Chapter 11 - The Son William Chose Not to Trust
Laura asked Grant to meet at the Mercer family home.
Not Evelyn’s current house.
The old one.
The stone estate outside Golden where Laura and Grant had grown up.
William’s study had not changed.
His desk remained beneath the window.
A framed photograph showed Grant at nineteen beside his father’s first leased Learjet.
Another showed Laura at twenty-three receiving her accounting degree.
Grant stared at the photographs.
“You always hated that one.”
Laura nodded toward his picture.
“No. I hated what happened after.”
“What happened?”
“Dad acted like you built the plane.”
Grant laughed.
“There she is.”
“What?”
“The real Laura.”
“I’m not pretending I wasn’t jealous.”
That surprised him.
Laura continued.
“You were the heir. Everyone knew it. Dad took you to client dinners when you were sixteen. I had to ask three times to get a summer job in accounting.”
Grant looked at the desk.
“He changed his mind about me.”
“You changed his mind.”
“Same result.”
Laura placed printed copies of his messages to Melissa on the desk.
One night. No harm.
Grant did not touch them.
“I know.”
“You agreed to use Noah.”
“I know what I wrote.”
“Say it.”
Grant looked at her.
Laura’s voice shook.
“Say what you did.”
Grant’s face tightened.
“I agreed to take him to Nassau.”
“Without my permission.”
“Yes.”
“With forged documents.”
“I knew the documents weren’t legitimate.”
“Say the rest.”
Grant’s eyes filled with anger.
“At what point does humiliating me become useful?”
“At the point where you stop lying to yourself.”
Grant stepped closer.
“I was drowning.”
“You had sixteen million dollars.”
“I had debt.”
“You created it.”
“After COVID nearly gutted private aviation.”
“Meridian recovered.”
“Not fast enough.”
“So you bought a resort?”
“It was supposed to diversify us.”
“Without board approval.”
“I knew Mom would say no.”
“She would have been right.”
Grant looked toward William’s empty chair.
“You sound exactly like him.”
“Maybe because he was right too.”
Grant flinched.
Laura saw the boy under the executive suit.
The child who had spent his life needing William’s approval.
“He was going to fire you,” Laura said.
“I know.”
“You intercepted his memorandum.”
“Yes.”
“You forged the board resolution.”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
There it was.
A confession.
Laura’s phone sat recording inside her coat.
Her stomach twisted.
Grant opened his eyes.
“You’re recording this.”
Laura froze.
He almost smiled.
“You always tap your thumb when you’re nervous.”
Laura stopped moving.
Grant reached toward her coat.
She stepped back.
“Don’t.”
He let his hand fall.
“Take the recording to police.”
“You don’t care?”
“I care.”
“Then why admit it?”
“Because Melissa has already built a case where I’m the entire monster.”
“You were part of it.”
“I know.”
“Then help me.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“Help you send me to prison?”
“Help me protect Mom. Help me protect Noah. Help save what can still be saved.”
“What do I get?”
Laura stared at him.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason Dad stopped trusting you.”
Grant’s face hardened.
“You think morality pays payroll?”
“No. But fraud doesn’t either. We’ve tested that.”
He turned away.
Then spoke softly.
“Melissa has another plan.”
Laura waited.
“She moved money without telling me.”
“We know.”
“Not just Northstar.”
Grant looked over his shoulder.
“Four point six million is gone.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Offshore?”
“Probably.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because if she leaves me holding everything, she wins.”
Laura almost laughed.
“You still think this is about winning.”
“What else is it?”
“My son.”
Grant looked ashamed.
For once, he did not argue.
Laura pressed.
“Where is the original board book?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where would Melissa hide it?”
“She keeps a private safe.”
“Where?”
“Her office.”
“Police searched.”
“Not Meridian.”
“Her Meridian office was sealed.”
Grant shook his head.
“Not that office.”
Laura frowned.
Grant walked to William’s old liquor cabinet.
He pressed the carved edge.
A hidden panel opened.
Laura stared.
Inside was an old key box.
Empty.
“Dad had private records rooms in three hangars.”
“I know.”
“You know two.”
Laura’s eyes narrowed.
“What third?”
Grant looked at her.
“Hangar 12.”
The same hangar where Noah had been put on the plane.
“Dad used it before Meridian expanded. There’s a sub-office behind the maintenance wall.”
Laura felt cold.
“Why would Melissa know?”
“I showed her.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why?”
Grant’s mouth twisted.
“Because she was my wife.”
For the first time, the answer sounded like regret.
Then Laura’s phone buzzed.
Rachel.
Police had traced a $4.6 million transfer.
Melissa had moved it to an account in the Cayman Islands controlled solely by her.
The transfer had occurred six hours after Noah was rescued from the plane.
Grant read Laura’s face.
“She’s leaving.”
May you like
Laura nodded.
“And she’s making sure you stay behind.”
