Chapter 7: Harrison's Last Move
The call came at six-forty the next morning.
Not Harrison.
His attorney — a man named Croft whom Clare had met twice at company dinners and never liked.
"Mrs.
Mercer, I want to speak plainly."
"Go ahead."
"My client is prepared to offer a revised settlement.
Eleanor Parker receives fifteen percent of the estate outright.
Your child's trust is increased to thirty-five percent.
Harrison retains fifty percent and operational control.
All parties sign a confidentiality agreement and the second will is withdrawn from consideration."
Clare was standing in Eleanor's kitchen.
Eleanor was at the stove.
She had heard enough from Clare's side of the call to understand what was being offered.
Her back was very straight.
"No," Clare said.
"Mrs.
Mercer, I'd encourage you to think carefully.
Contesting a will is a lengthy process.
You are weeks away from delivering a child.
The stress alone—"
"Don't."
"—and Harrison is still your husband.
Whatever has happened between you personally, your financial future and your child's future are tied to—"
"Mr.
Croft." Clare's voice was even.
"Your client used his dying father's medical care as leverage to steal from his own sister.
He falsified estate documents.
He diverted funds into a personal account.
And he recorded himself doing it." She paused.
"The board meets on the twenty-seventh.
Gerald Foss has already spoken to your client's general counsel.
This is not a negotiation anymore."
A long silence.
"Harrison would like to speak to you directly," Croft said.
"I know.
He's been calling since yesterday morning."
"Will you take his call?"
"Not today."
She ended it.
Eleanor set a cup of tea on the counter in front of her without being asked.
"He's trying to cut his losses," Eleanor said.
"Yes."
"Fifteen percent." Eleanor's voice was dry.
"He paid me forty thousand to disappear and now he's offering fifteen percent."
"He's scared."
"Good." Eleanor sat down across from her.
"Are you all right?"
Clare thought about it honestly.
"I'm tired," she said.
"I'm thirty-one weeks pregnant and I haven't slept properly in two days and my husband is trying to negotiate his way out of fraud charges." She wrapped both hands around the mug.
"But I'm all right."
Eleanor studied her.
"William used to do that," she said.
"Hold a cup with both hands when he was steadying himself." She looked down at her own tea.
"I only met him a handful of times in person.
He used to drive up here in the fall, when Harrison was traveling.
We'd sit in the bookstore after closing and he'd tell me about the company, about the early years.
He always held his cup like that."
Clare didn't trust her voice for a moment.
"He talked about you," Eleanor said quietly.
"In those last months.
He said you were the one who stayed.
He said Harrison had married someone better than he deserved."
The baby moved hard.
Clare pressed her hand flat against her side.
"I need to call my sister," she said.
"And I need to find a family attorney in New York before the board meeting."
"I have a name," Eleanor said.
"A woman named Diane Reyes.
She handled a property dispute for a friend of mine two years ago.
She's very good."
"You've been preparing for this."
Eleanor met her eyes.
"I've been hoping for this.
For two years, I've been hoping someone would come through that door."
Clare's phone buzzed on the table.
Harrison again.
This time, she picked it up.
"I'll meet you," she said, before he could speak.
"Tomorrow.
Neutral location.
You bring Croft, I'll bring my attorney.
And Harrison—" she paused— "bring Sienna if you want.
I'm done pretending that's not part of this."
The silence on his end lasted long enough that she thought the call had dropped.
"Clare—"
"Tomorrow," she said.
"Or I let the board meeting happen without any input from you at all."
She ended the call.
Eleanor was watching her.
"Tomorrow," Clare said.
"And then it's done."
But that night, at two in the morning, Clare woke to a sharp pain low in her abdomen.
She lay still, counting.
May you like
Then it came again.
She sat up and reached for her phone.
