Chapter 13 - Their Father’s Secret
Thomas Mercer had paid bribes too.
Rosalind almost refused to believe it.
The Harbor file showed two questionable payments from a Mercer subsidiary to a port consultant fifteen years earlier.
Total:
$480,000.
Grace studied the ledger.
“Your father may have been participating in the same corrupt environment he planned to expose.”
Tobias shook his head.
“He hated Everett.”
“That doesn’t make him clean.”
Rosalind stared at her father’s handwriting.
For days, she had turned Thomas into a murdered whistleblower.
Now reality complicated him.
One recovered letter explained.
Thomas admitted approving improper political consulting payments years earlier.
Everett knew.
That was leverage.
Thomas later wanted out.
He planned to disclose both families’ misconduct to federal authorities and cooperate.
If he did, Mercer Shipworks would suffer.
So would Vale.
Everett chose silence through violence.
Rosalind whispered:
“Dad wasn’t exposing Everett because he was pure.”
Grace nodded.
“He may have been trying to correct something he participated in.”
Tobias looked devastated.
“We built our whole idea of him—”
Rosalind interrupted.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“We’re not doing what Garrett does.”
“What?”
“Turning one wrong thing into permission for everything that came after.”
Thomas’s misconduct mattered.
So did his attempt to stop.
So did Everett’s response.
The revelation became dangerous publicly.
Garrett’s defense attorneys leaked portions.
HEAD OF MERCER FAMILY INVOLVED IN PORT CORRUPTION BEFORE FATAL CRASH.
Mercer Shipworks’ largest government customer requested information.
A lender froze new financing.
Rosalind returned from presumed death only to find her company under federal compliance review.
Employees panicked.
Garrett’s arrest did not solve the business crisis.
Then the life-insurance company filed suit seeking judicial determination before paying the $12 million policy.
Garrett was beneficiary but accused of attempting to cause Rosalind’s death.
The policy remained frozen.
Rosalind did not care about the money.
But every legal proceeding created another headline.
Penelope’s cooperation became public after prosecutors charged her with conspiracy-related offenses under a plea framework still being negotiated.
Her pregnancy transformed the case into tabloid spectacle.
Half-Sister Helped Lover Try to Kill Shipyard Heiress.
Rosalind hated the headline.
Not because it was false.
Because it made everything look simple.
It was not.
Penelope called through counsel.
“I need to talk about the baby.”
Rosalind refused at first.
Then Penelope’s lawyer explained.
Garrett’s family had begun threatening to seek custody support if Penelope went to prison.
Everett was dead, but Garrett’s mother, Victoria Vale, remained powerful.
Penelope feared the Vale family would raise her son.
Rosalind almost said:
Not my problem.
Then she stopped.
The baby had done nothing.
She agreed to one meeting.
Penelope sat across from her in jail interview clothing, visibly pregnant.
“You look like Mom,” Penelope said.
“Our mothers were different.”
“I mean Evelyn.”
Rosalind’s expression softened despite herself.
Evelyn had raised Penelope.
Penelope continued.
“I need you to protect him.”
Rosalind stared.
“Your child?”
“Yes.”
“Garrett’s child.”
“Yes.”
“You want me to protect the baby of the two people who tried to kill me.”
Penelope closed her eyes.
“I know what I’m asking.”
“No. I don’t think you do.”
“I have nobody.”
“You had us.”
Penelope began crying.
“You had Tobias. You had me.”
“I thought you took everything.”
“I didn’t take Garrett from you. He came to me under false pretenses.”
“I know.”
“You helped him drug me.”
Penelope lowered her head.
“Yes.”
“You helped sabotage my car.”
“Yes.”
“You watched the river.”
Penelope’s shoulders shook.
“Yes.”
Rosalind stood.
“I cannot be the person who makes you feel better about that.”
“I’m not asking forgiveness.”
“What are you asking?”
“If I go to prison, don’t let Victoria raise him.”
Rosalind looked at Penelope’s belly.
A child born into consequences he did not create.
“I’ll think about what is safest for the baby.”
Penelope nodded.
“That’s all.”
As Rosalind turned to leave, Penelope said:
“There’s something Garrett never told you about the milk.”
Rosalind stopped.
“He wasn’t only trying to make you look unstable.”
She turned.
May you like
Penelope’s face was pale.
“He was trying to stop you from getting pregnant.”
