Chapter 16 - The Person Feeding Adrian Information Wasn’t SiennaRosalie didn't accuse anyone.
She called Katherine first.
"Did you tell Adrian about the restoration clause?"
"No."
"Anyone at your firm?"
"Not intentionally."
"Can you check?"
"Yes."
Maren was next.
She looked offended.
"I barely understand the clause."
Rosalie believed her.
Connor answered:
"I haven't spoken to Adrian in eleven months."
That left Sienna.
Rosalie called.
"Did you tell him?"
"No."
"Be careful."
"I'm not lying."
"He knows about my father's clause."
Silence.
Then Sienna whispered:
"Daniel."
Rosalie frowned.
"Why?"
"Daniel knew about it."
"He told me he didn't."
"Maybe not the details."
"Then why Daniel?"
"Because Adrian called him yesterday."
Rosalie stared.
"How do you know?"
"I still have access to old carrier logs from his executive line."
"Why?"
"I set them up."
Sienna sent a screenshot.
Adrian had called Daniel Cho at 6:42 p.m.
The conversation lasted nine minutes.
Rosalie felt betrayed again.
She called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Finally, a text:
I can explain.
Rosalie's heart sank.
Everyone could explain.
She wrote:
Now.
Daniel called.
"I'm sorry."
"Did you tell Adrian about the clause?"
"Not exactly."
"What did you tell him?"
"He called and threatened me."
"With what?"
"Trade-secret litigation."
"So?"
"I have two kids."
Rosalie closed her eyes.
"Daniel."
"I know."
"What did you tell him?"
"That Connor had documents."
"Anything else?"
"That your father created ownership protections."
"Did you tell him I'd found the letter?"
"No."
"Then how does he know specifically about the restoration clause?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Because he already knew."
Rosalie stopped.
"What?"
"Adrian asked legal about it months ago."
Before Rosalie discovered anything.
"Why?"
"He was trying to figure out whether your diluted consent waived it."
There it was.
The fraud wasn't sloppy.
Adrian knew the clause existed.
He tried to design around it.
"Did legal tell him it worked?"
"Preston said maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Because your consent would need to be informed."
Rosalie laughed.
"And it wasn't."
"No."
"So why continue?"
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"Adrian said if the documents looked clean enough, nobody would challenge them."
Rosalie stared out the window.
That was the core.
Not whether something was right.
Whether anyone could prove it wasn't.
She ended the call.
An hour later, Katherine called with another discovery.
"We subpoenaed preliminary account information related to the lake house loan."
"And?"
"The lender didn't send the full $1.6 million to Aster Ridge."
Rosalie frowned.
"The recorded document says it did."
"Closing statement says otherwise."
"Where did it go?"
"One million to Aster Ridge."
"And six hundred thousand?"
"Different account."
"Whose?"
Katherine paused.
"Mercer Family Education Trust."
Rosalie went still.
"Lily's trust?"
"Apparently."
That made no sense.
Rosalie and Adrian had created a modest educational trust for Lily years earlier.
It held college funds.
Why would borrowed money be routed there?
Katherine continued:
"Then two days later, nearly the same amount left."
"To where?"
"A private investment partnership."
"Name?"
"Northstar Ventures."
Rosalie had never heard of it.
She searched.
Nothing obvious.
Katherine said:
"We're tracing ownership."
Twenty minutes later, Connor called.
"Northstar."
"You know it?"
"Yes."
Rosalie's stomach tightened.
"Who owns it?"
Connor hesitated.
"Adrian's mother."
Rosalie stared.
Margaret Mercer.
Retired.
Sixty-eight.
Living in Charleston.
Friendly to Rosalie but distant.
"What does she have to do with Blackwell?"
"More than you know."
Connor continued:
"She was an early investor."
"Why was that never disclosed?"
"Adrian asked us not to advertise family capital."
Rosalie laughed bitterly.
"Apparently his whole life is undisclosed family capital."
Then Connor said something stranger.
"Rosalie, Margaret didn't have the kind of money to make that investment."
"What?"
"Not before Adrian married you."
Rosalie felt cold.
"What are you implying?"
"I'm saying Frank once suspected Adrian used funds connected to your inheritance to create what looked like his mother's investment."
Rosalie couldn't breathe.
"When?"
"Early in your marriage."
The theft may not have started with the lake house.
It may have started years earlier.
Before Sienna.
Before Lily started school.
Possibly before Lily was born.
May you like
Then Rosalie received a message from Margaret Mercer herself.
We need to talk before Adrian does something neither of us can fix.
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