Chapter 5 - His Mother Came to My Door
Julian’s mother, Celeste Mercer, arrived at Elena’s apartment on a rainy Tuesday morning.
She did not come to apologize.
She came to negotiate.
“You’re destroying my son.”
Elena almost closed the door.
Celeste blocked it with her hand.
“He made mistakes.”
“He hit me.”
“He was frightened.”
“So was I.”
“He could go to prison.”
Elena stared at her.
“That depends on what he did.”
Celeste’s face hardened.
“You were always too ambitious.”
Elena laughed softly.
There it was.
The familiar family logic.
A man could betray, manipulate, assault, and possibly steal millions.
But the woman who refused to hide it was ambitious.
Celeste stepped closer.
“If you loved him at all, you would protect him.”
“I protected him for eleven years.”
Elena held up her splinted finger.
“This is what he did with that protection.”
Celeste slapped the doorframe in frustration.
“You’ll regret humiliating this family.”
Elena closed the door.
But Celeste had given her something valuable without realizing it.
She had mentioned an account in Zurich.
Elena had never told her anything about Switzerland.
Neither had investigators.
She immediately called Naomi.
Within days, investigators traced another financial trail.
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And this time, Julian wasn’t the only Mercer whose name appeared.
Celeste’s did too.
