Chapter 3 - The Secret Caleb Mercer Was Hiding
I stared at the message on the phone until the words blurred.
She saw everything. Handle it tonight.
Four words.
But they changed the way I saw my entire life.
Caleb wasn’t sorry.
He wasn’t trying to fix anything.
He wasn’t the man who was going to apologize tomorrow morning and tell me he made a mistake.
He had planned this.
I looked at Dominic.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
He didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
My hands started shaking.
“Why would he do this?”
Dominic took the phone from me.
“Because people like Caleb don’t destroy things randomly.”
“People like Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“You keep saying that. Who is he?”
Dominic walked back to the table.
“Caleb Mercer is not the man you think he is.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I’m starting to notice.”
Dominic opened another file.
This one was thicker.
Inside were documents.
Bank transfers.
Company records.
Photographs.
My eyes moved across the pages.
Then I saw something.
A company name.
Mercer Holdings.
“That’s his company.”
“No.”
Dominic pointed to another document.
“It’s the company he stole.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Three years ago, Caleb changed his identity.”
I froze.
“No.”
“He wasn’t a successful businessman who built himself from nothing.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“He was an accountant working for a financial organization connected to my enemies.”
My heart raced.
“Your enemies?”
“Yes.”
I looked around the room.
The money.
The guards.
The fear.
Suddenly everything made sense.
“You’re…”
I stopped.
Dominic looked at me.
“Say it.”
“You’re involved in organized crime.”
He didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked me.
Most people would have lied.
Dominic didn’t.
“And Caleb?”
“He worked for people who wanted to take everything from me.”
I swallowed.
“But why me?”
That question seemed to bother him.
Because for the first time, Dominic looked uncertain.
Then he said:
“That’s what we need to find out.”
A loud sound came from outside.
Everyone immediately became alert.
The guards reached for their weapons.
My heart jumped.
“What’s happening?”
Dominic stepped in front of me.
“Stay behind me.”
The door opened.
Another guard entered.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“We found Chloe.”
I froze.
“Where?”
The guard looked uncomfortable.
“She’s outside.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Bring her in.”
A few seconds later, Chloe walked into the room.
The woman who had held my wedding dress.
The woman who knew every dream I had.
Now she stood there looking terrified.
Her eyes met mine.
“Harper…”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I can explain.”
I laughed.
“Can you?”
She looked down.
“I never wanted this.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Then tell us what happened.”
Chloe looked at him nervously.
Then back at me.
“Caleb found me six months ago.”
My heart sank.
Six months.
Not one mistake.
Not one night.
Six months.
“He told me he was going to leave Harper.”
I looked away.
“Of course he did.”
“He said he was trapped.”
I turned back.
“Trapped?”
Chloe started crying.
“He said marrying you was part of a plan.”
The room went silent.
“What plan?”
Chloe looked at Dominic.
And I noticed something.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“He said Harper was the key.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“Key to what?”
Chloe whispered:
“Your organization.”
Nobody moved.
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“What?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Harper…”
But I interrupted.
“No.”
I stepped back.
“No, I don’t understand.”
Chloe wiped her tears.
“Caleb believed you had something.”
“I don’t.”
“He thought your father left you information before he died.”
My breath stopped.
My father.
The old company.
The files he never let anyone touch.
The strange questions Caleb always asked.
Suddenly memories returned.
“What information?”
Chloe shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic looked at me carefully.
“Harper.”
“What?”
“Did Caleb ever ask about your father’s old business?”
Slowly…
I nodded.
“Yes.”
The room went completely silent.
Dominic understood.
And I understood too.
Caleb never loved me.
He chose me because of what I might have inherited.
May you like
My entire relationship was a lie.
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