Chapter 4 - THE SECOND PHONE
Natalie removed a ventilation cover beside the server cabinet.
A small black phone had been taped behind it.
The screen displayed one incoming name.
MARISSA DANE.
Claire recognized it immediately.
Marissa was the wedding planner.
She had managed every appointment, delivery, rehearsal, and security request for the past six months.
Vivian stepped backward.
Detective Ortiz answered the phone and activated the speaker.
Marissa spoke before anyone could say a word.
“Did Claire hit you?”
Vivian closed her eyes.
Ortiz remained silent.
Marissa continued.
“The officers are downstairs.”
“You need to get the drive out before they search the staff lockers.”
The room went cold.
Ortiz finally spoke.
“This is Detective Maya Ortiz.”
The call ended.
Vivian recovered quickly.
“I have no idea why she called that phone.”
Claire looked at her.
“You knew police officers would arrive.”
“I called them because you attacked me.”
“No,” Luke said.
“You called them before Ethan entered the room.”
He held up his phone.
“The call log from my recording shows sirens in the background before the slap.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
“Did you plan for me to hit Claire?”
Vivian’s eyes filled with practiced pain.
“I planned to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From a woman who was going to take everything your father built.”
Claire frowned.
“I never asked for the company.”
Vivian looked at her with open contempt.
“You did not have to ask.”
She turned toward Ethan.
“Your father’s trust transfers voting authority to your spouse the moment the marriage license is filed.”
Ethan went silent.
Claire had never heard of such a clause.
Neither had Luke.
Natalie looked stunned.
Ortiz watched Vivian carefully.
“You destroyed a wedding gown and staged an assault accusation because of a trust?”
Vivian lifted her chin.
“I did no such thing.”
Yet the reason had already escaped her.
Claire remembered Ethan’s insistence that the marriage license be signed before the ceremony.
Vivian had repeatedly delayed it.
She had blamed missing documents, scheduling problems, and clerical mistakes.
Claire had assumed it was ordinary wedding chaos.
Now every delay looked different.
Ethan’s voice became low.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the trust?”
“Because your father was manipulated when he wrote it.”
“By whom?”
Vivian looked toward Claire.
“Her mother.”
Claire’s breath caught.
“My mother died twelve years ago.”
“Laura Whitman was Thomas Mercer’s attorney.”
Claire shook her head.
Her mother had never mentioned the Mercer family.
Vivian’s expression turned bitter.
“She designed the clause that would remove me from power.”
Detective Ortiz ordered officers to locate Marissa.
A radio message arrived moments later.
Marissa’s hotel room was empty.
Her luggage was gone.
Her rental car remained in the garage.
Security footage showed her entering a staff elevator twenty-three minutes earlier.
She had never exited.
Natalie checked the elevator access map.
“There is only one restricted level below the ballroom.”
“What is down there?” Claire asked.
Natalie looked at Vivian.
“The original Mercer archive.”
May you like
Ethan turned toward his mother.
“What did you hide beneath this hotel?”
