Chapter 1 - Activate Protocol 7
The first bucket of water hit Cassidy Hart across the shoulders before she even realized Diane Mercer had opened the back door.
The water was icy, gray, and smelled faintly of bleach and dirty mop water.
Cassidy gasped as the shock tightened every muscle in her seven-month-pregnant body.
One hand immediately went beneath her stomach.
The other caught the porch railing.
Behind Diane, laughter spilled through the open doorway.
Brendan Mercer stood in the kitchen holding a glass of bourbon.
Beside him, his new girlfriend, Sloane Avery, leaned against the marble island wearing the cream cashmere coat Cassidy had once bought for herself.
“Careful, Mom,” Brendan said with a grin.
“You’ll make her think we still care.”
Sloane laughed.
Cassidy looked at the three of them.
Three months earlier, Brendan had thrown her out of the house after announcing that their divorce papers were already prepared.
He had told everyone Cassidy had no money.
No career.
No family left.
According to Brendan, she had survived their marriage because he had supported her.
It was a lie Cassidy had chosen not to correct.
Until now.
Diane lifted the empty bucket.
“You’re dripping on my porch.”
Cassidy slowly straightened.
“Your porch?”
Diane’s smile widened.
“My son paid for this house.”
Cassidy looked through the doorway.
Italian marble.
Custom lighting.
A six-figure kitchen renovation.
A wine collection Brendan constantly bragged about.
Everything had been purchased with money connected to Hart Meridian Group.
The company Brendan believed he merely worked for.
The company Diane believed her son would soon control.
The company Sloane had been telling friends Brendan was going to inherit.
Cassidy lowered her eyes to her phone.
Brendan laughed again.
“Calling your lawyer?”
“No.”
“Your landlord?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Cassidy typed three words.
ACTIVATE PROTOCOL 7.
She pressed send.
Diane rolled her eyes.
“How dramatic.”
Cassidy slipped the phone back into her coat.
“You should go inside.”
Brendan took another drink.
“Why?”
“Because in approximately three minutes, none of your company cards are going to work.”
The laughter stopped.
Brendan stared at her.
“What did you say?”
Cassidy looked at Sloane.
“Your apartment is paid through Meridian Executive Housing.”
Then she looked at Diane.
“Your SUV is leased through Meridian Mobility Services.”
Finally, she looked at Brendan.
“And this house is owned by a subsidiary you apparently never bothered to read the paperwork for.”
Brendan’s face hardened.
“You’re insane.”
His phone vibrated.
Then Diane’s.
Then Sloane’s.
Brendan glanced at the screen.
The color drained from his face.
CORPORATE ACCESS SUSPENDED.
Diane immediately opened her banking app.
“What the hell?”
Sloane grabbed her purse.
“My card says restricted.”
Headlights swept across the driveway.
Two black SUVs stopped behind Cassidy’s car.
Four corporate security officers stepped out.
The first man approached Cassidy.
“Ms. Hart.”
Brendan’s eyes narrowed.
The officer continued.
“Protocol 7 has been executed.”
Cassidy nodded.
“Secure every Meridian-owned asset on this property.”
Brendan stepped forward.
“You can’t do that.”
The security officer looked at him.
“Mr. Mercer, your executive privileges were suspended ninety seconds ago.”
“My privileges?”
Brendan looked at Cassidy.
“What did you do?”
Cassidy held his stare.
“I stopped pretending.”
A fifth person stepped from the second SUV.
Margaret Chen.
Chairwoman of Hart Meridian Group.
Brendan knew her immediately.
He had spent years desperately trying to impress her.
Margaret walked directly past him.
Then she stopped in front of Cassidy.
“Majority owner.”
Diane’s mouth opened.
Sloane went completely still.
Brendan whispered one word.
“Owner?”
Margaret handed Cassidy a sealed folder.
“There is another problem.”
Cassidy opened it.
Inside was a photocopy of an inheritance document bearing her signature.
She had never seen it before.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“This was filed yesterday.”
Cassidy read the first page.
Her blood went cold.
The document did not merely transfer money.
It transferred control of the Hart family trust under one specific condition.
Cassidy had to become medically incapacitated.
And until her unborn child turned twenty-one, control would pass to the child’s legal guardian.
A guardian already named in the forged document.
Brendan Mercer.
Cassidy slowly looked up at her ex-husband.
May you like
For the first time that night, Brendan was no longer smiling.
And Cassidy understood that the stolen money was only the smallest part of what he had planned.
