Chapter 9 - Victoria's Story
The protective-order hearing took place four days after Nathan came home early.
Victoria entered the courtroom through a side door.
She did not look at Nathan.
Her attorney portrayed the incident simply.
Nathan Mercer, under extreme professional stress, arrived home unexpectedly, became enraged during a parenting disagreement, struck his wife with a cord, and then slapped her.
Technically, every sentence contained something true.
Together, they formed a lie.
Mara rose.
"The children were not having a parenting disagreement. They were being hit."
Victoria's lawyer objected.
The judge allowed medical photographs under seal.
Nathan watched Victoria's face when the judge reviewed Emily's injuries.
Nothing moved.
Only one finger tightened around the edge of the table.
The temporary no-contact order protecting the children remained in place.
The judge also ordered Nathan and Victoria to have no direct contact with each other.
Nathan was not barred from the mansion, but Mara advised him not to return except with law enforcement.
Outside court, Victoria's lawyer handed Samuel Reid a packet.
Inside was a draft separation agreement.
Laura's.
Nathan read the first page in the car.
Petitioner: Laura Mercer.
Respondent: Nathan Mercer.
Never filed.
Never signed.
His hands shook.
Laura had requested primary residential custody.
She had proposed shared legal custody.
She had listed Nathan's "chronic work absence" as a concern.
Nathan felt as if he were being told of her death again.
He remembered missing Caleb's preschool evaluation.
Emily's first dance recital.
Laura's thirty-fifth birthday dinner.
He had always had a reason.
Westbridge.
Funding.
Investors.
The future.
He had been building an empire for children who mostly saw him through doorways.
Mara sat beside him.
"I'm sorry."
"Did you know?"
"No. Different firm."
Nathan turned another page.
Laura had written a note to her attorney.
I do not believe Nathan is dangerous. I believe he is absent and refuses to see what Julian is becoming.
Nathan closed the packet.
There it was.
Not hatred.
Something more painful.
Disappointment.
Victoria's attorney had included her own statement.
She claimed Laura confided in her.
She claimed Laura feared Nathan would retaliate financially if she left.
She claimed Laura believed Nathan knowingly approved illegal payments.
And she claimed Laura had been "emotionally unstable" in the final weeks of her life.
Nathan showed the statement to Ruiz.
"She's poisoning Laura."
Ruiz read carefully.
"Some details may be testable."
"She's lying."
"Probably about parts."
"Probably?"
Ruiz looked at him.
"If I decide what happened before I investigate, I'm not helping you."
Nathan turned away.
That evening, Emily found him sitting alone in the hotel kitchen.
"Are you sad?"
Nathan looked at her.
"Yes."
"Because of Mom?"
"Partly."
She climbed onto a chair.
Nathan had been instructed not to ask her investigative questions.
So he didn't.
Emily swung her feet.
"Mom used to be mad at you."
Nathan smiled painfully.
"Yes."
"Victoria said Mom wanted to take us away because you didn't love us enough."
His smile vanished.
"Victoria told you that?"
Emily nodded.
"She said that's why Mom died upset."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Emily, your mom and I had problems. Adults do. But she loved you. I love you."
"Did she hate you?"
"No."
He paused.
"She was disappointed in me sometimes."
Emily considered this.
"Were you bad?"
The question almost broke him.
"Sometimes I made bad choices."
"Like Victoria?"
"No."
He needed to be precise.
"Different choices. But choices can still hurt people even when you don't hit them."
Emily looked relieved by the honesty.
Then she said, "Mom said you would understand the maps."
Nathan sat straighter.
He did not ask what she meant.
"Okay."
Emily tapped the table.
"She told me once. Before she went to the party."
Nathan's heart raced.
He kept his voice calm.
"What do you remember?"
Emily frowned.
"She put the key in Oliver. She said if she forgot, I should give it to you."
"Forgot what?"
Emily shook her head.
Then her expression changed.
"There was a blue thing."
"What blue thing?"
She picked up a crayon from Caleb's box and drew a small circle.
Then tiny blue dots around it.
A bracelet.
Nathan recognized it immediately.
Victoria's bracelet.
Emily added a broken line.
"She came home without one part."
Nathan whispered, "When?"
Emily's face closed.
Fear returned.
"After Mom died."
Nathan stopped.
May you like
Emily looked toward the hotel door as if Victoria might somehow be standing there.
Then she whispered, "She washed mud off it in the sink."
