usually vote with him. But the Calder situation has directors nervous.”
“And my shares?”
“Thomas structured them with enhanced voting rights on governance questions.”
Natalie whispered, “Of course he did.”
Thomas Mercer had planned something.
Not against Grant necessarily.
Perhaps for balance.
A counterweight.
Someone his son could not easily intimidate.
Natalie remembered Thomas on his last Christmas.
Grant had left early after arguing with him about a board appointment.
Thomas sat by the fire with Natalie.
He handed her a chess piece.
A white queen.
“Do you know why she matters?” he asked.
“Because she moves farther than everyone else.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Because people spend so much time watching the king that they forget where the power really is.”
At the time, Natalie laughed.
Now she felt chilled.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“I want control of the trust.”
Rachel studied her.
“For financial protection?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because Grant stole my voice and used it to speak for him.”
Natalie looked at the papers.
“I want it back.”
They spent the afternoon filing notices.
By 4:20, Grant knew.
Natalie’s phone rang.
She let it.
Again.
Again.
Then a text.
GRANT: What did you do?
She stared at it.
A second message arrived.
GRANT: Natalie, answer me now.
Then:
GRANT: You have no idea what that trust is.
Natalie typed.
Apparently neither did I.
Grant called immediately.
Rachel nodded once.
“Speaker.”
Natalie answered.
Grant did not say hello.
“You filed acceptance.”
“Yes.”
“Withdraw it.”
“No.”
“Natalie, this isn’t a game.”
“You should’ve remembered that before forging my name.”
“I did not forge anything.”
“Then someone did it for you.”
Silence.
Natalie continued.
“You hid Thomas’s trust.”
“I managed it.”
“You concealed it.”
“You weren’t qualified to manage voting shares.”
The words stunned her more than the affair.
Not because they were cruel.
Because Grant believed them.
Natalie had spent years serving on nonprofit boards, negotiating grants, reviewing budgets, and advising philanthropic organizations.
Grant did not think she lacked intelligence.
He thought anything outside his control lacked legitimacy.
“You decided that.”
“Yes.”
“You decided I didn’t need to know I owned part of your company.”
“You don’t own it.”
“I control the trust.”
“You’re a beneficiary.”
“And you’re no longer trustee.”
Grant inhaled sharply.
He had not realized.
Rachel smiled without humor.
Natalie almost did too.
“You can’t remove me automatically.”
“The acceptance notice triggers replacement under section nine.”
Silence.
Rachel whispered, “He hasn’t read it recently.”
Natalie said, “Thomas planned for this.”
Grant’s voice turned quiet.
“My father manipulated people from the grave.”
“No. He gave me something. You took it.”
“You think my father trusted you more than me?”
Natalie felt no pleasure in answering.
“I think he knew you.”
Grant disconnected.
Two hours later, Mercer Axis’s general counsel contacted Rachel.
They requested an emergency meeting.
Natalie refused.
At 7:00, she watched financial news report questions about the Calder acquisition.
Mercer Axis stock fell six percent in after-hours trading.
At 7:18, Grant appeared on television.
He stood outside company headquarters.
Perfect suit.
Perfect expression.
He called reports of transaction uncertainty “irresponsible speculation.”
Natalie watched his face.
She knew that face.
He was afraid.
At 8:03, Vanessa sent Natalie a message.
VANESSA: We need to talk privately.
Natalie ignored it.
At 8:09:
VANESSA: You think you know what happened. You don’t.
At 8:12:
VANESSA: Grant lied to me too.
Natalie stared at the screen.
Rachel said, “That may be bait.”
“Probably.”
“Don’t answer.”
Natalie didn’t.
At 9:30, she walked Cooper along Riverside Drive.
For the first time in twenty-four hours, her mind felt almost quiet.
The dog trotted beside her.
No photographers.
No board members.
No Grant.
Just cold air and city noise.
A woman passing them smiled.
“Beautiful dog.”
Natalie looked down at Cooper.
“Yes.”
She meant more than appearance.
At home, she found an envelope pushed under her apartment door.
No stamp.
No name.
Cooper sniffed it.
Natalie photographed it before touching it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Grant and Vanessa.
Taken six months earlier.
They stood outside a courthouse in Connecticut.
Not touching.
Not smiling.
The reverse contained a handwritten date.
And two words.
MARRIAGE LICENSE.
Natalie stared at it.
That was impossible.
Grant was married to her.
Her phone buzzed.
Vanessa again.
This time the message contained only an address.
May you like
And one sentence.
VANESSA: Come alone if you want to know who Grant planned to marry next.
