Chapter 9 - Milo Would Not Go Near HerDaniel hired independent security that night.
Not Mercer employees.
Not anyone Evelyn knew.
Nora noticed the unfamiliar men outside.
“Friends?”
Daniel forced a smile.
“Daddy's friends.”
She accepted that.
Three-year-olds could accept simple answers adults could not.
The next morning Evelyn arrived.
Daniel watched her through the window.
Milo was lying near Nora.
The moment Evelyn approached the front door, the dog stood.
His body stiffened.
A low growl came from his chest.
Emma looked at Daniel.
“He's never done that.”
Daniel opened the door but did not invite Evelyn inside.
“I need to see Nora.”
“No.”
“I am her grandmother.”
“You left her in a pool.”
Evelyn's expression barely changed.
“You have no proof of that.”
“Nora saw you.”
“She is three.”
“The camera saw you disconnect it.”
“That proves nothing about the ladder.”
“Your key opened the pavilion.”
“So does yours.”
“I was at work.”
“Can you prove that every second?”
Daniel almost smiled.
“You've thought about this.”
“Because you're accusing me.”
Milo growled louder.
Evelyn looked past Daniel.
The dog stood between her and Nora.
Something crossed Evelyn's face.
Not fear.
Resentment.
“You let an animal decide who enters your house now?”
Daniel remembered Nora clinging to Milo in the water.
“He did a better job protecting her than you did.”
That struck.
Evelyn's composure cracked.
“I spent my entire life protecting this family.”
“From what?”
“From people like Emma.”
Emma appeared behind Daniel.
“Say it to me.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You married Daniel when you had nothing.”
“I left Daniel without taking his company, his mansion or his family shares.”
Evelyn smiled coldly.
“You left because he finally saw what you were.”
Daniel interrupted.
“We divorced because we stopped being good together. Not because of you.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“You told me—”
“I told you what I needed to tell myself.”
Silence.
For years Daniel had allowed his mother to believe Emma was the villain.
It had been easier than confronting their marriage's failures.
Now he saw the cost.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“You're choosing her again.”
“No. I'm choosing Nora.”
Her expression changed.
Just slightly.
Daniel saw it.
Every conflict returned to control.
Not love.
Control.
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“You have no idea what your father did to me.”
“Then tell me.”
“He humiliated me.”
“How?”
“He built everything with me standing beside him, then handed it to you.”
“He gave you tens of millions of dollars.”
“You still don't understand.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I don't.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with something that almost looked like tears.
“I gave that man forty years.”
“And you think that entitled you to Nora's shares?”
The tears disappeared.
Evelyn looked toward Nora.
Daniel moved immediately, blocking her view.
“Leave.”
“You'll regret treating me this way.”
“That's the second warning you've given me.”
“It isn't a warning.”
“Then stop talking like one.”
Evelyn walked away.
Milo watched until her car disappeared.
That afternoon Daniel received the first useful result from a forensic accountant.
Amber Shore Holdings was not merely Evelyn's shell company.
For five years it had received money from Mercer Development vendors.
Kickbacks.
Payments disguised as consulting fees.
Nearly six million dollars.
Daniel called the accountant.
“Who authorized the vendors?”
“Mostly your mother.”
“She hasn't held an executive position in seven years.”
“Someone inside the company approved them.”
“Who?”
A document arrived by email.
Daniel opened it.
The approval signature belonged to the company's chief financial officer.
Thomas Mercer.
Daniel's cousin.
A man Daniel had trusted since college.
A man who had hugged Nora at her birthday party eleven days earlier.
May you like
Daniel stared at the signature.
The conspiracy had just grown beyond Evelyn.
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