Chapter 11 - What Money Couldn’t BuyThree months later, Mercer Holdings looked different.
By then Anna was eight and a half months pregnant.
Against medical advice, she attended the opening day.
“You know most women spend the last month choosing bassinets,” Maria said.
“I chose one.”
“And?”
“It was $900.”
Maria looked offended.
“For a basket?”
“Exactly.”
They laughed.
It felt good.
Evelyn Mercer entered court wearing gray.
No pearls.
No assistants.
No authority.
For the first time, she looked her age.
Charges included conspiracy, obstruction, fraud, witness intimidation, attempted kidnapping, and conspiracy connected to Claire Carter’s death.
Rebecca Shaw had accepted a plea agreement in exchange for testimony.
Peter Sloan survived poisoning and cooperated as well.
The evidence was overwhelming.
But Evelyn’s attorneys had one strategy.
Destroy Anna.
They portrayed Claire as an opportunist.
They described Anna as financially desperate.
They emphasized her eviction.
Her unemployment.
Her acceptance of Daniel’s help.
Then Evelyn’s attorney asked:
“Isn’t it true, Ms. Carter, that before discovering your biological connection to Arthur Mercer, you had less than four dollars to your name?”
Anna looked at the jury.
“Yes.”
“And now you control assets worth billions?”
“Temporarily, through the trust.”
“That’s quite an improvement.”
Daniel clenched his jaw.
Anna stayed calm.
The attorney smiled.
“What did you buy first?”
“Shoes.”
He blinked.
“Shoes?”
“My old ones had holes.”
A juror smiled.
“What else?”
“A winter coat.”
“Luxury car?”
“No.”
“Penthouse?”
“No.”
“Jewelry?”
“No.”
“Private aircraft?”
Anna almost laughed.
“No.”
“Then what have you done with the Mercer assets?”
Anna turned toward Evelyn.
“I restored pensions the board planned to cut.”
The attorney’s smile faded.
“I funded legal assistance for employees harmed by company retaliation.”
Silence.
“And I bought the Riverside Diner.”
Maria’s eyes widened.
She hadn’t known.
Anna continued.
“Sam was retiring.”
From the gallery, Sam muttered, “Allegedly.”
Laughter rippled through the courtroom before the judge silenced everyone.
Anna smiled.
“I bought the diner because that was where my life changed.”
The attorney tried another direction.
“Isn’t this all revenge?”
Anna looked directly at Evelyn.
“No.”
“Not even a little?”
Anna considered it.
“At first, maybe.”
Then she shook her head.
“But revenge keeps you tied to the person who hurt you.”
She looked toward Maria.
“I have better things to build.”
That afternoon, Evelyn asked to speak privately during recess.
Anna agreed only with attorneys present.
Evelyn stared at her.
“You think you won.”
“This isn’t a game.”
“You took my company.”
“It was never yours biologically.”
“I built it!”
Evelyn slammed her palm down.
“My father humiliated me when he learned I wasn’t his child. Do you understand that? I spent my entire life proving I deserved that name.”
Anna studied her.
For the first time, she saw the wound beneath Evelyn’s cruelty.
It did not excuse anything.
But it explained something.
“Arthur knew?”
“Eventually.”
“Did he stop loving you?”
Evelyn’s eyes flickered.
“No.”
“Then what were you proving?”
Evelyn froze.
Anna continued.
“You were already his daughter in every way that mattered.”
Evelyn’s mouth trembled.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know my mother died because you were afraid I would take something nobody was trying to steal.”
Evelyn looked away.
Anna stood.
“I hope someday you understand what that fear cost you.”
She left.
In the hallway, pain tightened across her abdomen.
She stopped.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Another contraction.
Stronger.
His eyes widened.
“Anna.”
“Still nothing.”
Water suddenly ran down her legs.
Maria gasped.
Anna stared at the floor.
“Oh.”
Daniel went white.
“Is that—”
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Apparently Hope doesn’t respect court schedules.”
Chaos followed.
Daniel forgot where the hospital was.
Maria yelled at him while calling an ambulance.
Sam arrived with three bags of diner food nobody wanted.
Detective Cole attempted to clear a path through reporters.
And Anna, in labor, started laughing.
“What are you laughing at?” Daniel asked.
“You.”
“Why?”
“You’ve been in boardrooms with presidents.”
“Yes.”
“You look terrified.”
“I am terrified!”
Another contraction hit.
She crushed his hand.
“Good.”
Seven hours later, complications began.
Hope’s heart rate dropped.
Doctors rushed into the room.
Anna’s blood pressure fell.
Daniel stood uselessly against the wall while medical staff worked.
“Emergency C-section,” the doctor ordered.
Anna looked for Daniel.
He stepped close.
“I’m here.”
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“If something—”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“Listen.”
Tears filled his eyes.
Anna gripped his hand.
“If something happens, she gets Maria’s middle name.”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Nothing is happening to you.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
They rushed Anna away.
Daniel stood in the hallway covered in fear.
Maria took his hand.
Thirty-seven minutes passed.
Then forty.
Then forty-six.
Finally, the doors opened.
A doctor emerged.
Daniel stood.
“Anna?”
The doctor smiled.
“Mother and daughter are both stable.”
Daniel’s knees nearly gave out.
“And Hope?”
“Six pounds, two ounces.”
Maria began crying.
Daniel laughed through tears.
When he entered recovery, Anna looked exhausted.
Pale.
But alive.
A nurse placed a tiny bundled baby in Daniel’s arms.
He stared down.
Hope opened her eyes.
Daniel whispered, “Hi.”
Anna watched him.
“You’re holding her like she’s an explosive device.”
“She’s smaller than a football.”
“Please never compare our daughter to a football again.”
Daniel laughed.
He brought Hope to Anna.
Their eyes met.
Nothing was fixed completely.
But something had begun.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Hope Maria Carter-Mercer.”
Maria covered her mouth.
May you like
Anna smiled.
“Sounds perfect.”
