Chapter 2 - THE SECRET DANIEL LEFT BEHIND
The first thing I heard after waking from emergency treatment was my daughter's heartbeat.
Strong.
Fast.
Alive.
The doctor told me the labor had slowed.
They were going to monitor me closely.
I stared at the ceiling.
"Is my baby okay?"
"She's doing well."
A daughter.
Daniel had known.
We had chosen her name six months earlier.
Grace.
He had kissed my stomach every night and whispered it like a secret.
Now he was gone.
And I was sitting in a hospital bed while my father tried to steal the home where Daniel and I had planned to raise her.
I cried quietly.
Not because I was weak.
Because I was exhausted.
Margaret arrived two hours later.
She carried a leather briefcase.
She looked furious.
"How are you?"
"Alive."
"Good."
She sat beside me.
"Because we're going to have a very busy week."
I laughed weakly.
"My father tried to throw me out of my own house."
"I know."
"He said Daniel had debts."
"He lied."
"How much debt?"
"Some."
My heart sank.
"How much?"
"Approximately two million dollars."
I stared at her.
"But that's not what matters."
"What does?"
"Daniel had insurance."
I frowned.
"Life insurance?"
"Three policies."
She opened the briefcase.
"One covers the mortgage."
"One?"
"One covers business obligations."
"And the third?"
Margaret looked at me.
"Your future."
She placed a folder on my lap.
I opened it.
The policy was worth twelve million dollars.
My hands trembled.
"Why didn't Daniel tell me?"
"Because he didn't want you to live differently because of it."
That sounded exactly like him.
Daniel had always hated showing off.
He drove an old pickup.
He wore the same watch for twelve years.
He believed money was useful only when it protected people.
I wiped my eyes.
"What about the company?"
Margaret opened another folder.
"Hale-Mercer Logistics has been profitable for years."
"I know."
"You know the public version."
She turned a page.
"The private valuation is approximately seventy million."
I stared.
"Seventy?"
"Give or take."
My father had always talked about Daniel as though he were lucky to have married into our family.
Apparently, he had been wrong.
"Why didn't Daniel tell me?"
"He tried."
"When?"
"Two weeks before the accident."
I looked up.
"What?"
"He scheduled a meeting with you."
My heart clenched.
"Why didn't he come?"
"He never arrived."
"Because of the accident."
Margaret nodded.
A silence filled the room.
Then she reached into her briefcase.
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
"A letter."
She handed it to me.
My name was written across the envelope.
Daniel's handwriting.
I touched it with shaking fingers.
I couldn't open it.
Not yet.
"What does it say?"
"I haven't read it."
"You didn't?"
"No."
Margaret stood.
"It's yours."
After she left, I stared at the envelope for nearly an hour.
Finally, I opened it.
Emily,
If you're reading this, something happened that I never wanted to happen.
First, breathe.
I know you.
You'll try to solve everything at once.
Don't.
You are not alone.
Our daughter is not alone.
I have arranged everything.
The house is yours.
The company is yours.
The trust is yours.
But there is one person I don't trust.
Your father.
I stared at that sentence.
Then continued.
He believes he is entitled to what belongs to you.
He isn't.
If he ever tries to interfere, contact Margaret.
She knows what to do.
And Emily?
Don't let anyone convince you that grief makes you weak.
You are stronger than you think.
I love you.
Daniel.
I pressed the letter against my chest.
For the first time since the accident, I allowed myself to sob.
Not because he was gone.
Because he had known.
He had prepared.
He had been trying to protect me before he died.
My phone rang.
It was Detective Alvarez.
"Mrs. Mercer?"
"Yes."
"We need to speak with you."
"About my father?"
"Among other things."
I sat up.
"What happened?"
"Your father tried to access a company account."
"Did he?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the bank froze everything."
I exhaled.
Detective Alvarez continued.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"Your father has been telling people that Daniel was mentally incompetent before his death."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"He appears to be building a case that Daniel wasn't capable of making financial decisions."
I looked at Daniel's letter.
"He was."
"We know."
"Then why?"
"Because if he can challenge the estate, he may be able to create leverage."
I understood.
My father wasn't trying to steal the house.
He was trying to dismantle everything Daniel had built.
And if he succeeded, he would own the pieces.
The door opened.
My father walked into the hospital room.
I froze.
He had no right to be there.
Kelsey stood behind him.
Richard smiled.
"We need to talk."
I looked at the nurse.
Then at my father.
"No."
His smile vanished.
"I am still your father."
"And I am still your daughter."
I touched my stomach.
"But you don't get to hurt me anymore."
Richard stepped forward.
"You're making a terrible mistake."
I looked at him.
"No."
May you like
I folded Daniel's letter.
"You already did."
