Chapter 6 - The Pawn Returns
One week after the wedding that never was, I returned to downtown Charleston.
I was no longer wearing the quiet, understated linen dresses Daniel liked me to wear. I wore a sharply tailored charcoal Alexander McQueen suit, my hair pulled back into a sleek, low bun, walking through the glass doors of the Mercer Global headquarters on Meeting Street.
The entire executive team was waiting in the main boardroom.
"Good morning, everyone," I said, taking my place at the head of the long mahogany table. "Let's review the Broad Street project."
Evelyn Reed slid a folder across to me. "Since we withdrew funding from Apex, the project ground to a complete halt. However, three rival firms have approached us attempting to buy the land rights at a discount."
"We aren't selling the land," I said flatly. "We are restructuring the project. Rebrand it as Mercer Square. I want construction resumed by next month, under direct Mercer management."
"And who will lead the project?" an executive asked.
"I will," I replied without hesitation. "I built the capital structure for that site. I know every blueprint, every zoning permit, and every subcontractor. Daniel Brooks was just the face on the presentation slides. I was the architect."
The room murmured in approval. For four years, I had allowed Daniel to take public credit for my ideas, letting him feel like the mastermind while I quietly arranged the financing and approved the designs behind closed doors. I had dimmed my own light so he wouldn't feel overshadowed.
Never again.
At 3:00 PM that afternoon, my assistant informed me that a visitor was waiting in the ground-floor lobby.
It wasn't Daniel.
It was Victoria Vance.
I had security escort her up to my private office on the top floor.
When Victoria stepped into my office, she looked noticeably shaken. The arrogant, effortless air she had displayed at the civic center was gone. She was wearing a simple coat, carrying a designer bag that looked slightly worn around the edges, and her eyes were darting nervously around the luxurious room.
"Ms. Mercer," Victoria began, her voice tight. "Thank you for seeing me."
"Sit down, Victoria," I said, leaning back in my leather chair, not offering her coffee or tea. "You have three minutes."
Victoria sat on the edge of the plush armchair opposite my desk. "I came to apologize. I didn't know... I mean, Daniel told me you two were just getting married for family reasons. He told me it was a business arrangement. He said he was unhappy."
I let out a cold, soft laugh. "Is that what he told you?"
"Yes!" Victoria insisted, pressing her hands together. "He called me two weeks before your wedding. He told me he made a mistake choosing a 'boring heiress' over me. He said he had built a massive real estate empire in Charleston and that if I left my husband, he would take care of me."
I watched her face carefully. She was telling the truth—or at least, Daniel's version of the truth.
Daniel had been playing a double game for months. He had been feeding Victoria lies about his wealth and power, pretending he was the mastermind behind Mercer Global, using my money to build a fantasy persona to win back the woman who had dumped him years ago.
"Daniel doesn't own a single square foot of real estate in this city, Victoria," I said plainly. "He was an employee. An easily replaceable one."
Victoria's face flushed with shame. "I realized that at the civic center. My husband... Richard found out I met Daniel that night. Richard's lawyers served me with divorce papers yesterday. He locked me out of our accounts. He took the house in Greenwich."
She looked up at me with desperate, tear-filled eyes. "I lost everything, Ms. Mercer. My home, my marriage, my reputation. Daniel ruined my life."
"Daniel didn't ruin your life, Victoria," I corrected her coldly. "Your own greed did. You left Daniel years ago because he was poor. You came running back the moment you thought he was rich. You didn't care that he was marrying another woman. You just wanted a bigger bank account."
Victoria flinched as if I had slapped her.
"I have no sympathy for you," I continued, standing up from my desk. "You and Daniel are identical. You both look at people as stepping stones. The only difference is that Daniel fell off his stone, and you fell off yours."
"Please," Victoria whispered. "Is there any way... can you tell Richard's lawyers that nothing happened between me and Daniel that night? If you give a statement saying Daniel was just helping me, Richard might reconsider the alimony settlement—"
"Get out of my office," I said, turning my back on her to look out over the Charleston skyline. "Before I have security throw you out."
May you like
Victoria stood in silence for a few seconds before her high heels hurried out the door.
I took a deep breath, watching the container ships move across the harbor. The web Daniel had spun to satisfy his bloated ego was unraveling, taking down everyone who had tried to build a life on his foundation of lies.
