Thomas Mercer's Promise
Chapter 05 - Thomas Mercer's Promise
They left the country club through the kitchen.
No announcement was made.
No one threw rice. No one cut cake.
Claire went home alone.
Daniel wanted to follow, but she told him not to.
For two days, she ignored every call except one from her aunt Marlene, who lived in Ohio and had been Anne's closest living relative.
Marlene answered on the second ring.
Claire asked one question.
"Did Mom know Thomas Mercer?"
The silence was answer enough.
"Oh, Claire."
That was all it took.
By evening, Marlene was driving south.
She arrived carrying a metal recipe box that had belonged to Anne.
Inside were old photographs, receipts, birthday cards, and one key taped to an index card.
Claire stared at it.
Marlene sat beside her.
"Your mother told me to give you that if anyone named Mercer ever came asking questions."
"She expected this?"
"She feared it."
The key opened a safety deposit box at a bank downtown.
The next morning, Claire, Marlene, and Daniel met in the lobby.
Claire had not forgiven Daniel.
But she trusted him enough to stand in the same room.
For now.
Inside the box was a leather ledger, a cassette tape, and a copy of a trust agreement.
Claire read the first page twice.
The Anne Bennett Educational Trust.
Beneficiary: Claire Anne Bennett.
Initial value: $175,000.
Established by Thomas James Mercer.
Claire looked at Daniel.
"Your father left me money?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No. Look at the date."
The trust had been created three weeks before Claire was born.
Marlene covered her mouth.
Claire turned the page.
The funds had not come from Thomas.
They had come from a company called Hale Development Holdings.
Victor's company.
Then came another page.
A handwritten note from Thomas.
Anne,
I cannot fix what he did. I can only make sure he doesn't erase her future too.
I will protect the account until Claire is old enough to decide for herself.
I give you my word.
Claire sat back.
Thomas's promise.
Daniel looked through the remaining papers.
His face changed.
"What?"
He handed Claire the final statement.
The trust had been closed when Claire was five.
The withdrawal authorization carried Anne's signature.
But Claire knew her mother's handwriting.
The signature was wrong.
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At the bottom of the form was the approving attorney.
Victor Hale.
