Chapter 3 - BREAKFAST FOR EIGHT
Ethan cut into his eggs with the confidence of a man who believed the previous night had restored order.
Beverly inspected the coffee pot.
“This isn’t our usual brand.”
“No,” I said.
Her hand stopped.
Ethan glanced toward her.
Then at me.
“What did I tell you?”
I touched the bruise beneath my eye.
“You told me many things.”
His fork landed against the plate.
“Emily.”
The doorbell rang.
Beverly frowned.
“Who comes this early?”
I stood.
“My guests.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“You invited people?”
“Yes.”
The first person through the door was Nora Bell.
She wore a charcoal suit and carried a leather case.
Ethan knew her.
She had negotiated our prenuptial agreement.
“Nora,” he said slowly. “What is this?”
She removed a document from her case.
“Notice of representation, preservation demand, and petition for an emergency protective order.”
Beverly pushed back from the table.
“Protective order?”
The bell rang again.
Daniel Voss entered with Sterling Continental’s chief compliance officer.
Ethan stood.
“Daniel, thank God. Emily is having some kind of episode.”
Daniel did not shake his hand.
“Mr. Mercer, your access to all Sterling-linked accounts has been suspended pending investigation.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“You can’t freeze my money.”
“Your personal checking account remains available. The accounts you describe as yours belong to Mrs. Sterling, the trust, or related entities.”
Beverly stared at him.
“What about the household card?”
“Canceled.”
“My medical account?”
“Under audit.”
“The Lake Forest condominium?”
“Purchased through an entity funded by Emily Sterling. Transfer authority has been suspended.”
Beverly looked at Ethan.
“You said it was ours.”
He ignored her.
The third arrival was Malcolm Reed, independent chairman of Ethan’s company, Mercer Development Group.
Behind him came Isabel Hart, Ethan’s former executive assistant.
Isabel carried a laptop and looked as though she had not slept.
Ethan’s face went pale.
“You were fired.”
Isabel stopped near the dining room entrance.
“I resigned after you ordered me to forge Emily’s signature.”
“I never said that.”
She opened the laptop.
“I preserved the emails.”
Malcolm Reed removed Ethan’s building badge from an envelope.
“Effective immediately, you are suspended from executive duties.”
Ethan laughed.
“This is absurd. My wife has bruises, she’s emotional, and all of you are participating in some family tantrum.”
The fourth arrival was Dr. Priya Shah.
She placed a sealed evidence summary on the table.
Beverly stared at the hospital logo.
“Why is a doctor here?”
Dr. Shah answered plainly.
“To discuss the sedative found in Emily’s blood and in the coffee grounds collected from this kitchen.”
The room became silent.
Ethan looked at his mother.
Beverly’s face emptied.
“What sedative?” he asked.
Dr. Shah did not answer him directly.
“The concentration in Mrs. Sterling’s blood is consistent with repeated exposure. Laboratory confirmation is pending, but the substance matches a prescription issued to Beverly Mercer.”
Beverly rose so quickly that her chair struck the floor.
“I take medication for anxiety.”
“Then why was it inside Emily’s coffee?” Nora asked.
“It wasn’t.”
Detective Lena Morales entered with another officer.
“That is what we’re investigating.”
Ethan backed away from the table.
“You brought police into my home?”
I looked around the room.
“My home.”
Before he could answer, the front door opened once more.
No bell this time.
My grandmother had the access code.
Eleanor Sterling walked into the dining room wearing a dark blue coat and carrying a silver-headed cane she did not need but enjoyed using when she wanted people to notice her arrival.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Beverly lowered herself slowly back into her chair.
My grandmother looked first at my face.
She did not flinch.
She looked at every bruise.
Then she turned toward Ethan.
“I believe we have met once,” she said.
He swallowed.
“At the wedding.”
“No. At the wedding you performed. Today we meet.”
She took the empty seat beside me.
Beverly found her voice.
“This is a private marital matter.”
My grandmother rested both hands on her cane.
“Drugging a trust beneficiary, forging documents, and assaulting the owner of a protected property are not private matters.”
Ethan looked toward me.
The smile from ten minutes earlier had vanished.
“What did you tell them?”
“Less than the recorder did.”
Detective Morales placed the small digital device on the table.
Then she pressed play.
The room filled with Ethan’s voice.
Look at me when I’m talking to you.
Then the sound of the slap.
Beverly’s voice followed.
A wife has to be disciplined early.
Another slap.
Tomorrow morning, I want a real breakfast waiting for me.
No one moved.
The recording ended.
May you like
My grandmother looked at Ethan’s untouched coffee.
“Eat,” she said quietly. “You were so eager a moment ago.”
