Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEADJulian spent the next three hours searching for Elena Cross.
Every record was incomplete.
Every photograph had been removed.
Every person who might have known her suddenly became unreachable.
Then Marcus found something.
A hospital record.
Six years old.
Elena Cross had been admitted under an alias after a highway accident.
The record listed her as deceased.
But the death certificate had never been issued.
Julian stared at the document.
“Find her.”
Marcus nodded.
“We already did.”
Julian looked up.
“She isn't dead.”
Marcus placed a photograph on the table.
A surveillance image from a small town in Oregon.
A woman buying groceries.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Elena Cross.
Julian's heart slammed.
“Where?”
“Portland.”
He left within the hour.
He did not tell Vivienne.
He did not tell Adrian.
Only Marcus knew.
Two days later, Julian stood outside a modest blue house beneath a gray Oregon sky.
A woman opened the door.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke.
Elena looked at him.
Then she whispered:
“Julian.”
He nearly forgot how to breathe.
“You're alive.”
She gave a bitter smile.
“Barely.”
“Evie.”
Elena's face broke.
“She's alive?”
Julian stared at her.
“You don't know?”
“I was told she died.”
“What?”
“They told me my baby didn't survive.”
Julian stepped closer.
“She is three years old.”
Tears filled Elena's eyes.
“Three?”
“She has your eyes.”
Elena covered her mouth.
For several seconds she could not speak.
Then she whispered:
“Where is she?”
“With me.”
“Is she safe?”
Julian hesitated.
“She almost wasn't.”
Elena looked at him.
“What happened?”
Julian told her everything.
The balcony.
Vivienne.
The disabled camera.
The message.
Elena listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she turned away.
“Vivienne knew.”
Julian's voice hardened.
“Knew what?”
“That Evie survived.”
“Why would she want to hurt her?”
Elena looked back.
“Because Vivienne always believed I stole everything from her.”
Julian frowned.
“She was your sister.”
“She was my sister.”
Elena sat down.
“After our father died, Vivienne blamed me for his leaving us. She believed I had taken his love. Later, when I became pregnant with Evie, she became convinced the baby represented everything she had been denied.”
Julian's hands curled into fists.
“But why marry me?”
Elena looked at him.
“That wasn't an accident.”
“What do you mean?”
“She wanted access.”
“To Evie?”
“To you. To your company. To your family.”
Julian's face darkened.
“Elena, who was behind the camera?”
She stared at him.
“I don't know.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“What did he know?”
Elena looked toward the window.
“He knew someone was trying to take control of Mercer Global.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then said:
“Adrian.”
Julian froze.
“My brother?”
“No.”
Elena's eyes filled with fear.
“Adrian was trying to stop them.”
“Then who?”
She whispered a name Julian had never expected.
“Your father's lawyer.”
“Richard Vale?”
Elena nodded.
“He has been controlling pieces of your family for years.”
Julian felt the room grow colder.
“Why?”
Elena's answer came quietly.
“Because Elliot Mercer didn't build an empire.”
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She looked directly into Julian's eyes.
“He built a weapon.”
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