Chapter 8 - The Mercer Debt
Nora called the police.
Ryan objected immediately.
“There is no need to involve outsiders.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“You broke through a secured apartment door.”
“I was trying to retrieve my wife.”
“She is not property.”
Gloria pointed toward Madison.
“She is emotionally unstable. Look at her.”
Madison’s fear sharpened into anger.
“I’m injured because your family attacked me.”
“You injured yourself while resisting.”
The sentence silenced the room.
Gloria had rehearsed it.
Ryan had rehearsed it.
They planned to describe the assault as Madison’s own fault.
Daniel turned toward his aide.
“Photograph everything.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“You don’t have authority here.”
“No,” Daniel replied. “But the police will.”
Sirens sounded below.
Gloria’s hands tightened around her clutch.
Daniel lifted another page from the floor.
The transfer documents referred to Mercer Crest Holdings.
He recognized the company name.
Three months earlier, a defense contractor had quietly withdrawn from a real-estate partnership after discovering financial inconsistencies.
Mercer Crest Holdings had been involved.
Daniel had heard the name during an ethics briefing.
He looked at Ryan.
“Your company is under review.”
Ryan’s expression hardened.
“That has nothing to do with Madison.”
“It has everything to do with why you need clean property tonight.”
Gloria stepped backward.
Madison watched their faces.
The apartment transfer was meant to place an unencumbered asset inside a collapsing family company.
May you like
Her wedding was not the beginning of a marriage.
It was the final step in a rescue plan for the Mercers.
