Chapter 1 - The New Owners Arrived at Seven
Daniel was still holding the trust document when the elevator chimed.
Rebecca had not even reached the lobby yet.
Chloe looked toward the door.
“Who is that?”
Daniel did not answer.
The elevator doors opened.
A gray-haired man in a navy suit stepped out with a younger woman carrying a leather folder.
Behind them stood the building manager.
Daniel walked toward them.
“This is a private residence.”
The gray-haired man smiled politely.
“Not after seven.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“What?”
The woman opened the folder.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Anna Price.”
“I represent Hawthorne Residential Holdings.”
She handed him a document.
“We completed the purchase of Unit 61A yesterday.”
Daniel stared at the page.
“I never approved a sale.”
Anna looked at him calmly.
“You were not the owner.”
Chloe slowly turned toward him.
The building manager cleared his throat.
“Mr. Mercer, the trust notified management this morning.”
“You were also sent electronic notice.”
Daniel’s phone was still lying on the kitchen island.
He grabbed it.
Forty-three unread emails.
He had ignored most of them because he spent the afternoon introducing Chloe to the life he assumed she was about to inherit.
One subject line stood out.
NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF OCCUPANCY.
Daniel opened it.
His face changed.
“You can’t force me out tonight.”
Anna remained calm.
“You signed an occupancy acknowledgment in 2014.”
Daniel froze.
Rebecca remembered that document.
He did not.
Her father had insisted on it when the family trust allowed Daniel and Rebecca to live in the penthouse.
Daniel had laughed at the paperwork then.
He called it old-money paranoia.
Rebecca remembered exactly what it said.
Occupancy rights ended upon written notice from the trust following sale of the property.
Daniel looked around the apartment.
The Italian sofa.
The grand piano.
The glass sculpture near the windows.
Everything suddenly looked less permanent.
Chloe stepped closer.
“Where are we supposed to go?”
Daniel snapped.
“Stop.”
She stared at him.
“You told me I was moving in.”
“I know what I told you.”
Rebecca was standing near the elevator now.
She had not left after all.
She had heard Chloe.
Daniel saw her.
“Rebecca.”
For one second, he sounded like the husband she remembered.
Not arrogant.
Not cruel.
Afraid.
“You planned this.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You knew about Chloe.”
Rebecca did not answer.
She did not need to.
The silence said enough.
Chloe stepped backward.
“You knew?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Since March.”
It was September.
Daniel’s face went pale.
Rebecca continued.
“I needed to know whether Daniel was having an affair.”
“Then I needed to know what else he was doing.”
Daniel’s fear deepened.
Because the penthouse was suddenly not the biggest question in the room.
“What else?”
He asked.
May you like
Rebecca smiled faintly.
“You should probably check the company accounts.”
