Chapter 19 - The Leak
Vance arrived in Vermont before midnight.
By then, the story had exploded online.
SECRET MERCER HEIR FOUND.
BILLIONAIRE’S TWELVE-YEAR-OLD SON LIVING IN HIDING.
Questions multiplied faster than facts.
Was Ethan conceived during an affair?
Had Daniel abandoned him?
Did Olivia know?
Was the boy entitled to billions?
Most disturbing were photographs of Ethan’s farmhouse.
Daniel watched them circulate across social media while anger burned through him.
“This is exactly what Margaret wanted.”
Ward disagreed.
“Margaret has no access to outside communication except monitored legal channels.”
“Then Rourke leaked it.”
Vance shook his head.
“He surrendered his devices.”
“Evelyn?”
“Cooperating.”
Olivia looked at the headlines.
“Someone else had access to Margaret’s network.”
They returned to Manhattan after Lauren and Ethan were moved temporarily to a protected location.
Daniel held a press conference the next morning.
Arthur advised against discussing private medical details.
Daniel ignored conventional strategy.
He stood before the cameras and told the truth.
“A twelve-year-old child has been dragged into a criminal investigation through no fault of his own. He is not a corporate asset, an heir in a succession contest, or entertainment for strangers online.”
Reporters shouted questions.
Daniel continued.
“I learned of his existence less than forty-eight hours ago. Evidence indicates my biological material was used without my consent in a procedure arranged by individuals already under federal investigation.”
The room erupted.
Daniel raised his voice only enough to carry.
“I will not discuss that child’s location, school, mother, finances, or future. Anyone attempting to harass them should expect immediate legal action.”
Olivia watched from backstage.
For once, the online reaction favored them.
Parents criticized the press.
Legal commentators focused on reproductive fraud.
The narrative shifted away from scandal and toward privacy.
Then Arthur’s assistant approached Olivia.
“There’s a call for you.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Monica Shaw.”
Olivia froze.
Monica.
The second mother.
She took the call privately.
“Ms. Shaw?”
A woman answered in a trembling voice.
“You found Ethan.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know about Sophie.”
Olivia sat down.
“We know she exists.”
Silence.
Then Monica began crying.
“Sophie doesn’t live with me.”
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
Monica struggled to speak.
“Margaret told me I was carrying a child for a private donor family. I was twenty-three. My parents had lost their house. I needed the money.”
Olivia closed her eyes.
“The contract said I could change my mind until the final trimester. When I did, they threatened me.”
“Margaret?”
“I didn’t know her real name then.”
“What happened after Sophie was born?”
“They took her.”
Olivia’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Legally?”
“No.”
The word came out shattered.
“They said I had signed away custody, but the signature they showed me wasn’t mine.”
Olivia stood.
“Did you report it?”
“I tried. The attorney representing the agency told police it was a private surrogacy dispute. Then my father was arrested for tax fraud. Charges disappeared after I stopped fighting.”
Olivia felt rage rise through her chest.
“Where are you now?”
“Connecticut.”
“Why call today?”
“Because somebody sent me Ethan’s news article.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Monica’s breathing became unsteady.
“There was a message attached.”
Olivia gripped the phone.
“What did it say?”
Monica whispered.
SOPHIE IS ALIVE.
Olivia’s knees weakened.
“Did they say where?”
“No.”
“But there was a photograph.”
Monica sent it.
Olivia opened the image.
A girl around nine years old stood outside a private school wearing a navy blazer.
Dark hair.
Hazel eyes.
Daniel’s unmistakable smile.
Behind the child stood a woman holding her hand.
Olivia enlarged the woman’s face.
She recognized her.
Evelyn Price.
Margaret’s former attorney.
Olivia walked directly onto the stage where Daniel was still answering reporters.
She didn’t care about cameras.
She reached him and whispered into his ear.
Daniel’s face changed.
The press room immediately sensed it.
He ended the conference.
Backstage, Olivia showed him the photograph.
Daniel stared at Evelyn holding Sophie’s hand.
Vance entered seconds later.
Olivia looked at him.
“Find Evelyn.”
Vance was already dialing.
His expression darkened.
“She missed her federal check-in this morning.”
Daniel looked at Sophie’s face again.
Evelyn hadn’t merely written Margaret’s legal agreements.
May you like
For nine years, she had apparently known exactly where Daniel’s daughter was.
And now she had disappeared.
