Chapter 2 - THE MIDNIGHT AUDITAt 3:15 AM, while Serena and Ethan slept upstairs, the heavy oak front doors of the Mercer estate unlocked silently.
Four men in sharp charcoal suits—senior forensic accountants and legal partners from Vale Meridian’s primary firm—walked into the study carrying encrypted laptops and thick leather folios.
I was waiting for them behind the grand mahogany desk, my gray wig and thick glasses sitting on the blotter like discarded skin.
"Good morning, sir," Marcus Vance, my chief counsel, greeted me with a respectful nod. "We've spent the last six hours pulling every digital footprint associated with Miss Serena Cross and her brother Lucas."
"And?" I asked, leaning back in Ethan’s leather chair.
Marcus slid a red-labeled dossier across the desk. "It’s worse than you thought, Malcolm. Serena isn't just a gold-digger. She’s carrying over four million dollars in undisclosed gambling debts tied to offshore syndicates. Her brother Lucas was dropped from his last investment firm for embezzling client funds. They targeted Ethan specifically because of his emotional vulnerability after your wife passed."
I opened the dossier. Every page detailed forged bank statements, hidden loans, and intercepted communications where Serena mocked my son’s kindness behind his back, calling him a "gullible cash cow."
My chest tightened with a cold, terrifying fury.
Ethan had spent the last six months defending her, telling me with tears in his eyes that Serena was the only person who understood his grief over his mother. She had built a fortress of lies around him.
"She wants the voting shares of Vale Meridian," I murmured, tapping a finger against the mahogany. "She thinks she can isolate Ethan from his family and bleed the company dry."
"What are your orders, Malcolm?" Marcus asked quietly. "Do we stop the wedding?"
May you like
A slow, hard smile touched my lips.
"No, Marcus. Never interrupt your enemy when they are making their biggest mistake. Let the wedding proceed exactly as planned. But rewrite the pre-nuptial agreements—and every single clause of the family trust."
