PART 3 — THE SECRET OLIVIA WAS HIDING
“The baby might not be mine.”
I stared at Daniel through the doorbell camera.
For several seconds, I honestly wondered whether I had heard him correctly.
This was the man who had lied about moving to Canada.
The man who had rented a condo in Miami with his pregnant mistress.
The man who had planned to quietly drain $720,000 from our account while I waited faithfully for him in New York.
And now he was standing outside our house at three in the morning telling me that the baby he had destroyed our marriage for might belong to someone else.
I should have felt sympathy.
I didn’t.
I pressed the microphone button on my phone.
“Go to a hotel, Daniel.”
His head snapped toward the camera.
“Emma?”
“You heard me.”
“Please open the door.”
“No.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“You’ve had twenty-three years to talk to me.”
“This is different.”
“You’re right. It is. This time I know when you’re lying.”
He dragged both hands over his face.
“I’m not lying about this.”
“How unfortunate.”
“Emma, please.”
I almost turned off the camera.
Then he said:
“Olivia disappeared.”
My finger froze above the screen.
“What?”
“She’s gone.”
I sat straighter.
“What do you mean, gone?”
“When I got back to the condo after dealing with the company, her things were missing.”
“And?”
“She emptied one of my accounts.”
That almost made me laugh.
Of course she had.
The thief had been robbed.
“How much?”
“About ninety thousand.”
I leaned back against the headboard.
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
“It’s worse than that.”
“Everything is always worse with you, Daniel.”
“I found something.”
He reached inside his jacket.
For a moment, I tensed.
Then he pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“She left this.”
“What is it?”
“A copy of a prenatal test.”
I said nothing.
Daniel looked down at it.
“There was a blood type listed.”
“And?”
“I’m O positive.”
“So?”
“Olivia is O positive.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“The baby is listed as AB positive.”
I frowned.
I wasn’t a geneticist, but even I understood why that bothered him.
“You’re certain?”
“I called a doctor I know.”
“And he told you?”
“That two O-positive parents cannot produce an AB-positive child.”
His voice cracked on the final word.
For the first time since this entire nightmare began, Daniel looked genuinely destroyed.
And somehow, I still couldn’t feel sorry for him.
“You threw away twenty-three years for a woman who may have been lying to you.”
“I know.”
“You planned to steal my inheritance for a baby that might belong to another man.”
“I know.”
“You humiliated me.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
His mouth closed.
I pressed my lips together.
“Where is Olivia?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“What about her family?”
“She barely talks to them.”
“Friends?”
“I called two.”
“And?”
“They haven’t heard from her.”
“Maybe she went to the baby’s father.”
Daniel flinched.
I had meant it to hurt.
It did.
But then he said something that changed the entire conversation.
“I think I know who the father is.”
I went still.
“Who?”
Daniel looked over his shoulder again.
The street behind him was empty.
Then he lowered his voice.
“Let me inside.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“Tell me through the camera.”
“This isn’t something I want recorded.”
That sentence sent a chill down my spine.
“Why?”
“Because if I’m right, this involves someone dangerous.”
I stared at him.
“Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“You’re becoming dramatic.”
“I wish I were.”
He unfolded the paper in his hand.
“There was something written on the back.”
“What?”
“A phone number.”
Daniel hesitated.
“And initials.”
“What initials?”
He looked directly into the camera.
“R.M.”
The letters meant nothing to me.
Apparently my expression showed it.
“You don’t recognize them?”
“No.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Robert Mercer.”
My stomach tightened.
I knew that name.
Everyone connected to Daniel’s company knew that name.
Robert Mercer was the company’s chief executive officer.
Daniel’s boss.
The man who had promoted Daniel twice.
The man whose photograph appeared every year in the company’s annual report.
And the man who had personally attended our twentieth-anniversary party.
“No.”
“I know.”
“You’re telling me Olivia was sleeping with your boss?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“I said I think.”
“Why?”
“Because the number on the paper belongs to him.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve had his personal number for fifteen years.”
The bedroom suddenly felt colder.
“Maybe it has nothing to do with the pregnancy.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Daniel raised another sheet of paper.
“Until I found this.”
He held it closer to the camera.
I couldn’t read it.
“What is it?”
“A hotel receipt.”
“Daniel, you’ve shown me enough hotel receipts for one lifetime.”
“This one isn’t mine.”
I stopped.
“Whose is it?”
“Olivia’s.”
“With Robert?”
“I don’t know. But the room was booked the same weekend Robert told the board he was in Chicago.”
“Where was the hotel?”
“Boston.”
I frowned.
“What does that prove?”
“Nothing by itself.”
“Exactly.”
“But Emma…”
His voice became quieter.
“That weekend is approximately when Olivia would have conceived.”
I closed my eyes.
This was becoming absurd.
Daniel had betrayed me with Olivia.
Olivia may have betrayed Daniel with Robert.
And somewhere inside this triangle of lies was an unborn child nobody seemed certain belonged to anyone.
“Go to a hotel,” I repeated.
“Emma, I need your help.”
That made my eyes open.
“You need what?”
“Your help.”
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I know how that sounds.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“The company is investigating me.”
“As they should.”
“They froze my corporate accounts.”
“Good.”
“My personal investment account is under review.”
“Even better.”
“Emma.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I could lose everything.”
I stared at the screen.
“You already lost everything.”
His eyes dropped.
That landed exactly where I wanted it to.
“My attorney told me not to speak to you about finances,” I continued.
“Rebecca is trying to destroy me.”
“No, Daniel. You did that yourself.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You created a spreadsheet planning my financial destruction.”
“I never intended to leave you with nothing.”
I actually sat forward.
“You budgeted my inheritance for your mistress’s SUV.”
He winced.
“I was confused.”
“No. You were organized.”
He had no answer.
For several seconds, the only sound was the faint rustle of wind through the camera microphone.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Robert knew.”
“Knew what?”
“About us.”
“Your affair?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Why would you tell your CEO that you were sleeping with an employee?”
“Because Olivia worked directly with his office before she transferred to my division.”
That was new.
“You never mentioned that.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Apparently nothing matters until it explodes.”
Daniel ignored that.
“She was Robert’s executive assistant for eighteen months.”
“And then?”
“She requested a transfer.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Three years.
The same length of time Daniel had been secretly paying Olivia’s rent.
A strange feeling settled in my stomach.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Did your affair begin before or after she transferred?”
He didn’t answer.
That told me everything.
“Before.”
His eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“Maybe four months.”
I stared at him.
“So Olivia was sleeping with you while she was still Robert Mercer’s assistant.”
“Yes.”
“And Robert knew.”
“Eventually.”
“How did he react?”
Daniel’s face changed.
Subtly.
But enough.
“He didn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“He told me to be careful.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t believe him.
And apparently Daniel realized it.
“He also told me Olivia had caused problems before.”
“What kind of problems?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
A pulse began beating behind my temples.
“Did you ask?”
“Of course.”
“And?”
“He told me to keep personal matters away from the company.”
I almost laughed.
“That advice worked well.”
“Emma.”
“No. Keep going.”
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
“A few months later, Olivia told me Robert was harassing her.”
My expression hardened.
“In what way?”
“She said he kept contacting her privately. Calling late. Asking her to meet.”
“And you believed her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever see the messages?”
“She deleted most of them.”
“Convenient.”
“I thought she was scared.”
“Maybe she was.”
Daniel looked down at the paper in his hand.
“Or maybe they were having an affair.”
I didn’t answer.
Because suddenly something Rebecca had said earlier came back to me.
Daniel’s company had already suspected irregularities before our inquiry.
Which meant someone had been watching.
Someone had noticed money disappearing.
Someone knew something.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“When did the company begin questioning your expenses?”
He hesitated.
“About six months ago.”
“And when did Olivia tell you she was pregnant?”
His eyes widened.
“Four months ago.”
There it was.
A timeline.
Not proof.
But enough to make me uncomfortable.
“Did she know you were being audited?”
“I mentioned finance was asking questions.”
“When?”
“Maybe five months ago.”
One month before she announced the pregnancy.
I stood and walked toward the bedroom window.
Outside, Daniel remained beneath the porch light.
“Emma?”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“About whether Olivia’s pregnancy had anything to do with keeping you distracted.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What?”
“She tells you she’s pregnant right after your company starts questioning your expenses.”
“You think she planned that?”
“I think your judgment where Olivia is concerned has already cost you a marriage and possibly your career.”
He looked away.
“Fair.”
That one word surprised me.
For once, he didn’t argue.
Then headlights appeared at the far end of the street.
A dark sedan moved slowly toward the house.
Daniel immediately turned.
The car slowed.
Then stopped two houses away.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel picked up his suitcase.
The sedan remained still.
Its headlights switched off.
Every instinct inside me changed.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Get off my porch.”
“What?”
“Now.”
He looked toward the sedan.
“You think—”
“I don’t know what I think. Go somewhere public.”
“I can’t drive. I came by taxi.”
“Then call another one.”
The driver’s door of the sedan opened.
A man stepped out.
The camera couldn’t capture his face clearly.
He was tall.
Dark coat.
Hands in his pockets.
Daniel stopped moving.
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
The man began walking toward the house.
Not quickly.
Not slowly.
Just deliberately.
I reached for my other phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
“Wait.”
“Why?”
The man stopped near the end of my driveway.
Then he called out:
“Daniel Foster?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
The stranger stepped closer.
“I need to speak with you.”
“Who are you?”
The man reached inside his coat.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Then he removed a wallet.
He opened it.
“I’m Special Agent Marcus Hale.”
Everything stopped.
Daniel’s face went white.
The man continued walking toward the porch.
“Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
I almost dropped my phone.
Daniel stared at him.
“What is this about?”
Agent Hale looked toward the camera.
He clearly knew I was watching.
“I believe your wife should hear this too.”
My mouth went dry.
Daniel glanced at the camera.
“Emma?”
I pressed the microphone.
“I’m here.”
Agent Hale stepped beneath the porch light.
He appeared to be in his forties, calm and almost unsettlingly composed.
“Mrs. Foster?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Marcus Hale. I’m sorry for arriving at this hour.”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m investigating financial activity connected to Mr. Foster’s company.”
Daniel immediately said, “I have an attorney.”
“I’m not here to interrogate you.”
“Then why are you here?”
Agent Hale looked directly at him.
“Because Olivia Grant is missing.”
Daniel froze.
I gripped my phone harder.
“Missing?” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“She left the condo.”
“We know.”
“You know?”
“We’ve been trying to locate her since yesterday afternoon.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
Agent Hale didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he asked:
“When was the last time either of you spoke with Ms. Grant?”
Daniel answered first.
“Yesterday.”
“What time?”
“I don’t remember exactly.”
“You should.”
“I said I don’t.”
Agent Hale looked toward the doorbell camera.
“Mrs. Foster?”
“I spoke with her briefly on a call yesterday.”
“With your husband present?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“Not much.”
“Did she seem frightened?”
I replayed the conversation in my mind.
Her confusion about Daniel’s money.
Her surprise about the company account.
Her voice when I mentioned Robert.
“No.”
Then I stopped.
Actually…
There had been something.
When I said “company expense account,” Olivia had gone unusually quiet.
Not confused.
Quiet.
“Maybe.”
Agent Hale’s expression sharpened.
“What changed?”
“When I mentioned Daniel’s company finances.”
Daniel looked at the camera.
“Emma.”
I ignored him.
“She seemed different.”
“How?”
“I assumed she was shocked.”
“Could she have been afraid?”
“Yes.”
Agent Hale nodded slowly.
“That’s consistent.”
“With what?”
He looked at Daniel.
“Someone accessed Ms. Grant’s apartment approximately ninety minutes after your phone call.”
Daniel frowned.
“I was there.”
“Not the Miami condo.”
“What apartment?”
Agent Hale looked toward the camera again.
“Her other apartment.”
Daniel and I spoke almost simultaneously.
“Her what?”
Agent Hale pulled a small notebook from his coat.
“Ms. Grant maintained another residence in Queens.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“She lived in Miami.”
“She also maintained an apartment in New York under her maiden name.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I believe you.”
The FBI agent saying that made it worse.
“Why would she have another apartment?” I asked.
“That is something we’re trying to determine.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I paid her rent.”
“Yes.”
“In Miami.”
“And before that?”
“She had an apartment near the office.”
“Did you know which one?”
Daniel gave an address.
Agent Hale shook his head.
“That wasn’t the Queens property.”
Daniel looked like somebody had struck him.
Another secret.
Another lie.
I almost wanted to ask him whether betrayal felt different from the other side.
But this was becoming too serious.
“What was inside the apartment?” I asked.
Agent Hale paused.
“Financial records.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind?”
“Copies of internal corporate documents.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What documents?”
“Expense reports.”
Daniel’s face drained of color.
“Bank records.”
He said nothing.
“Emails.”
Still nothing.
“And photographs.”
“Of what?”
Agent Hale looked directly at him.
“You.”
Daniel’s mouth opened.
“And Robert Mercer.”
The porch became silent.
I felt goosebumps crawl across my arms.
“What kind of photographs?”
“Meetings. Restaurants. Hotels. Vehicles.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She was documenting us?”
“It appears so.”
“Why?”
“That’s what we’re trying to establish.”
I thought about Olivia suddenly vanishing.
The second apartment.
The hidden records.
The mysterious pregnancy.
The money Daniel believed she stole.
And the initials R.M.
“Agent Hale.”
“Yes, Mrs. Foster?”
“Daniel found something tonight.”
Daniel looked at the camera sharply.
“Emma.”
I continued.
“A prenatal document.”
Agent Hale became completely still.
“What document?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Emma, don’t.”
“You wanted my help.”
Agent Hale looked at him.
“Mr. Foster?”
Daniel slowly removed the folded page from his jacket.
Agent Hale stepped forward.
Daniel handed it to him.
The agent read it.
His expression changed immediately.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
That frightened me.
“You’ve seen this before,” I said.
Agent Hale looked toward the camera.
“Where did you get this?”
“Olivia left it at the condo.”
“When?”
“I found it tonight.”
Agent Hale turned the paper over.
His eyes stopped on the handwritten number.
Then the initials.
R.M.
He slipped the paper into a clear evidence sleeve from inside his coat.
Daniel stared at him.
“You know something.”
Agent Hale didn’t answer.
“You know what those initials mean.”
Still nothing.
“Is Robert the father?”
“I can’t discuss details of an active investigation.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then Agent Hale said something unexpected.
“But I can tell you one thing.”
We both waited.
“Robert Mercer isn’t in Chicago.”
Daniel frowned.
“I know. That was months ago.”
“I’m talking about now.”
“What?”
“His family reported him missing yesterday morning.”
My stomach dropped.
Daniel stared at him.
“Robert is missing too?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“His wife woke up yesterday and he was gone.”
“Car?”
“Still at home.”
“Phone?”
“Turned off.”
“Passport?”
Agent Hale paused.
“Missing.”
The night suddenly felt much darker.
Two people missing.
Olivia Grant.
Robert Mercer.
Both connected to Daniel.
Both connected to suspicious money.
Possibly connected by a baby.
And somewhere inside it all was a second apartment filled with records.
“Do you think they left together?” I asked.
“We’re considering several possibilities.”
“What possibilities?”
Before Agent Hale could answer, another vehicle appeared.
This time it moved quickly.
Too quickly.
It came around the corner and headed straight toward our house.
Agent Hale immediately turned.
“Inside.”
Daniel looked confused.
“What?”
“Get inside the house.”
“I can’t.”
Agent Hale glanced at the door.
“Mrs. Foster, unlock it.”
Every part of me resisted.
But the vehicle was accelerating.
I rushed downstairs.
By the time I reached the front hall, someone was pounding on the door.
“Emma!”
Daniel.
I disarmed the lock.
The moment I opened the door, Daniel stumbled inside.
Agent Hale followed and slammed the door behind him.
“Stay away from the windows.”
My heart hammered.
“What’s happening?”
The approaching vehicle screeched to a stop outside.
Agent Hale reached under his jacket.
Daniel pulled me toward the hallway.
I yanked my arm away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Emma, now is really not—”
Someone got out of the car.
Then another person.
Agent Hale peered through the side window.
His body suddenly relaxed.
“What?” I whispered.
He opened the door.
Two people stood in the driveway.
A man and a woman.
The woman wore a long coat over what looked like pajamas.
She was crying.
The man beside her appeared to be a driver.
“Mrs. Mercer?” Agent Hale said.
My stomach twisted.
Robert Mercer’s wife.
I recognized her immediately.
Charlotte Mercer.
I had met her at company dinners.
Elegant.
Reserved.
Always perfectly composed.
Tonight she looked completely broken.
Her eyes moved past Agent Hale.
They landed on Daniel.
Then on me.
“Emma.”
I stepped forward.
“Charlotte?”
She hurried toward me.
“Thank God.”
She grabbed both my hands.
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Why?”
Her eyes moved to Daniel.
And something inside her expression changed.
Hatred.
Pure hatred.
“You.”
Daniel recoiled.
“What?”
Charlotte slapped him.
Hard.
The sound echoed through my foyer.
“Charlotte!”
“You bastard.”
Daniel touched his cheek.
“What the hell?”
“You knew.”
“Knew what?”
“You knew what they were doing.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Charlotte reached into her bag.
Her hands shook violently.
She pulled out an envelope.
“I found this in Robert’s safe tonight.”
Agent Hale immediately stepped forward.
“What is that?”
Charlotte looked at me instead.
“He left a letter.”
“A letter?”
“For me.”
Her eyes filled again.
“And a copy for Emma.”
My breath stopped.
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Why would Robert leave Emma anything?”
Charlotte handed me the envelope.
My name was written across the front.
EMMA FOSTER.
The handwriting belonged to Robert.
I had seen it on Christmas cards.
Company gifts.
Anniversary notes.
My fingers shook as I opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Emma,
If you are reading this, Daniel’s plan has already started falling apart.
I stopped breathing.
Daniel moved closer.
“What?”
I pulled the letter away from him.
“What does it say?” he demanded.
I kept reading.
You deserve to know that Daniel’s affair with Olivia is only a small part of what has been happening.
I looked up.
Daniel’s face had changed.
“What?”
I read silently.
Olivia approached Daniel intentionally.
My stomach tightened.
I continued.
She was never transferred into his division by accident.
“Emma?”
Daniel’s voice sounded distant.
I kept reading.
For almost three years, Olivia has been collecting information about financial misconduct inside the company.
Daniel whispered:
“No.”
I reached the next sentence.
Some of that misconduct involves Daniel.
My hand tightened around the page.
But the person she was truly investigating was me.
I stopped.
Robert?
Charlotte was crying beside me.
Agent Hale watched silently.
I continued.
There are things Daniel does not know. Things Olivia discovered. Things I should have admitted years ago.
Then came the sentence that made me look directly at my husband.
Daniel was never supposed to steal $720,000 from you.
I reread it.
Once.
Twice.
“What?” Daniel whispered.
I kept going.
He was supposed to believe he could.
The room seemed to tilt.
Olivia was instructed to convince him to move the money.
Daniel grabbed the edge of the entry table.
“By who?”
My eyes moved to the next line.
By me.
Nobody spoke.
Robert Mercer had orchestrated it?
Why?
I continued.
I needed proof Daniel would participate in financial fraud because I knew he had already been stealing from the company.
Daniel shouted:
“That’s a lie!”
Agent Hale immediately stepped between us.
“Keep reading,” Charlotte whispered.
I did.
But Olivia changed the plan.
She became emotionally involved with Daniel.
Then she became pregnant.
I stopped.
Daniel looked at me desperately.
“What does it say about the baby?”
I continued.
I do not know who the father is.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Neither Olivia nor I was willing to trust the other enough to test it.
My throat went dry.
That meant…
Robert admitted there was a possibility.
Charlotte covered her mouth.
Clearly, she hadn’t known that part.
I looked at her.
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
“Charlotte…”
“He told me the affair ended.”
Agent Hale stepped closer.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
She shook her head.
“No. No.”
Daniel stared at the letter.
“So Robert was sleeping with Olivia too.”
Charlotte slapped him again.
This time Agent Hale caught her wrist before she could do it a third time.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
“Let go of me.”
“Please.”
She pulled away.
I kept reading because I needed this nightmare to make sense.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
Emma, if Olivia disappears, do not believe Daniel when he tells you she ran away.
My skin went cold.
Daniel stopped moving.
Agent Hale stepped toward me.
“What does it say?”
I read aloud:
“If Olivia disappears, she is in danger.”
Charlotte made a broken sound beside me.
I forced myself to continue.
“And if I disappear too, the person responsible is someone both Daniel and I trusted.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who?”
There was one final line.
One name.
I stared at it.
My heart began pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
Agent Hale noticed.
“Mrs. Foster?”
I couldn’t speak.
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Emma, whose name is it?”
I raised my eyes.
Because the person Robert Mercer had named wasn’t a stranger.
It wasn’t Olivia.
It wasn’t Daniel.
And it wasn’t anyone from his company that I had expected.
It was someone I had personally invited into my home dozens of times.
Someone who knew about my inheritance.
Someone who knew about Daniel’s affair before I did.
Someone who had hugged me after my father died.
Someone I trusted so completely that I had given her a spare key to my house.
Daniel stared at me.
“Emma.”
My hand began trembling.
“Tell me.”
I looked down at Robert’s final sentence.
If anything happens to Olivia or me, find Rebecca Sloan.
My entire body went numb.
Daniel whispered:
“Rebecca?”
Agent Hale immediately turned toward me.
“Your attorney?”
I couldn’t answer.
Because at that exact moment…
My phone started ringing.
The name glowing on the screen was:
REBECCA SLOAN………..
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 4…
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