Chapter 4: The Sin Buried With My Father
For years, I believed my father died leaving behind only two things.
A company.
And a reputation.
The company became Mercer Aerospace.
The reputation became a story everyone knew.
A brilliant businessman who built an empire from nothing.
A stubborn man who refused to quit.
A father who worked too hard but loved his family.
That was the version I grew up with.
The version I defended.
The version Vanessa had just tried to destroy.
“You need to know what your father did to us.””
Her words stayed in the air.
I looked at her standing on the staircase.
No confidence.
No perfect smile.
No carefully prepared performance.
Just fear.
And underneath that fear, something else.
Resentment.
“You expect me to believe this?”” I asked.
Vanessa slowly walked down the stairs.
“I expect you to read the file.””
“I’m asking you.””
She stopped a few feet away.
“You want the truth?””
“Yes.””
She looked at the phone in my hand.
“Then don’t pretend you’re ready for it.””
I almost laughed.
“Ready?””
I held up the screen.
“You spent months planning to destroy my company.””
Her face tightened.
“You don’t know the whole story.””
“No.””
I stared at her.
“But I know enough.””
She looked away.
For the first time since I met her, Vanessa seemed smaller.
Not innocent.
Not forgiven.
Just human.
And that somehow made it worse.
Because monsters were easy to hate.
People you once loved were harder.
“I met Marcus when I was twenty-six,” she said quietly.
I didn’t respond.
She continued.
“He was working on a business deal with your father.””
“Which deal?””
“The expansion into military aviation.””
My stomach tightened.
That division was the foundation of Mercer Aerospace’s current success.
The one everyone credited my father with creating.
“The deal failed,” Vanessa said.
“Why?””
She looked at me.
“Because your father took everything.””
I stared at her.
“No.””
The answer came immediately.
Automatically.
She noticed.
“That’s exactly what I thought you’d say.””
“My father wasn’t a thief.””
“You never knew him as a businessman.””
The sentence bothered me.
Because there was truth hidden inside it.
My father died when I was twenty-seven.
I knew him as my father.
Not as an executive.
Not as a competitor.
Not as the man other people negotiated with.
“You’re saying my father ruined Marcus?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I’m saying your father destroyed people and convinced everyone he was the hero.””
I walked toward the table.
“Then why get engaged to me?””
Silence.
A long one.
Too long.
I already knew the answer before she spoke.
“At first?””
Her voice became quieter.
“It was supposed to be temporary.””
The words cut deeper than I expected.
Temporary.
Our relationship.
Our memories.
Our plans.
Temporary.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at me.
“I was supposed to get close to you.””
My hands tightened.
“To learn about the company.””
“Yes.””
“And then?””
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
I looked away.
The kitchen suddenly felt like a place I had never seen before.
Every dinner.
Every conversation.
Every kiss goodbye.
All of it had another meaning.
“You lied to me from the beginning.””
Her eyes filled.
“Yes.””
The honesty surprised me.
Maybe because I expected another excuse.
Another manipulation.
Instead, she simply admitted it.
“Yes,” she repeated.
“Then why stay?””
Her lips trembled.
“Because somewhere along the way, it stopped being an act.””
I said nothing.
“I didn’t expect you.””
“What does that mean?””
She looked down.
“I expected a rich businessman. Someone arrogant. Someone who treated people like numbers.””
A bitter smile crossed her face.
“But you weren’t like that.””
I didn’t move.
“You treated Maria like family.””
She swallowed.
“You remembered the names of employees’ children. You visited sick workers in the hospital. You donated anonymously.””
Her voice broke slightly.
“And I hated it.””
I frowned.
“Hated it?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because it made everything harder.””
The answer was almost a whisper.
“I was supposed to hate you.””
I stared at her.
“But you didn’t.””
“No.””
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“And that was the problem.””
For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Then I remembered Maria tied to the column.
The lighter.
The hidden phone.
The documents.
I pushed the feeling away.
“Your feelings don’t change what you did.””
“I know.””
“Your past doesn’t excuse your choices.””
“I know.””
“Then why tell me now?””
Her eyes moved toward the front door.
“Because Marcus crossed a line.””
I looked at her.
“What line?””
She hesitated.
Then reached into her purse.
She pulled out a small envelope.
My body went tense.
“What is that?””
“Something I took from him.””
I didn’t move.
“Why?””
“Because I realized what he was actually planning.””
She placed the envelope on the table.
“He never wanted revenge.””
I stared at her.
“What did he want?””
Her answer came quietly.
“Everything.””
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a document.
Not a copy.
An original.
The paper was old.
Yellowed around the edges.
I read the first page.
My father’s signature appeared at the bottom.
I knew that signature.
I had seen it thousands of times.
On contracts.
On letters.
On family documents.
But this time, it was attached to something I had never seen before.
A confidential agreement.
Between Mercer Aerospace and Vale Holdings.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
The agreement wasn’t about a partnership.
It was about ownership transfer.
A transfer that would have given Marcus control of a major portion of my father’s company.
I looked at Vanessa.
“What is this?””
“The deal your father canceled.””
“Why?””
“Because he discovered Marcus was hiding information.””
“What information?””
She shook her head.
“I don’t know everything.””
“Convenient.””
Her expression hardened.
“I’m telling you the truth.””
“After eighteen months of lies?””
She looked down.
“I deserve that.””
I continued reading.
There were handwritten notes in the margins.
My father’s handwriting.
One sentence stood out.
*“Vale is not interested in partnership. He is attempting hostile acquisition.””*
My chest tightened.
I kept reading.
Then I saw another name.
A witness.
Someone who had reported Marcus’s actions.
Someone who had disappeared from the industry afterward.
My father had written:
*“If anything happens to me, protect Elijah.””*
I stopped.
The room became silent.
My father never wrote things like that.
He wasn’t dramatic.
He wasn’t paranoid.
If he wrote those words, he believed there was danger.
I looked up.
“Where did you get this?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Marcus had it.””
“Why?””
“Because he wanted to use it against you.””
“How?””
She looked at me.
“He planned to make you believe your father betrayed him.””
I stared at the document.
“And then?””
“Then he would convince you to destroy your own company.””
The pieces started connecting.
The wedding.
The contracts.
The hidden phone.
The acquisition documents Vanessa searched for.
Marcus didn’t want my company by force.
He wanted me to hand it over.
Through trust.
Through emotion.
Through Vanessa.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Daniel.
*“Mr. Mercer, we found something else. Check the attachment immediately.””*
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
It was taken from a security camera.
The date was three days earlier.
The location was my office.
Vanessa was standing beside my desk.
But she wasn’t alone.
Marcus was there.
My eyes moved to the time stamp.
2:13 a.m.
While I was flying to London.
While everyone believed I was away.
They were inside my office.
I enlarged the image.
On my desk was a folder.
The folder containing the final merger documents.
I looked at Vanessa.
She saw my expression.
“What?””
I turned the phone toward her.
Her face went pale.
Because she knew what I knew.
The plan wasn’t finished.
They had been interrupted.
By my early return.
And suddenly, the night made sense.
Maria wasn’t tied up because of a stolen necklace.
She had caught them.
She had seen something.
That was why Vanessa needed her silent.
I grabbed my coat.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Where are you going?””
“To my office.””
“Elijah—”
I stopped at the door.
She looked terrified.
Not because I was leaving.
Because she knew what I would find.
“What are you looking for?”” she asked.
I stared at her.
“The thing you and Marcus were willing to hurt Maria to hide.””
I opened the door.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
His voice was urgent.
“Mr. Mercer, don’t go there alone.””
I froze.
“Why?””
A pause.
Then he said:
“Because someone broke into your office again.””
I looked back at Vanessa.
Her face had gone completely white.
Daniel continued.
“And this time, they weren’t looking for documents.””
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“What were they looking for?””
May you like
His answer came slowly.
“Evidence that your father’s death wasn’t an accident.””
