Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT THE HOUSE BURNEDThey returned to Mercer House after midnight.
Elena was waiting.
Evie was asleep upstairs.
Julian explained everything.
Then the lights went out.
Marcus immediately drew his weapon.
“Everyone stay together.”
A smell reached them.
Gasoline.
Julian looked toward the kitchen.
Smoke began crawling beneath the door.
“Fire!”
Flames erupted.
The house transformed into chaos.
Sprinklers failed.
Windows shattered.
People screamed.
Julian ran upstairs.
“Evie!”
Her bedroom door was locked.
He kicked it open.
Smoke filled the room.
Evie was crying beneath her bed.
“Daddy!”
Julian crawled through the smoke.
“I've got you!”
He pulled her out.
The ceiling cracked.
A burning beam crashed behind him.
Julian shielded Evie with his body.
Then someone grabbed his shoulder.
Elena.
“Come on!”
They escaped through the service stairs.
Outside, firefighters surrounded the property.
Julian turned.
Half the house was burning.
His childhood home.
His father's legacy.
Everything.
Gone.
Evie clung to his neck.
“Daddy, our house is broken.”
Julian kissed her hair.
“We'll build another.”
Marcus approached.
“We found this.”
A charred envelope.
Inside was a photograph of the old underground vault.
The key Vivienne had given Julian suddenly felt heavy in his hand.
The fire had been deliberate.
Someone wanted them to move.
Someone wanted the vault opened.
They drove to the old Mercer estate before dawn.
Beneath the house was a steel door.
Julian inserted the key.
The lock opened.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Documents.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And one video recording.
Julian pressed play.
His father's face appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Frightened.
“Julian,” Elliot said.
“If you're seeing this, I've failed to protect you.”
Julian's throat tightened.
“I made terrible decisions. I trusted the wrong people. Richard Vale knows about the trust.”
The recording continued.
“But there is something else you must understand.”
Elliot looked directly into the camera.
“Evie is not merely my granddaughter.”
Julian froze.
“She is the only person who can legally dismantle everything I built.”
The screen went black.
Julian stared.
Then another file appeared automatically.
PROJECT MERCURY.
He opened it.
The screen displayed a list of names.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Judges.
Executives.
And at the bottom:
RICHARD VALE — PRIMARY BENEFICIARY.
Julian whispered:
“My father built an empire designed to destroy itself.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at the screen.
“Look closer.”
Julian zoomed in.
There was another name.
A person controlling the final authority.
Not Vale.
Not Adrian.
Not Vivienne.
A name Julian had never seen before.
JONATHAN MERCER.
His father's younger brother.
May you like
Julian's uncle.
A man everyone believed had died before Julian was born.
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