Chapter 7 - THE UNCLE WHO KNEW SHE WAS TRAPPED.
Richard Mercer, chairman of the family board, arrived with attorneys and blamed Vivian for turning a legal separation into confinement.
He admitted helping fabricate Elena’s departure because the marriage activated the worker trust and threatened the sale.
“A billion-dollar company cannot be governed by housekeepers,” he said.
Rosa answered, “It was financed by them.”
Richard had arranged Adelaide’s diagnosis and directed the guards through an emergency code Adrian created years earlier. Adrian had never revoked Richard’s access.
“My carelessness became someone else’s cage,” Adrian told the workers.
The monitor barred all three Mercers from control pending review.
Adelaide then revealed why Richard feared Elena. Her grandmother had hidden original wage receipts inside the mansion’s foundation. They could reopen claims across seven Mercer properties.
Vivian forced Elena to scrub the foyer because she believed the hiding place was beneath the marble.
“The first day she brought me here, she asked which tile my grandmother marked.”
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Mr. Hale examined the wet floor.
One square carried a tiny carved thread spool.
