“He Thought the Explosion Took His Sight — But Someone May Have Been Keeping Him Blind”

The second hard drive contained audio.

Owen's voice.

Breathing fast.

"If this records, I have enough. Malcolm moved the Mercer girl to Saint Arden under a false name. Hale says the father can't know. They need Grant dependent and unstable until the succession vote."

Grant's head snapped up.

"What succession vote?"

Daniel knew.

He had hoped Grant never would.

Under the Mercer family charter, if Grant remained medically incapacitated for seven years, controlling votes in the port and logistics companies transferred to a permanent family council.

Chairman: Malcolm Mercer.

Grant had been blind for five.

Two years remained.

"You knew this clause?" Grant asked.

Daniel's silence was answer enough.

"How long?"

"Since the explosion."

Grant walked toward him without the cane.

He hit a chair and kept going.

"You knew Malcolm benefited from me staying disabled."

"Yes."

"And you never thought to mention it?"

Daniel's voice rose.

"Because you were burying your wife and daughter! Because you were waking up screaming! Because every time I said company you told me to handle it and leave you alone!"

Grant stopped.

Daniel sounded furious now.

"I failed you. But don't rewrite those years like you were asking questions no one answered. You didn't want answers. You wanted silence."

It hurt because it was partly true.

Grant turned away.

Hannah played the rest of Owen's recording.

He planned to go to federal investigators.

Then a door slammed in the audio.

A man's voice said, "Mr. Reed. You should have stayed home with your wife."

Hannah gasped.

She knew the voice.

"Who?" Grant asked.