Chương 13 - The Groom’s Offer
Grant did not flee.
He also was not immediately arrested.
Federal investigators interviewed him and restricted access to certain company records while subpoenas expanded.
His lawyers responded with aggression.
Mercer Coastal blamed Vanessa Pike.
Vanessa blamed Lauren.
Lauren blamed Grant.
Evelyn blamed herself privately and everyone else publicly.
Mia stopped reading statements.
She focused on Bellweather.
Then Grant came back.
Not physically.
Through an offer.
Twenty million dollars.
Claire placed the term sheet on the conference table.
Mia stared.
“He increased it.”
“Significantly.”
“For my interest?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the investigation makes the project toxic.”
“That sounds like a reason to offer less.”
“Unless buying you out solves multiple problems.”
Mia understood.
If Grant controlled Bellweather, some civil disputes disappeared.
Records might become harder for Mia to pursue.
The family narrative changed.
And Mercer could still salvage the development.
“No.”
Claire smiled.
“I assumed.”
“Don’t counter.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t negotiate.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t even let him think I considered it.”
Claire closed the folder.
“That, I can professionally communicate.”
Mia almost smiled.
Then Claire became serious.
“There is another matter.”
“What?”
“Lauren wants to cooperate fully.”
“She already wrote a letter.”
“This is different.”
“With prosecutors?”
“Yes.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because some of what she plans to disclose concerns Evelyn.”
Mia looked away.
“What now?”
“Identity verification.”
Mia closed her eyes.
“Mother gave them the answers.”
“According to Lauren, yes.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before the wedding.”
“Did she know why?”
“Lauren says Grant told Evelyn they needed to update banking access because you were traveling.”
“That is absurd.”
“It is.”
“My mother has managed businesses.”
“Yes.”
“She knew better.”
“Yes.”
Mia hated Claire’s refusal to soften facts.
It was one reason she trusted her.
“What did Evelyn give them?”
“Your childhood address. Your father’s middle name. Old account details. Possibly a copy of your driver’s license.”
Mia felt suddenly tired.
Evelyn had not forged the transfer.
But she had supplied the keys.
The same pattern.
Fear.
Convenience.
Trusting the wrong person because he promised certainty.
That evening Mia drove to Evelyn’s hotel.
Her mother opened the door.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn sat down without being asked.
“I thought it was for the new investment account.”
“You thought my personal verification information was needed for an account I hadn’t approved?”
“Grant said you had.”
“And you believed him.”
“He showed me documents.”
“With my forged signature.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You never called me.”
Evelyn looked down.
“No.”
“Why?”
The answer took time.
“Because I was afraid you would say no.”
Mia nodded slowly.
There it was.
The core truth.
“You didn’t want to know whether I agreed.”
Evelyn cried then.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
“I wanted this family to stop fighting about money.”
“So you helped them take control of it.”
“I thought if everyone had enough, the fighting would end.”
“Enough?”
Mia’s voice sharpened.
“Three million would have been enough?”
“I don’t know.”
“Lauren stole ninety-two thousand before the wedding.”
“I know.”
“You deleted evidence after she hurt Lily.”
“I know.”
“You gave Grant information to impersonate me.”
“I know.”
Mia shook her head.
“Money was never the problem.”
Evelyn looked up.
“What was?”
“No one in this family believed my no meant no.”
Silence.
That sentence finally seemed to reach her.
Mia stood.
Evelyn whispered, “Will you ever forgive me?”
Mia looked at her mother.
“I don’t know.”
It was the most honest answer she could give.
As she reached the door, Evelyn spoke again.
“Your father once said the same thing.”
Mia stopped.
“What?”
“That I treated boundaries like insults.”
Mia turned.
Evelyn wiped her face.
“I thought he was cruel.”
“He wasn’t.”
“No.”
For the first time, Evelyn did not defend herself.
Mia left.
Outside, Claire called.
“The investigators finished tracing the one-point-eight-million-dollar transfer request.”
“Grant?”
“Partly.”
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Lauren?”
“Her device was used.”
Mia expected that.
Claire continued.
“But the destination escrow account wasn’t controlled by Mercer Coastal.”
Mia frowned.
“Who controlled it?”
“Seabright Strategy.”
Lauren’s shell company.
Mia stopped walking.
“So they were moving one-point-eight million directly to Lauren?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what?”
Claire paused.
“The beneficial owner on the escrow instructions was changed twelve hours before the transfer.”
“To whom?”
Claire answered.
“Evelyn Bennett.”
May you like
Mia stood alone in the hotel parking lot, staring back at the building where her mother sat upstairs.
And for the first time she wondered whether Evelyn had told her the truth about anything at all.
