PART 2 - The Woman Who Knew Their Secret

Prescott nodded.

“Already done.”

“Get Jonah and Blythe out through the emergency passage.”

A shadow crossed Clara’s face.

“No.”

I turned toward her.

“No?”

She stepped forward.

“If you move them now, they’ll know.”

I stared at her.

“They’re already inside my home.”

“They aren’t here to kill your children.”

The confidence in her voice made my anger rise.

“You don’t get to decide what happens to my family.”

“No,” she said quietly.

Then she looked at the envelope still sitting on my desk.

“Your wife already did.”

The room became silent.

I hated that sentence.

Not because it was cruel.

Because some part of me believed it.

I grabbed the envelope and unfolded the remaining pages.

Genevieve’s handwriting covered both sides.

My hands shook as I read.

Lawson,

If you are reading this, it means our children need the truth more than they need a miracle.

I know you.

I know

you will fight. You will spend every dollar, threaten every person, and destroy anyone who stands between you and saving them.

That is who you are.

But this time, you cannot fight what you do not understand.

I stopped reading.

The words blurred.

Because she knew me.

Even after death, she knew exactly what I would do.

I continued.

Three years ago, before the doctors found anything wrong with Jonah and Blythe, I noticed things you didn’t.

Small things.

Their exhaustion.

The strange fevers.

The moments when they looked confused and frightened.

I went searching for answers.

Not through your doctors.

Not through your companies.

Because everyone connected to the Mercer name has a price.

I found someone who had no reason to lie to me.

Clara.

I looked up.

The woman standing across from me lowered her eyes.

Genevieve continued.

She helped me discover something terrible.

The illness affecting

our children was not random.

The disease was triggered.

My fingers tightened around the paper.

Triggered.

That word stayed in my mind.

I had spent weeks believing I had failed because I couldn’t find the right treatment.

I had blamed doctors.

Hospitals.

Science.

But Genevieve had been searching for something else.

Someone.

The next line nearly broke me.

Someone wanted our children sick.

Prescott cursed under his breath.

I looked at him.

“Find out who is inside this house.”

He moved instantly.

Clara spoke again.

“There is more.”

I looked back at the letter.

Lawson,

If they come for you, do not trust the people who claim they are protecting you.

The Mercer family has enemies.

But the worst ones are not outside the walls.

They are the ones who already know where every wall is built.

A noise came from the hallway.

A gunshot.

Everyone froze.

Then another.

Prescott

grabbed his radio.

“Medical wing compromised.”

My heart stopped.

I ran.

I didn’t think.

I didn’t calculate.

I didn’t care about danger.

My children were there.

The hallway stretched endlessly.

The mansion that had always felt enormous suddenly felt too small.

Too exposed.

As I reached the medical wing, two guards were unconscious near the door.

My security team.

The best money could buy.

Destroyed in seconds.

Inside, the lights flickered.

Click the blue “PART 3” below to read the next part: 👉 PART 3 👈