Chapter 15 - HER DEAD FATHER WAS WATCHING FROM INSIDE THE HOSPITALCharles called again three hours later.
This time Victor traced the signal.
St. Andrew’s Medical Center.
Evelyn’s own hospital.
“He’s here?”
Victor nodded.
“Or the phone is.”
Evelyn returned immediately.
Garrett was already there recovering from surgery.
The twins were placed under police protection.
Detective Reed searched security cameras.
At 7:18 p.m., an elderly janitor entered through a service corridor.
At 7:26, he changed clothing inside a supply room.
At 7:31, Charles Mercer walked out.
Older.
Thinner.
Beard.
A scar along his jaw.
But Evelyn recognized him instantly.
She stared at the screen.
“Dad.”
He had been inside the building when she gave birth.
Possibly watching.
That thought hurt almost as much as believing him dead.
Security tracked him to the closed chapel.
Evelyn went alone.
Victor protested.
She refused.
The chapel door opened quietly.
Charles Mercer sat in the last pew.
His hair was almost entirely gray.
His left hand trembled.
When he saw Evelyn, tears filled his eyes.
She crossed the room.
He stood.
“Evie.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
Charles did not move.
She slapped him again.
“You were alive.”
“I know.”
“Eight years.”
“I know.”
“You let me mourn you.”
“I know.”
“You let me marry them.”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
Evelyn hit his chest.
“You let them take my life apart!”
Charles caught her gently as she began sobbing.
For one second, she allowed herself to remember being a child.
Then she pushed him away.
“Don’t.”
He nodded.
“You deserve answers.”
“I deserve eight years.”
“I can’t give them back.”
“Why?”
Charles sat slowly.
“The plane crashed because two different groups sabotaged two different aircraft.”
“Richard and Eleanor?”
“Richard ordered the first.”
“And the second?”
Charles looked at her.
“Someone inside Mercer Holdings.”
Evelyn froze.
“Martin?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“Laura’s father.”
“Martin Keene?”
Charles nodded.
“But Martin worked for you.”
“He also worked for people I was blackmailing.”
“So Garrett was right.”
Charles looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“You used the archive to control people.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“At first, to stop Richard.”
“And later?”
“Power.”
At least he didn’t lie.
Charles continued.
“I became convinced I could use bad methods for good outcomes.”
“And could you?”
“No.”
Evelyn appreciated that answer more than excuses.
“Where have you been?”
“Moving.”
“For eight years?”
“I was severely injured. Then I discovered Richard had survived his supposed death too.”
“You both became ghosts.”
“Yes.”
“And watched everyone else destroy each other.”
Charles looked down.
“I believed staying dead protected you.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you stop Garrett from marrying me?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“Anonymous warnings. Background reports. Letters.”
“I never received them.”
“Eleanor intercepted most.”
“And Victor?”
“I believed Victor was dead.”
Victor had believed Charles was dead.
Everyone was protecting everyone by abandoning them.
Evelyn was tired of it.
“What does Laura want?”
Charles’s face hardened.
“She doesn’t want money.”
“Then what?”
“Revenge.”
“For Martin?”
“For her mother.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Who was her mother?”
Charles looked toward the altar.
“Elizabeth Mercer.”
Evelyn stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
“Your adoptive mother.”
“Laura is her daughter?”
“Biological daughter.”
The room spun.
Elizabeth had died when Evelyn was four.
Evelyn remembered a warm voice.
Perfume.
Bedtime stories.
She had never known Elizabeth had another child.
“Laura is my adoptive sister.”
Charles nodded.
“Older by twelve years.”
“Why was she hidden?”
“Elizabeth had Laura before we married. The father took custody after their divorce.”
“Martin?”
“No. Martin was the attorney who later helped her find me.”
“Why does Laura hate me?”
Charles closed his eyes.
“Because she believes I replaced her.”
“With me.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn felt sick.
“She became my psychiatrist.”
“To get close.”
“She helped Garrett build a case against me.”
“To destroy your credibility.”
“And she stole my son.”
Charles looked horrified.
“I didn’t know she would go that far.”
“You said she works for you.”
“She did.”
“Doing what?”
“Finding the archive.”
Evelyn laughed in disbelief.
“You hired my secret adoptive sister to infiltrate my marriage?”
“I didn’t know she was working with Eleanor too.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
Charles’s eyes filled.
“Evie—”
“Stop calling me that.”
He fell silent.
Evelyn’s phone vibrated.
A message from Laura.
A photograph.
The Mercer Archive spread across a table.
Beside it sat Eleanor’s designer handbag.
And inside the open handbag was a flash drive.
Laura wrote:
Your mother left you one final secret.
Then:
Ask Charles why Elizabeth really died.
May you like
Evelyn slowly looked at her father.
His face told her she had just uncovered another lie.
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