Chapter 2 - “AFTER SATURDAY, YOU’LL HAVE NOTHING”Natalie entered the breakfast room twenty minutes later wearing a robe.
She looked exhausted.
“What is this about?”
Brooke remained seated.
“Sit down.”
Natalie stared at her.
“You woke me before six in the morning to order me around?”
Brooke smiled.
“No. I woke you because I’m giving you an opportunity.”
Natalie looked toward Emma.
Emma’s expression warned her.
Dominic stayed hidden.
Brooke pushed the folder across the table.
“Sign.”
Natalie didn’t touch it.
“What is it?”
“A release.”
“For what?”
“Your interest in Catherine’s cottage.”
Natalie froze.
Then laughed once.
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
“That property belongs to the trust.”
“I know.”
“You have nothing to do with that trust.”
“That changes Saturday.”
Natalie stared at her.
“No, it doesn’t.”
Brooke’s expression tightened.
“You really don’t understand how marriage works in families like this.”
“My family?”
“Dominic’s family.”
Natalie’s face changed.
“I am Dominic’s family.”
Brooke smiled.
“For now.”
Behind the door, Dominic felt something inside him turn cold.
Natalie pushed the folder back.
“I’m not signing anything.”
Brooke didn’t move.
“Think carefully.”
“I already did.”
“You and Noah live here because Dominic allows it.”
“No. We live here because this is our family home.”
“Not after Saturday.”
Natalie stood.
Brooke remained calm.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Then listen standing.”
She opened another page.
“I have prepared notice for you to leave the main house.”
Natalie stared at her.
“What?”
“Thirty days.”
“You can’t evict me.”
“Not yet.”
Brooke smiled.
“But once I’m Mrs. Mercer, Dominic will agree.”
Natalie shook her head.
“You don’t know my brother.”
“I know him better than you think.”
That was almost funny.
Brooke continued.
“He is tired of supporting people who refuse to build their own lives.”
Natalie’s eyes filled.
Dominic almost stepped out.
Almost.
Then Brooke said:
“And don’t use Noah to manipulate him.”
Natalie’s expression hardened.
“Don’t ever talk about my son like that.”
“He’s nine, not dying.”
Emma looked horrified.
Natalie’s voice shook.
“You have no idea what he’s been through.”
“And I don’t care.”
There it was.
The truth.
Brooke leaned forward.
“After Saturday, I will be Mrs. Mercer.”
A pause.
“And you and that boy will have nothing here.”
Dominic opened the service door.
The sound made all three women turn.
Brooke stopped breathing.
Natalie’s mouth fell open.
Emma lowered her eyes.
Dominic stepped into the room.
No jacket.
No tie.
No expression.
“Interesting.”
Brooke went white.
“Dominic?”
He looked at the folder.
Then at her.
“You were saying?”
She stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“You’re home.”
“I am.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“That was intentional.”
Natalie stared at her brother.
Then covered her mouth.
Dominic looked at her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, but tears filled her eyes.
That was enough.
He turned back to Brooke.
“Finish your sentence.”
“What?”
“The one about my sister and nephew having nothing.”
Brooke forced a smile.
“You misunderstood.”
“I heard every word.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Dominic, I was trying to solve a family issue.”
“You are the family issue.”
Silence.
She looked toward Emma.
“You set me up.”
Dominic answered:
“No.”
He walked toward the table.
“You set yourself up.”
He picked up the trust release.
Read the first page.
Then the second.
His eyes stopped at a signature.
Natalie Mercer.
Already signed.
Except Natalie stood three feet away.
“I didn’t sign that,” she whispered.
Dominic looked at Brooke.
The room changed.
“Neither did I,” he said.
At the bottom was another signature.
Dominic Mercer.
Fake.
Brooke took one step backward.
Dominic looked at Emma.
“Call Marcus.”
Marcus Vale was Mercer family counsel.
Then he looked at Natalie.
“Take Noah and stay upstairs.”
Natalie hesitated.
“Dom—”
“I’ve got this.”
Brooke laughed nervously.
“You’re acting insane.”
Dominic slowly turned toward her.
“You forged my signature.”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
“Good.”
He placed the paper down.
“Then you won’t mind explaining who did.”
May you like
Her face changed again.
That was the first moment Dominic realized Brooke might not be working alone.
