Chapter 13 - The Threat
Police treated the suitcase delivery seriously.
No explicit threat.
But the use of Ava’s birth certificate changed the tone.
Marcus denied involvement.
Adrian denied involvement.
The package had been mailed from Tacoma using cash.
Sophie wanted to move Ava out of state.
Rachel stopped her.
“Not without planning.”
“I’m her mother.”
“Yes.”
“I can take my child to my sister in Oregon.”
“For a visit, maybe. But doing it suddenly during a corporate and trust fight could be weaponized.”
Sophie hated that the conspiracy had turned ordinary parenting into strategy.
Daniel agreed to private security.
Sophie resisted.
Then Ava woke screaming after hearing someone knock at the gate.
Sophie agreed.
The marriage suffered another blow when Daniel suggested Ava stay temporarily with his sister Claire.
Sophie snapped.
“No.”
“It’s more secure.”
“She needs us.”
“She needs safety.”
“She needs her mother.”
“I didn’t say otherwise.”
“It sounded like it.”
They stopped.
Marcus had succeeded in making every decision feel like a custody dispute even though none existed.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“We decide together.”
Sophie nodded.
Together.
A small repair.
At Mercer Maritime, the special committee found Marcus had pledged his own thirty-five-percent share block as collateral to another lender.
If his personal debts defaulted, those shares could be sold.
That explained some desperation.
He was close to losing the status he believed Charles denied him.
The personal debt totaled $17 million.
Mostly related to Alder Shore.
Not gambling.
Not luxury.
A failed waterfront-development obsession Marcus believed would prove he was as capable as Daniel.
Sophie almost understood.
Almost.
Then she remembered his hand on her arm.
His slap.
The birth certificate in the suitcase.
Fear did not erase choice.
Adrian provided another piece.
Marcus had planned a second stage after the ferry signatures.
Once North Sound sold to Tidecrest, Tidecrest would refinance the property for nearly seventy million dollars.
Crown Harbor would be repaid.
Alder Shore would receive development capital.
Marcus’s personal lenders would be satisfied.
Adrian would earn twelve million.
Marcus would emerge owning a valuable terminal development while Mercer Maritime absorbed the loss.
“What about Daniel?” Sophie asked.
Adrian answered.
“He’d still own the company.”
“A weaker company.”
“Yes.”
“So Marcus didn’t want to destroy him.”
“No.”
“He wanted to beat him.”
Adrian nodded.
That motive was uglier because it was childish.
Thirty years of brotherhood reduced to a scoreboard.
Daniel listened.
Then asked, “And Ava?”
Adrian looked uncomfortable.
“Her trust vote was paperwork.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“She’s my daughter.”
“To Marcus, she was twenty percent.”
Sophie heard the phrase from the anonymous package.
Twenty percent.
The person who mailed it either knew Adrian’s language or Marcus’s.
Rachel’s investigators traced the birth-certificate copy.
Only three digital copies existed.
Home safe.
Family trust portal.
Pediatric passport file.
Access logs showed the family trust portal copy downloaded five days earlier.
User credential:
Thomas Mercer.
Thomas denied it.
His account had been accessed from an IP address tied to Marcus’s lawyer’s office.
Not proof Marcus personally downloaded it.
Enough for a subpoena.
The attorney claimed cyber compromise.
Then the serious setback came.
The special committee received a sworn affidavit from a former Mercer Maritime assistant.
She claimed Sophie had asked her six months earlier how much Ava’s shares would be worth if the company were sold.
Sophie remembered the conversation.
She had asked casually.
After Marcus offered five hundred thousand dollars.
She had wondered whether Ava’s trust truly meant financial security.
Now the question looked like motive.
Marcus’s lawyers argued Sophie planned to push Daniel toward a sale and had planted the documents to discredit Marcus after negotiations failed.
Absurd.
But combined with her deleted texts, signature and question about Ava’s shares, it gained enough shape to cause damage.
Daniel asked her privately:
“Did you ever think about selling?”
“Yes.”
He stared.
Sophie continued.
“I thought about what life would look like if Mercer Maritime wasn’t controlling every decision we made.”
“You never told me.”
“I was afraid you’d hear it as betrayal.”
He looked away.
“I probably would have.”
That honesty hurt less than accusation.
Sophie said, “I don’t want your company.”
“Our company affects Ava.”
“I want Ava to have a father who comes home.”
Daniel swallowed.
The company fight and marriage fight had finally become the same conversation.
Then Rachel called.
The board had received a formal offer.
A private infrastructure fund wanted to acquire Mercer Maritime outright for $310 million.
Marcus’s lawyers supported considering it.
The buyer?
Meridian Atlantic Partners.
Its outside adviser was Adrian Vale.
May you like
He had just betrayed both brothers.
Again.
