Chapter 5 - JULIAN MERCER
Alexander returned to the estate before sunset.
Julian Mercer was already gone.
His room had been cleared.
No luggage.
No clothing.
No personal photographs.
Only one thing remained.
A wooden chess piece on the bedside table.
A black king.
Marcus picked it up.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander knew.
Their father used to play chess with him as a child.
Every time Alexander lost, Edmund repeated the same line.
The king survives because everyone else accepts sacrifice.
Thomas had apparently taught his son the same game.
Or perhaps the piece meant nothing.
Alexander was becoming tired of symbols.
He wanted people.
Answers.
He found Victoria in the formal drawing room.
She had changed clothes after the banquet.
No pearls.
No jewelry.
Sophia was nowhere near her.
Good.
Alexander placed the black king on the table.
Victoria’s face changed.
“Where is Julian?”
She looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
“Who is he?”
Silence.
“Mother.”
Victoria sat.
“Thomas’s son.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“So everyone knew except us.”
“No.”
Victoria looked toward him.
“I didn’t know until two years ago.”
Julian approached her.
He carried letters from Thomas.
He wanted no money.
No position.
No revenge.
Only acknowledgment that his father had existed.
Victoria refused.
Why?
Because admitting Thomas existed meant admitting Edmund had lied to his own sons for decades.
Alexander stared.
“Dad was dead.”
“I was protecting his memory.”
Marcus looked disgusted.
“Dead men have had more protection in this family than living children.”
Victoria flinched.
Good.
Alexander asked why Julian later worked for her.
Victoria’s hands tightened.
“He came back after Rebecca found him.”
“She knew who he was?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca encouraged Julian to speak directly with Alexander.
Julian refused.
He did not trust the Sterlings.
Then Alexander was ambushed.
Julian contacted Victoria again.
He claimed he knew the old loyalists behind it.
“He offered to help.”
“And you brought him into my house.”
“Yes.”
Alexander’s expression sharpened.
“Did he know you told Sophia I was dead?”
Victoria looked away.
That answer hurt.
“Yes.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“He allowed it?”
“He argued with me.”
“Did he stop you?”
“No.”
Then Victoria revealed why.
Julian believed Sophia remembered Rebecca’s final night.
He wanted the child to speak.
Victoria wanted her silent.
They fought constantly.
Julian stayed because he feared leaving Sophia alone with Victoria would make things worse.
Alexander’s face darkened.
“That is his excuse?”
“It is what he told me.”
Alexander turned away.
Another adult watching harm and calling presence protection.
Then Sophia entered the drawing room.
Elizabeth followed immediately.
“I’m sorry, sir. She heard voices.”
Sophia saw the black chess piece.
She stopped.
Then pointed.
“Uncle Jules.”
Alexander looked at her.
“You know Julian?”
She nodded.
“Nice uncle.”
Victoria’s face tightened.
Sophia moved closer.
“He give me bread.”
Alexander stared.
The discarded food.
The plastic bag.
Not all of it had come from trash.
Julian had been secretly bringing Sophia food after Victoria began restricting her meals.
That did not redeem him.
It made the story more complicated.
Sophia touched the chess piece.
“Uncle Jules says Daddy coming.”
Alexander looked at Victoria.
She had been telling Sophia he was dead.
Julian had been quietly telling her the opposite.
“Where did Julian go?”
Sophia looked toward the west windows.
“Red house.”
Victoria stood abruptly.
“No.”
Alexander turned.
“What red house?”
Sophia pointed outside.
“Mommy go too.”
Alexander’s chest tightened.
Rebecca had gone somewhere with Julian before her death.
Victoria looked genuinely frightened now.
“Alexander, do not go there.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas built that place.”
Alexander waited.
Victoria’s voice dropped.
“And because Rebecca found something there that changed what she believed about your ambush.”
Alexander stared.
“What?”
His mother looked toward Marcus.
Then back.
“She discovered the attack wasn’t ordered by Father’s old men.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
Victoria continued.
“It was ordered by someone who knew exactly when you would leave your own daughter’s birthday dinner.”
May you like
Only family had known that.
And Marcus had been sitting beside Alexander when he received the call that pulled him away.
