Chapter 2 - THE SECOND DOCUMENT
Brooke recovered fast.
"Dominic."
Emma quietly moved between Noah's cereal tray and the broken porcelain.
"The folder."
Brooke did not move.
"You flew home to spy on me?"
"The folder."
She handed it over.
The first document waived Natalie's right to live in the east cottage.
The second was worse.
It appointed Brooke as temporary co-trustee of the Catherine Mercer Legacy Trust upon marriage to Dominic.
"This isn't possible."
"Your attorney prepared it."
At the bottom was the signature of family lawyer Preston Hale.
Dominic had known Preston since childhood.
"Look at the date."
The amendment had supposedly been approved by Catherine Mercer six months before her death.
Dominic's mother had died four years earlier.
Too perfect.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
Brooke crossed her arms. "Your family office."
"Who gave it to you?"
"Ask Preston."
"And ask her why Owen had copies of private Mercer account ledgers when he crashed."
Natalie stepped forward. "Do not use my husband to scare me."
"He was already scared. That's why he died with them in his car."
Dominic's head snapped up.
"How do you know what was in Owen's car?"
Silence.
Owen's vehicle burned after hitting a barrier on Route 24. Police said almost nothing survived.
Dominic had never been told ledgers were recovered.
"Preston mentioned it."
Dominic called his security chief, Gabriel Torres.
"Lock the estate. Brooke doesn't leave. Nobody calls Preston yet."
Brooke laughed sharply. "You cannot hold me here."
"You're right."
"You can leave without your phone, your car, my security, or access to any Mercer property. Or you can stay while my lawyer gets here."
Brooke's eyes hardened.
"This is why people fear you."
"No. People fear me for easier reasons. This one is family."
Emma noticed something tucked behind the second document.
A photocopy of Catherine's trust schedule.
One paragraph had been highlighted.
MARRIAGE ACTIVATION DATE: 12:01 A.M. FOLLOWING CEREMONY.
May you like
And beneath it, handwritten in blue ink:
NATALIE MUST BE OUT BEFORE THEN.
