Chapter 4 - Daniel's Second WifeThe scandal destroyed the Mercer family image in less than a week.
Daniel took leave from the company.
Victoria vanished from public view.
My trial was suspended indefinitely.
Then a woman contacted Rebecca.
Her name was Claire Bennett.
She said she had been married to Daniel.
Before me.
I laughed when Rebecca told me.
“That's impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
Daniel told me his first serious relationship ended in college.
No marriage.
Claire arrived carrying a folder.
Marriage certificate.
Nevada.
Fifteen years earlier.
Divorce finalized only two months before Daniel married me.
Technically legal.
Morally another hidden life.
“What happened?” I asked.
Claire looked tired.
“I got pregnant.”
My stomach tightened.
“Another child?”
“No.”
She lost the baby at six months.
Afterward she became depressed.
Daniel became distant.
Then money disappeared from a joint account.
Claire discovered Daniel was moving funds for Victoria.
She confronted him.
The marriage ended brutally.
Then:
“Arthur contacted me last year.”
Of course.
Arthur spent his final years reopening every family grave.
“He apologized.”
“For Daniel?”
“For himself.”
Arthur had helped Daniel pressure Claire into signing a confidentiality agreement.
In return she received a settlement.
She kept one document.
A letter from Daniel.
Written during divorce negotiations.
“If you challenge Mother's management of the trust, we will establish that your mental state makes your testimony unreliable.”
Same strategy used against Emily.
Discredit the woman.
Call her unstable.
Isolate her.
Control the story.
I asked:
“Why come forward now?”
Claire looked at Sophie.
“Because Emily called me once.”
Sophie froze.
“You knew my mom?”
“Barely.”
Emily had tracked Claire down years earlier.
She believed Daniel and Victoria were using similar tactics against multiple people.
They planned to compare documents.
Then Emily died.
Claire became afraid.
“She overdosed?”
Claire shook her head.
“That's what they said.”
Police reopened Emily's death.
Her toxicology report contained sedatives.
But also a strange inconsistency.
The original investigator noted bruising around her wrists.
Later reports omitted it.
Who had supervised the investigation?
A private security consultant hired by the Mercer family.
Thomas Reddick.
The same man who installed security at my house.
The same man who knew how to bypass my garage alarm.
I called police immediately.
Reddick disappeared.
His bank accounts showed recent payments.
From Victoria.
Now authorities had a potential operative.
But still no direct proof he poisoned Arthur.
Then forensic specialists recovered deleted material from Arthur's phone.
One audio file.
Recorded automatically when Arthur activated an emergency shortcut on the night he died.
At first:
Silence.
Then Victoria's voice.
“Arthur, stop.”
Arthur:
“You forged Emily's documents.”
Victoria:
“I protected Daniel.”
“You destroyed our daughter.”
“Emily destroyed herself.”
Arthur's breathing became strained.
Then:
“You're going to tell Sophie everything.”
“I already did.”
A glass touched a table.
Victoria:
“You should drink your tea.”
Arthur laughed.
“My tea?”
Pause.
Then something chilling.
“You've already put it in the bottle, haven't you?”
Victoria did not answer.
Arthur continued:
“Grace's fingerprints.”
Long silence.
Then Victoria whispered:
“You always were clever too late.”
The recording ended.
I could barely breathe.
She admitted it.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
Police arrested Victoria the following morning.
Daniel remained free.
There was evidence he helped frame me afterward.
But did he know his mother planned the murder?
We didn't know.
Until Reddick was found.
At an airport.
Passport.
Cash.
One-way ticket.
He agreed to cooperate.
His first sentence to investigators changed the entire case.
“Victoria didn't order Arthur's murder.”
The detective frowned.
“Then who did?”
May you like
Reddick answered:
“Daniel.”
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