Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Tried to Warn Him
By noon, the story had spread beyond the house.
Not to the press.
To the staff.
Whispers moved faster than official instructions.
Vivian had been taken to a hotel while police reviewed the footage. She had not been arrested yet.
That made Ethan uneasy.
At 12:43, an unknown number called.
"Mr. Mercer?"
A woman's voice.
"Who is this?"
"Clara Ruiz. I was Lily's nanny last year."
Ethan stood.
Clara had resigned suddenly after only six months.
Vivian told him she had stolen jewelry.
Ethan had believed her.
"Where are you?"
"Not somewhere I want on a phone."
"Why are you calling?"
Clara started crying.
"Because I saw the video online."
Ethan frowned. "What video?"
There was no public video.
"Not online-online. Staff group. Someone shared ten seconds from the foyer camera."
Ethan looked at Marcus.
Another leak.
Clara continued.
"I tried to tell you last year."
Ethan's mouth went dry.
"Tell me what?"
"Vivian scared Lily on purpose. Not always with objects. Mostly with abandonment. She'd tell her you were leaving because Lily was bad. She'd shut doors and make Lily think she was alone."
Ethan gripped the phone.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I did. Twice. Vivian answered your private line once. Daniel Pike answered the second time."
Ethan shut his eyes.
"Why did you leave?"
"I didn't. I was fired. Then Daniel showed me a police complaint accusing me of stealing a diamond bracelet. He said if I signed a resignation and nondisclosure agreement, the complaint would disappear."
Ethan remembered Vivian crying over that bracelet.
He had replaced it the next day.
"Do you still have the NDA?"
"Yes."
"Bring it to me."
Clara hesitated.
"There's more."
"Say it."
"The night before I was fired, I saw Vivian in Anna's old office. She was going through a box of trust documents."
Ethan went still.
Anna had created a trust for Lily before she died.
Vivian was never supposed to have access.
"Did she take anything?"
"A red folder."
Ethan knew exactly what that meant.
Anna color-coded legal files.
Red was ownership.
Shares.
Voting rights.
Control.
He looked toward the portrait of Anna above the fireplace.
For the first time, the abuse and the money connected.
Then Clara said one last thing.
"Mr. Mercer, Vivian didn't marry you before she knew about that trust."
Ethan's skin turned cold.
May you like
"How do you know?"
"Because I heard Daniel tell her the amount."
