Chapter 1 - THE FUNERAL HE THOUGHT HE WON
Grant Mercer walked into his pregnant wife's funeral laughing with his mistress.
That was the first moment Evelyn Hart knew her daughter had been right about him.
Rain hammered the stained-glass windows of St. Matthew's as Grant came down the aisle with Sloane Vale on his arm.
He wore a black suit.
Sloane wore Emily's missing diamond bracelet.
Two days earlier, everyone had been told Emily died when her SUV went through a guardrail during a storm.
Grant had cried in front of reporters.
He had called Emily his whole world.
Now he was whispering something into Sloane's ear that made her smile.
"Mom."
Emily lay beneath the white satin lining with her hands folded over the small curve of her belly.
Alive.
Breathing slowly.
Waiting.
"He's wearing the tie I bought him," Emily whispered.
"Don't look at him."
"I have to."
"I want to remember his face when he realizes I'm not dead."
"She was special," he said, lowering his eyes for effect.
Sloane touched his arm.
The bracelet caught the light again.
Emily saw it.
Her jaw tightened.
"Mom, if anything happens, let him believe he's safe."
"What are you talking about?"
"Grant has been stealing from the firm."
"He forged my signature on three transfers."
"How much?"
"More than two million that I can prove."
Then Emily had said the part Evelyn still heard when she woke at night.
"And I think he knows I'm pregnant."
The organ stopped.
Attorney Daniel Cho stepped to the lectern with a sealed envelope in his hand.
Grant leaned back as if he owned the church.
"Before burial," Daniel said, "the operative estate and corporate-control documents must be disclosed."
"Make it quick."
"The first beneficiary named is Evelyn Hart."
Sloane's fingers stopped moving on his sleeve.
Daniel continued.
"The second beneficiary is Emily Mercer's unborn child."
A murmur rolled through the church.
Grant stood.
"That's impossible."
"No, Mr. Mercer."
"And this is not merely a will."
She found Evelyn's fingers.
Then she leaned just enough for her mother to hear.
"Looks like I win."
May you like
At the back of the church, two plainclothes detectives quietly locked the doors.
And Daniel said, "This is a fraud-triggered transfer of control."
