Chapter 13 - The Other Mercer Son
Marcus was not Drew’s uncle.
He was Drew’s half-brother.
Charles had fathered him during an affair when he was nineteen.
The family had buried the truth.
Marcus had grown up believing he was Charles’s younger brother.
Only Evelyn knew.
Marcus learned as an adult.
His hatred of Charles suddenly made sense.
So did his obsession with Drew.
Not jealousy.
Protection.
Marcus had been watching Drew because he believed Charles would eventually destroy his younger son too.
He had followed Claire.
Investigated the threats.
Tried unsuccessfully to identify the person behind them.
“I should have told you,” Marcus admitted.
Drew stared at him.
“You seem to hear that a lot in this family.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
Drew did not immediately forgive him.
But he did something more important.
He listened.
For generations, the Mercers had protected secrets.
Drew decided the pattern ended with him.
The birth certificate became part of the evidence.
Charles’s mythology collapsed.
And with it, his control.
But Marcus wanted nothing from the company.
“No inheritance?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at Claire and Lucy.
“Because I’ve spent my entire life watching this family mistake money for love.”
He turned to Drew.
“Don’t do the same.”
Drew promised he wouldn’t.
Then Lucy entered carrying two drawings.
One showed Claire.
One showed Drew.
Between them was Lucy.
Above the three figures she had written one word.
HOME.
Drew stared at it.
Claire saw his eyes fill.
May you like
Maybe, she thought, home was not something they had lost.
Maybe it was something they could still build.
