Chapter 7 - THE DAUGHTER WHO NEVER EXISTED|
Elise Mercer did not sound like her father.
There was no arrogance in her voice, no theatrical confidence, and no attempt to establish power over the conversation.
Instead, she sounded like someone who had learned to measure every word because saying the wrong thing had once cost her everything.
“Is Clara alive?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
A long silence followed.
“Thank God.”
I looked at my mother.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere Silas can't easily reach.”
“Are you with Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
“For now.”
I resisted the temptation to demand an address.
Elise had managed to protect herself and her mother for reasons I didn't yet understand.
The last thing she needed was another powerful man deciding what she should do.
“Tell me what you know,” I said.
Elise explained that she was Silas's daughter from a relationship before his marriage to Evelyn.
Her mother had died when Elise was six.
Silas had brought the girl into his household temporarily, then arranged for her to live elsewhere when Evelyn began asking questions about his business records.
For years, Elise had been passed between private schools and guardians paid to keep her quiet.
She had been given money, education, and every material advantage except a family willing to acknowledge her.
When she turned twenty-one, Silas offered her a permanent financial arrangement.
All she needed to do was sign a declaration denying any relationship to him.
Elise refused.
Within months, her employer received false allegations about her.
Her bank account was frozen during a disputed legal proceeding.
And the apartment she rented was suddenly sold.
“I learned something important that year,” she told me.
“What?”
“Silas doesn't need everyone to obey him.”
Her voice hardened.
“He only needs them to believe disobedience will cost more than surrender.”
I thought of Clara's bruised face.
“You've been collecting evidence.”
“For eight years.”
“Why contact Clara now?”
“Because I finally found Evelyn.”
According to Elise, she had spent years tracing private medical payments associated with Silas.
A former employee of Briar Haven eventually told her that a woman using the name Eleanor Marsh had been living in a restricted wing.
Elise approached the facility through legal channels and confirmed that the resident was Evelyn.
But Evelyn was frightened of leaving.
Silas had convinced her that Clara would be harmed if she tried.
“She thought Clara was still living under his roof,” Elise said.
My chest tightened.
“She didn't know Clara was married?”
“No.”
“She didn't know about me?”
“No.”
“And she didn't know Clara was pregnant?”
Elise fell silent.
I understood.
There were losses Evelyn would now learn about that no reunion could erase.
“Why did Clara go to the estate?”
“Because I warned her about something in the documents.”
“What?”
“A payment authorization signed by Silas.”
“Who was receiving the money?”
“A private security contractor named Daniel Price.”
I frowned.
The name was unfamiliar.
Elise continued.
“Price had been hired to track Clara's movements.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“He knew where she went, who she met, and when she was alone.”
“Did he attack her?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you know?”
Elise hesitated.
“Silas called him the night before Clara went to the estate.”
“And?”
“He told Price that the problem had to be resolved before the weekend.”
I looked toward the window.
Outside, the ocean was gray beneath a lowering sky.
“Do you have proof of that conversation?”
“A recording.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Have you given it to the police?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because the last detective I approached called Silas less than an hour later.”
I remembered Clara's warning in the ICU.
Don't trust the police.
Not all police.
Someone specific.
I spoke carefully.
“Detective Whitcomb has been handling Clara's case, and she appears independent.”
Elise gave a bitter laugh.
“That's what I thought about the last one.”
Before I could respond, Naomi's phone vibrated.
She read the message and looked sharply at me.
“What is it?”
“The hospital has received a formal request to transfer Clara to another facility.”
“From whom?”
Naomi turned the screen toward me.
May you like
The request had been submitted through an attorney representing Silas Mercer.
And attached to it was a document claiming Clara's husband was mentally unfit to make decisions about her care.
