Chapter 12 - Charles Mercer’s Amendment
Nathan’s legal team searched every legitimate archive.
Victoria had told the truth about one thing.
The original amendment was missing.
A scanned reference proved it existed, but the signature page was absent.
Without it, litigation over the trust could drag on for years.
Nathan refused to let Lily’s future depend on Victoria.
Then Grace remembered something.
“Evelyn told me your father regretted signing something.”
Nathan turned.
“The amendment?”
“She said Charles signed because he was lied to.”
That matched the anonymous warning.
Rebecca searched Evelyn’s sealed archive again.
Buried inside an index was a notation:
C.M. AMENDMENT — EXECUTED UNDER MATERIAL MISREPRESENTATION.
Nathan asked, “What lie?”
Nobody knew.
Until Margaret Mercer arrived.
Nathan’s mother looked devastated.
“I do.”
She placed an old letter on Rebecca’s desk.
Charles had written it shortly before his death.
He admitted signing an amendment after Harold told him Sarah had died childless.
Therefore, Charles believed Sarah’s branch no longer existed.
But Sarah had not died childless.
Emily existed.
Grace existed.
Now Lily existed.
Harold had built the amendment on a false family record.
Nathan stared at his mother.
“Why did you keep this?”
“Your father made me promise not to destroy it. He said someday Evelyn might need it.”
“Why didn’t you give it to her?”
Margaret began crying.
“Victoria convinced me your grandmother was confused.”
Nathan looked away.
Another manipulation.
Another family member isolated.
But the letter mattered.
It established Charles’s state of mind and supported Evelyn’s affidavit.
Still, Rebecca warned that the original amendment was critical evidence.
Then Harold called.
Nathan put him on speaker.
“You want the amendment?” Harold asked.
“Yes.”
“Bring me Evelyn’s locket.”
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
She shook her head.
The locket authenticated the sealed archive and had evidentiary value.
Nathan replied, “No.”
Harold laughed.
“Then explain to your daughter someday why pride cost her inheritance.”
Nathan’s voice remained calm.
“This stopped being about inheritance the moment you threatened Grace.”
Silence.
Harold’s tone changed.
“You have no idea what Victoria will do when she realizes I’m negotiating.”
Nathan glanced toward the window.
Across the street, a black SUV had been parked for twelve minutes.
Then its headlights turned on.
Grace whispered, “Nathan…”
The SUV accelerated away.
Nathan’s security team traced the plate.
May you like
It belonged to a company controlled by Victoria.
And its destination, captured by traffic cameras, was Harold Vance’s office.
