Chapter 4: The Name on the Screen
Sabrina's words hung over the ballroom like smoke.
Michael stared at her.
“Then tell me who.””
She swallowed.
“I can't.””
My fingers tightened around David's folder.
“You just said you knew.””
“I know who had access to the computer,” Sabrina said.
David stepped closer.
“That's not the same thing.””
Sabrina looked at him.
“Maybe not.””
Michael's voice hardened.
“Sabrina, enough. My mother was attacked in our house. Someone tried to steal twenty-two million dollars from her. If you know something, you tell us now.””
She looked toward the three hundred silent guests.
“Not here.””
“Then where?””
“Our suite.””
“No,” I said.
Everyone turned toward me.
“We stay here.””
Sabrina shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“I understand perfectly.””
I held up the photograph from my phone.
“This was taken inside my bedroom.””
Her face changed.
Again.
Just for a heartbeat.
But I saw it.
So did David.
He quietly said, “Who took the photograph?””
Sabrina looked at Michael.
“I don't know.””
“You said you knew who did it,” Michael said.
“I said I know who had access.””
“Who?””
Sabrina pressed her lips together.
Then she whispered a name.
“Daniel.””
Michael frowned.
“Daniel who?””
“Daniel Mercer.””
My stomach dropped.
David looked at me.
“You know him?””
“I know the name.””
Michael stared between us.
“Mom?””
I nodded slowly.
“Daniel used to work for your father.””
Michael's face tightened.
“My dad's old accountant?””
“Yes.””
“He died years ago.””
“No,” David said quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
David opened his briefcase and pulled out his tablet.
“He didn't.””
Sabrina's eyes widened.
Michael took a step back.
“What are you talking about?””
“Daniel Mercer disappeared after your father's company collapsed,” David said.
“He was never officially declared dead.””
Michael shook his head.
“My father died eighteen years ago. Daniel was already gone.””
“That's what everyone believed.””
I stared at the tablet.
A photograph appeared.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Daniel Mercer.
Beside him stood a woman I recognized immediately.
Sabrina.
My throat went dry.
Michael looked at the photograph.
“That's you.””
Sabrina didn't speak.
“Why are you standing with him?”” he asked.
She looked away.
“Because he helped me.””
“With what?””
She didn't answer.
Michael grabbed the tablet.
“Answer me.””
“I met him before I met you.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
“How many?””
Sabrina closed her eyes.
“Seven.””
Michael looked stunned.
“You knew him for seven years?””
“He contacted me.””
“Why?””
“He said he had information about your family.””
I stepped forward.
“What information?””
Sabrina looked at me.
“Your husband didn't lose the company because of bad investments.””
Silence.
David's expression changed.
“What did he tell you?””
Sabrina's voice dropped.
“He said someone inside the company stole money.””
Michael stared at her.
“Who?””
“I never knew.””
I felt something cold move through me.
“Why would Daniel target me now?””
Sabrina shook her head.
“He didn't.””
David looked at her sharply.
“Then who did?””
She hesitated.
“I don't know.””
“You're lying,” Michael said.
Sabrina's eyes filled with tears.
“I am not.””
“You've lied to me all morning.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
She looked at me.
“From the truth about your mother.””
The room seemed to shrink.
Michael slowly turned toward me.
“What truth?””
I couldn't answer.
Not because I didn't know.
Because suddenly, I realized there was a part of my husband's past I'd never told my son.
A part I'd buried so deeply that I had convinced myself it no longer mattered.
David touched my arm.
“Evelyn.””
I looked at him.
He whispered, “We need to talk privately.””
Michael heard him.
“No.””
He stepped between us.
“Not anymore.””
His eyes were wet.
“If my mother is involved in this, I deserve to know.””
I looked at my only child.
Then I said the sentence I'd avoided for eighteen years.
“Your father didn't die broke.””
Michael stopped breathing.
“He left you money.””
David closed his eyes.
“And I hid it.””
Michael stared at me.
“How much?””
I couldn't speak.
Sabrina answered for me.
“Twenty-two million.””
Michael's face went white.
And from somewhere near the back of the ballroom, a man's voice said,
“Actually, Evelyn… it was forty-four.””
I turned.
Daniel Mercer stood beside the doors.
May you like
Alive.
And smiling.
