Chapter 5 - Mrs. Alvarez's Christmas Secret
Mrs. Alvarez did not deny it.
“My name was Elena Price before I married.”
Jonathan stared at the woman who had driven Lucy to him.
“Samuel Price was your father?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Lucy needed a grandfather before you needed another business scandal.”
Rebecca almost smiled.
They sat around Mrs. Alvarez’s kitchen table beneath blinking colored lights. A pot of cinnamon tea steamed between them.
Elena explained that Samuel had helped create the first Mercer store. Jonathan’s father and Edward later pushed him out after accusing him of taking company cash.
“He didn’t steal.”
“I believe you.”
“You shouldn’t believe me. You should read.”
She placed a battered green accounting book on the table.
The entries showed Samuel had invested money, labor, and equipment.
After his removal, Jonathan’s father quietly paid him every December.
“Why would Dad pay him if he thought he was a thief?”
“He didn’t.”
Jonathan closed his eyes.
Another family lie.
Samuel accepted the payments because he had children to feed, but he never surrendered his ownership claim.
“What does this have to do with Lucy?”
Elena pointed to a later agreement.
Samuel’s interest would transfer into a trust benefiting employees and direct descendants of all original partners.
Rebecca was one of those descendants through Jonathan.
Cole’s plan to remove her line would shift voting power.
Caroline had apparently learned about the agreement years earlier.
“She wanted control?” Rebecca asked.
Elena shook her head.
“Caroline wanted to sell.”
A private equity group had offered billions for Mercer Industries, but the old Price agreement prevented a clean sale unless every beneficiary branch signed.
Jonathan had refused to sell for unrelated reasons.
Rebecca had never been asked.
Cole planned to control her signature.
Lucy complicated everything because any transfer Rebecca made under duress could later be challenged by her child.
“So he wanted Lucy out of the country,” Jonathan said.
“Yes.”
The doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Police were outside.
They had arrested Cole at a bus station.
Rebecca gripped the table.
“Is Caroline with him?”
“No.”
Cole demanded an attorney but made one statement.
Caroline was not running from police.
She was going to Samuel Price.
Jonathan stared at Elena.
“Your father is alive?”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“He’s ninety-six.”
“Where?”
“A nursing home in Vermont.”
Rebecca whispered, “Near the cabin.”
Of course.
The cabin sale had not been about real estate.
Cole wanted access to something near Samuel.
They drove north the next morning through snow.
Samuel Price was thin, alert and furious.
When Jonathan entered, Samuel said, “You look like your father.”
“I’ve been told.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
Jonathan sat.
“I know.”
Samuel looked at Rebecca.
“You’re the girl they hid.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And this is about my daughter?”
“It became about her because greedy people are frightened of heirs they can’t control.”
Samuel opened a drawer.
Inside was a sealed Christmas envelope.
“For Lucy.”
Rebecca did not touch it.
“What is it?”
“The original partnership certificate.”
Jonathan stared.
Samuel had kept it nearly half a century.
“Why give it to a six-year-old?”
“I’m not giving her a company.”
Samuel smiled.
“I’m giving her evidence.”
The document could block the sale and force an independent review.
Then Samuel asked where Caroline was.
Jonathan said, “We hoped you knew.”
Samuel’s smile vanished.
“She was here yesterday.”
“What?”
“She asked me to burn the certificate.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“No.”
Samuel looked toward the window.
“She offered me something worse.”
“What?”
“The truth about who framed me.”
Jonathan leaned forward.
“Who?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I didn’t believe her.”
“Tell me.”
Samuel’s eyes met his.
“She said it was your mother.”
Jonathan had spent the entire week discovering men who lied for money.
Now the dead woman he remembered as gentle and decent had entered the story.
Samuel continued.
“Caroline said your mother framed me because she was protecting you.”
Jonathan whispered, “Protecting me from what?”
May you like
Samuel looked at Rebecca.
“From finding out who your real grandfather was.”
