Chapter 8 - The Dead Man in Switzerland
Thomas Cole opened the door himself.
Alive.
Older.
Gray beard.
Cane.
Same eyes as Ethan.
Ethan did not speak for almost a minute.
Neither did Thomas.
Finally Ethan whispered, “You’re dead.”
Thomas’s mouth trembled.
“So I’ve been told.”
Ethan hit him.
One punch.
Hard.
Thomas fell against the wall.
I did not stop him.
Ethan stared down at his father.
“Twelve years.”
Thomas wiped blood from his mouth.
“I know.”
“My mother died believing you drowned.”
“No.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“She knew.”
That was almost worse.
Ethan’s mother had helped stage the disappearance.
Thomas had discovered Ledger Four’s existence years earlier.
If the document surfaced, the Cole family could lose control.
Thomas persuaded Victor to help bury it.
Then Charles Whitmore threatened exposure.
Thomas disappeared.
The story became more tangled.
More shameful.
More human.
“What happened to Eleanor?” I asked.
Thomas looked at me.
“She found me.”
“When?”
“Four months before she died.”
“What did she want?”
“The truth.”
“Did you give it?”
“Most.”
“What didn’t you give?”
He stared at Ethan.
“The reason Ethan was chosen.”
I felt cold.
“Chosen by whom?”
“Richard Mercer.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I met Richard through the company.”
“No.”
Thomas sat.
“Richard watched you from the time you were a teenager.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew the beneficial interest would eventually pass to Mary.”
I finally understood.
Victor had not originated the plan.
He had been recruited.
Richard Mercer realized Ethan could potentially regain the dormant twenty-four percent by marrying me and merging beneficial rights through a marital estate structure.
He encouraged Victor.
Victor encouraged Ethan.
Everyone believed they were using someone else.
Richard sat at the center.
“Why?” Ethan asked.
“Because Richard expected to become chairman after the merger.”
Thomas looked at me.
“He wanted both companies.”
“And Mom discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“What happened the night she died?”
Thomas looked away.
“I spoke to Richard.”
“When?”
“Two fifty-four.”
Minutes before he reached her house.
“What did he say?”
“He said Eleanor had made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She had identified the wrong person as her enemy.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Who was the right person?”
Thomas looked at me.
“You’re assuming Richard served Victor.”
“He didn’t?”
“No.”
“Who did he serve?”
Thomas whispered one name.
“Jonathan.”
My father.
I stared at him.
“No.”
Thomas said nothing.
“You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to.”
“My father didn’t know about the guarantee.”
“Maybe.”
“He didn’t know Ethan targeted me.”
“Maybe.”
“He loved my mother.”
Thomas’s expression softened.
“So did many dangerous men.”
I stood.
Ethan touched my arm.
I pulled away.
Not because he had done something then.
Because I could not tolerate touch.
Thomas handed me a drive.
“Eleanor left this.”
My mother.
Again.
Always one step ahead and three years too late.
The drive contained an audio file.
Her voice.
“Thomas, if anything happens to me, Mary must hear this.”
I closed my eyes.
Mom continued.
“The conspiracy around Cole Meridian is older than Ethan.”
A pause.
“And closer to Mary than she will want to believe.”
Another pause.
“I no longer know whether Jonathan is protecting us or protecting himself.”
The recording ended.
I stood in a dead man’s house in Switzerland listening to my dead mother doubt the one person I still trusted.
My father.
Then my phone rang.
Dad.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
“Switzerland.”
Silence.
“You found Thomas.”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“I can explain.”
Four words.
The universal language of betrayal.
“What did you do?”
Dad inhaled.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Mary.”
“What did you do?”
His voice cracked.
“I knew about Ledger Four.”
My knees weakened.
“And?”
“I knew Ethan had been sent to meet you.”
The room disappeared.
My father had known.
May you like
From the beginning.
And for four years, he had watched me fall in love with a man who entered my life under false pretenses.
