Chapter 5 - The Last Mercer Betrayal
The Brooklyn terminal belonged to Grant.
At least, he thought it did.
By midnight, Roman controlled every exit.
I stayed in the car.
For approximately three minutes.
Then I opened the door.
Luca blocked me.
“Mrs. Caruso.”
“Move.”
“Roman said—”
“I know what Roman said.”
“That generally makes ignoring him worse.”
“Luca.”
He sighed.
“I’m going to lose my job.”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m his wife.”
Luca stared at me.
Then he laughed once.
“God help him.”
Inside the terminal office, Grant stood beside Victor.
Roman faced them across a long table.
Nobody had fired a shot.
Nobody needed to.
Roman had already won.
Grant saw me.
“You.”
Roman turned.
His expression darkened.
“I told you to stay in the car.”
“I’ve spent my entire life staying where men told me.”
Roman considered that.
“Fine.”
Grant laughed.
“She already controls you.”
Roman looked at him.
“Is that supposed to embarrass me?”
Victor stepped forward.
“This can still be settled.”
Roman placed copies of the ledgers on the table.
“It already has been.”
Victor’s face changed.
“You betrayed my brother,” Roman said.
Victor remained silent.
“For money?”
“For survival.”
Roman shook his head.
“No. Don’t make cowardice sound noble.”
Grant pointed at me.
“She caused all of this.”
I stared at him.
“Me?”
“If you had kept your mouth shut years ago—”
“You would have gotten away with murder?”
“You were always weak.”
I walked closer.
Grant smiled.
“You think wearing his ring makes you strong?”
“No.”
I looked at Roman.
“Surviving you made me strong.”
Grant’s smile disappeared.
“You were nothing without this family.”
“That’s what you needed me to believe.”
I placed our father’s letter on the table.
Grant recognized the handwriting.
His face drained.
“Dad knew.”
“No.”
“He knew everything.”
Grant read the first lines.
Then he stopped.
Roman watched him.
“You destroyed your own family to hide what you did.”
Grant looked at me.
“You think Roman loves you?”
The question struck harder than I expected.
Grant saw it.
He smiled.
“He married you because he hated Dad.”
Roman answered before I could.
“That’s true.”
The room went silent.
Roman looked at me.
“I married Evelyn for revenge.”
My chest tightened.
Then he continued.
“And it was the worst reason I’ve ever had for doing anything.”
Grant scoffed.
Roman ignored him.
“I thought taking Arthur Mercer’s daughter would make his family suffer.”
He walked toward me.
“Instead, I discovered Arthur Mercer’s daughter had already survived more than I understood.”
His eyes held mine.
“So when this ends, she chooses what happens next.”
Grant stared.
“You’d let her leave?”
“Yes.”
“After everything?”
Roman didn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
Something inside me shifted.
Grant had spent years teaching me that love was ownership.
Roman, the man I had been taught to fear, had just shown me the difference.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Grant looked toward the windows.
“What did you do?”
Roman smiled.
“Something neither of our families does often.”
Grant stared at him.
“What?”
“Used the law.”
Federal investigators had copies of everything.
The financial records.
The bribery.
The conspiracy surrounding the ambush.
The stolen shipping money.
Victor turned toward the rear exit.
Luca was already standing there.
“Wouldn’t recommend it.”
Grant stepped toward me.
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
“We’re family.”
I almost laughed.
“You remembered that too late.”
“Please.”
It was the first time I had ever heard my brother use that word with me.
I looked at Roman.
He didn’t interfere.
This was my choice.
I turned back to Grant.
“You once told me nobody would ever believe me.”
Grant said nothing.
“Tonight, they don’t need to.”
I pointed at the documents.
“They can believe the evidence.”
Federal agents entered moments later.
Grant was taken away.
Victor followed.
I watched until the doors closed.
Then I realized Roman was beside me.
“It’s over,” he said.
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
May you like
“Our marriage isn’t.”
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