Robert Mercer existed in Bellmont history mostly as a footnote.
Daniel remembered one photograph.
His grandfather standing between two sons.
Harold smiling slightly.
Robert looking impatient.
When Daniel was a child, nobody spoke about him.
He had assumed Robert simply preferred another life.
Now Richard placed seven boxes of early Bellmont records across a secure evidence room.
The truth was less clean.
Robert had helped finance several early acquisitions.
Not restaurants.
Land.
Vacant lots.
Warehouses.
Industrial parcels.
The same properties that decades later formed Arthur’s coveted redevelopment corridor.
Daniel opened a partnership agreement dated thirty-four years earlier.
Harold Mercer.
Robert Mercer.
Charles Rourke.
Three names.
Robert contributed money.
Harold managed operations.
Rourke structured acquisitions.
Richard said, “Lauren’s argument is not invented.”
Daniel looked up.
“Meaning?”
“Robert may have had an equitable interest in some properties.”
“May?”
“The documents are incomplete.”
“Because?”
“Several assignments are missing.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Of course they were.
Miriam examined another agreement.
“Harold appears to have purchased Robert’s interest eventually.”
“Then done.”
“Not necessarily.”
Daniel hated those words.
She continued.
“We need proof consideration was paid and transfer completed.”
Samuel looked through old ledgers.
“I remember a family dispute.”
“When?”
“Before Daniel joined the company.”
“What about?”
“Robert wanted cash. Harold wanted to preserve the properties.”
“Did Harold buy him out?”
“I believed so.”
“You believed.”
Samuel nodded.
“I didn't handle the settlement.”
“Who did?”
Charles Rourke.
Dead.
Richard found a closing statement.
Payment to Robert Mercer.
Large amount.
Signed receipt.
Daniel looked at Miriam.
“That proves it.”
She read carefully.
“Possibly.”
“What now?”
“The receipt references Schedule C.”
They searched.
No Schedule C.
Without it, they could not identify which property interests Robert relinquished.
Lauren’s lawyers were exploiting the missing schedule.
If even one strategic property remained partly attributable to Robert’s untransferred interest, Lauren could seek a constructive trust over it as his biological descendant.
Daniel rubbed his eyes.
“How does any of this help her take Bellmont?”
Richard answered.
“Delay. Leverage. Settlement.”
Arthur’s model again.
Create uncertainty.
Force concessions.
But Daniel sensed more.
Lauren did not walk into custody merely to file technical claims from jail.
She wanted something else.
Ruiz entered.
“She asked to speak with you.”
Daniel looked up.
“Lauren?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She says she’ll explain Robert.”
Miriam immediately objected.
“No unsupervised conversation.”
Ruiz agreed.
“It would be recorded.”
Richard said, “Anything she says could affect the probate case.”
“Good.”
Miriam frowned.
“Not always good.”
Daniel stood.
“I’m talking to her.”
Lauren sat behind reinforced glass in a federal interview room.
No dramatic restraints.
No visible fear.
She wore a plain gray detention uniform and looked smaller than Daniel expected.
He had seen photographs.
Surveillance.
Legal filings.
But never sat across from her.
Ruiz remained inside.
Miriam watched remotely.
Daniel picked up the phone.
Lauren did the same.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Lauren said, “You look like Harold.”
Daniel did not react.
“You never met him?”
“I did.”
That surprised him.
“When?”
“I was twelve.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“Where?”
“Paris.”
“Why?”
“Arthur took me.”
“Arthur introduced you to Harold?”
“No.”
Lauren smiled faintly.
“He made sure I saw him.”
Daniel felt disgust.
Even childhood had been training.
“What did Arthur tell you?”
“That Harold stole everything from our family.”
“Our?”
“He told me I was his daughter.”
“Biologically?”
“At first.”
“When did that change?”
“When I was seventeen.”
“What did he say then?”
“That Harold might be my father.”
Daniel watched her.
“What did that do to you?”
Lauren looked toward the glass.
“It made me useful.”
The honesty stopped him.
“Your mother told him that lie.”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“After she died.”
“So you knew Harold wasn’t your father before filing the petition.”
“Yes.”
Ruiz’s expression hardened.
Lauren continued.
“I needed the court to open the descendant question.”
Daniel felt anger.
“You committed fraud.”
“My lawyer filed based on a private lab report.”
“Which used corrupted Harold tissue.”
Lauren smiled without warmth.
“You’re learning.”
Daniel’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Did you alter the sample?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Delaney.”
“Before or after you broke with Arthur?”
“After.”
“So Delaney worked with you.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Lauren looked away.
“I don't know anymore.”
“You abducted him.”
“No.”
“Someone did.”
“Yes.”
“Arthur?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Lauren met his eyes.
“Vale.”
Daniel paused.
“Adrian Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Delaney knows where Vale’s money went.”
“Into Arthur’s network.”
“Some.”
“What else?”
Lauren gave a small smile.
“You still think Arthur controlled everything.”
Daniel said nothing.
She continued.
“He controlled the blackmail structure. Vale controlled the capital. Delaney controlled cleanup.”
“And you?”
“Access.”
The same architecture they had already uncovered.
Daniel asked, “Why betray Arthur?”
Lauren’s expression changed.
“Because he was never going to let me inherit anything.”
“Inherit what?”
“His network.”
“That’s what you wanted?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Freedom from it.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“You ordered my daughter taken.”
“I did.”
“You planned to injure her.”
Lauren’s face hardened.
“I planned to make you change the trust.”
“By hurting an eight-year-old.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No softening.
Daniel appreciated the lack of manipulation and hated the content.
“You call that freedom?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Desperation.”
Daniel stared.
Lauren continued.
“Arthur told me when I was twenty that Bellmont would eventually become ours.”
“Ours?”
“His.”
“Then?”
“He said once Harold’s descendants were legally neutralized, I would hold the family claim.”
“But you weren't Harold’s daughter.”
“I knew that later.”
“So why continue?”
“Because by then I had spent my entire adult life inside his structure.”
Daniel thought of Vanessa.
Gregory.
Evelyn.
People who began as helpers, sources, frightened employees, and eventually became part of what they feared.
That did not absolve Lauren either.
“What does Robert have to do with it?”
“My mother discovered the truth after Arthur’s supposed death.”
“What truth?”
“That Robert Mercer was my father.”
Daniel watched her carefully.
“You have proof?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Letters. Genetic testing against preserved material from Robert.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Convenient.”
Lauren shrugged.
“You don't have to believe me. Your lab already showed I’m a close Mercer relative.”
That much was true.
“Did Robert know?”
“Yes.”
“Did Harold?”
“Yes.”
That surprised Daniel.
“What did Harold do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“He paid Robert to leave.”
Daniel looked at Ruiz.
“Why?”
Lauren continued.
“Robert was involved with Arthur.”
Daniel felt another connection tighten.
“In the land scheme?”
“At the beginning.”
“Robert helped Arthur front-run Bellmont property acquisitions?”
“Yes.”
“And Harold discovered it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel understood the family silence.
Robert had not merely left.
He had betrayed Bellmont with Arthur.
“What was the buyout?”
“Not a buyout.”
“Then what?”
“Harold paid him to surrender control rights but never completed several property transfers.”
“Why not?”
“Because Robert refused to sign Schedule C.”
Daniel stared.
There it was.
The missing schedule.
“Where is it?”
Lauren smiled faintly.
“That’s why I’m in custody.”
Daniel frowned.
“You came here because you wanted us to protect you.”
“Yes.”
“From Arthur?”
“From Vale.”
“Why would Vale want you dead?”
“Because I found Schedule C.”
The room became silent.
Daniel leaned closer.
“What does it say?”
“Robert retained beneficial interests in three properties.”
“Which?”
“Harbor Point.”
Daniel’s pulse increased.
“The freight depot.”
Richard had expected those.
“And?”
Lauren looked directly at him.
“Bellmont House.”
Daniel stopped.
The restaurant.
The place where everything began.
Robert had retained a hidden beneficial interest in Bellmont House property.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because the building is worth far less than the land.”
Richard’s words from earlier echoed through Daniel’s mind.
The corridor.
Lauren continued.
“Bellmont House sits on the final parcel needed to unify Vale’s downtown redevelopment project.”
Daniel understood.
If Lauren inherited Robert’s beneficial interest, she could challenge Bellmont’s exclusive ownership of the restaurant property.
She could force partition.
Sale.
Settlement.
Something.
“Arthur knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he simply use Robert’s claim years ago?”
“Because Robert signed another document.”
Daniel waited.
“A waiver.”
“Of what?”
“All claims if Arthur, Vale, or any associated entity ever attempted to gain Bellmont control through fraud.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Robert had betrayed Harold.
Then tried to limit the damage.
“Where is the waiver?”
“Attached to Schedule C.”
“Where?”
Lauren shook her head.
“I had it.”
“Past tense.”
“Vale took Delaney because Delaney knew where I stored it.”
“Does Vale have it?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Why should I help you?”
Lauren’s expression changed.
“I’m not asking for help.”
“You walked into federal custody to avoid Vale.”
“Yes.”
“That sounds like asking.”
“I’m offering information.”
“In exchange for?”
“A deal.”
Ruiz spoke.
“That discussion goes through counsel.”
Lauren ignored her and looked at Daniel.
“Arthur killed Anna.”
“I know.”
“Vale paid the driver.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Ruiz stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Lauren said, “Arthur ordered intimidation. Vale selected the contractor.”
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Name.”
“Michael Trent.”
Ruiz immediately wrote it down.
Lauren continued.
“Trent was told to force Anna away from the Morris meeting.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Of course.”
“Car accident two years ago.”
Daniel felt nothing anymore when another relevant person turned out dead.
Lauren said, “But Vale kept payment records.”
“Where?”
“Delaney copied them.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Everyone kept insurance against everyone else.
Blackmail had become the network’s internal constitution.
Daniel asked, “Where are the copies?”
“Schedule C storage.”
“Location.”
Lauren shook her head.
“Deal first.”
Ruiz ended the interview.
Daniel put down the phone.
Lauren remained behind the glass.
Watching him.
Outside, Ruiz turned on him.
“You do not negotiate privately.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were about to.”
“I wanted the location.”
“So do I.”
Miriam appeared from the observation room.
“Anything she gives us must be structured carefully. If she has authentic property documents, they affect both criminal and probate cases.”
Daniel nodded.
Richard looked thoughtful.
“She came in because Vale has Delaney.”
“And because Arthur may kill her,” Samuel added.
Daniel looked through the glass.
Lauren had spent decades trying to become indispensable to cruel men.
Now both systems had turned against her.
But she still possessed leverage.
And she still believed leverage was safer than trust.
His phone vibrated.
Message from an unknown secure number.
Not Arthur.
One image.
Frank Delaney tied to a chair.
Alive.
A timestamp from minutes earlier.
Then text:
Ask Lauren whether she still thinks custody makes her safe.
Daniel showed Ruiz.
A second message arrived.
Schedule C for Delaney.
Richard whispered, “Vale.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
Adrian Vale had finally stepped forward directly.
Arthur’s network was breaking.
Lauren had turned herself in.
Delaney had become a bargaining chip.
And Vale wanted the one document that could either prove or destroy his legal claim to Bellmont’s most important land.
For the first time, the financial architect was no longer hidden behind shell companies.
He wanted something.
And Daniel knew precisely what it was.
Click here to continue reading: PART 24: Adrian Vale Demands Schedule C in Exchange for Delaney, but Daniel Discovers the Missing Document Has Been Hidden Inside Bellmont House for Years
A Rain-Soaked Father Takes His Daughter to Dinner and Learns Why So Many Guests Have Been Complaining About Bellmont House
Part 23 of 44
