Chapter 10 - The Price of a Daughter.
Grant did not look at Lily after she spoke.
That was his first mistake.
An innocent man would have looked up in confusion.
Grant looked at Vanessa.
Only for an instant.
But Carla saw it.
Adrian saw it too.
"You were in the nursery," Adrian said.
Grant forced a laugh.
"I have no idea what that means."
Lily moved behind Margaret on the landing.
Carla stepped between Adrian and Grant.
"Mr. Mercer, I need you to remain in the foyer."
Grant smiled politely.
"Of course."
"Am I being detained?"
"Not at this moment."
"Then I would like to speak to my cousin privately."
"No," Adrian said.
Grant's smile vanished.
Samuel approached carrying the red folder.
"How much trouble are you in?"
Grant looked at him.
"Excuse me?"
"Financial trouble."
"Because this is not about family concern."
Grant buttoned his jacket.
"You have spent too many years around paranoid rich people, Samuel."
Carla received a message on her phone.
She read it twice.
Then she turned toward Adrian.
"Our financial-crimes unit ran Vanessa's recent records with the consent information your attorney provided."
Vanessa shouted from the drawing room that she did not consent to anything.
Carla ignored her.
"There are substantial debts."
Samuel asked how substantial.
"At least two point three million dollars connected to private loans and failed property investments."
Adrian stared toward Vanessa's doorway.
He knew she enjoyed expensive things.
He had never known she was drowning in debt.
Carla continued.
"There is also a pending credit facility secured by this property."
Adrian's face hardened.
"The forged deed."
Samuel nodded slowly.
"If the deed transfer had gone unchallenged, she could represent herself as owner."
Grant sighed dramatically.
"This is all speculation."
Adrian turned toward him.
"And your company?"
Grant said nothing.
Samuel had already opened a market report.
"Grant's logistics group has a debt covenant due next month."
"If Tuesday's acquisition passes, the bank valuation on his company drops."
"If it fails, he gets breathing room."
Grant's jaw tightened.
"Business competition is not a crime."
"Using my daughter is."
"I did not use anyone."
Carla asked him to explain the security-server login.
Grant's confidence flickered.
"My credentials were compromised."
Nolan had used the same explanation.
Adrian almost laughed.
Everyone's credentials were apparently being stolen except Vanessa's honesty.
Carla asked Grant to surrender his phone voluntarily.
He refused.
"Then get a warrant."
"We may."
Grant turned toward the door.
An officer stepped aside because Carla had not detained him.
As he passed the console table, Grant glanced at the small white gift box.
He stopped.
"What's that?"
Adrian looked at him sharply.
"Why do you care?"
Grant shrugged.
"I don't."
He walked out.
But Adrian kept staring at the box.
Something felt wrong.
The ribbon had been retied.
He remembered tying it himself in the jewelry store parking lot because the clerk had left it loose.
His knot had been crooked.
This one was perfect.
Adrian picked up the box.
Vanessa had handled it for only a few seconds before he ordered her to leave.
He untied the ribbon.
Inside lay the silver bracelet.
Beneath it, tucked under the velvet insert, was a small plastic packet containing two white tablets.
Carla immediately stopped him from touching them.
Vanessa appeared in the doorway.
Her expression changed when she saw the open box.
May you like
Adrian looked from the tablets to her.
"What did you put in my daughter's gift?"
