On my way home for Thanksgiving, I crashed and needed emergency surgery for broken ribs and internal bleeding. My parents told the doctor, “we’ll come if she dies.”

Thirty minutes turned into three hours. Marcus made phone call after phone call, his voice low and urgent, while I rested on his office sofa, my body aching from the strain of the day.

At 8:00 PM, Marcus hung up the phone and turned to me, his face grim.

"I found David," Marcus said simply.

My heart stopped. "He's alive?"

"He's alive, but he's been living under an assumed name—Julian Reed—in a small town in northern Wisconsin," Marcus explained. "When David turned eighteen, he discovered a trust fund established by Daniel Vance that Harold had illegally drained. When David confronted Harold, Harold threatened to frame him for grand larceny using forged accounting documents. David fled to protect himself, but he’s been working with Arthur Vance ever since to build a case against Harold."

"Why didn't David ever come back for me?" I asked, a lump forming in my throat.

"Because Harold told David that you were dead," Marcus said gently. "After David left, Harold cut off all contact between David and Oak Ridge. He told David that you died of childhood leukemia while David was on the run. Harold used your supposed death to guilt David into staying hidden."

Tears streamed down my cheeks. The sheer evil of Harold Pierce’s grand design left me breathless. He had isolated everyone, lied to everyone, and constructed a kingdom of glass atop a mountain of shattered lives.

"We have enough in this ledger to trigger a federal investigation into Pierce Enterprises," Marcus said, placing a hand on the book. "Tax evasion, corporate fraud, forgery, and embezzlement. But if we want to protect you and bring Harold down completely, we need to bring Arthur Vance and David into the light."

"Where is Arthur now?" I asked.

"Arthur operates out of an estate in Milwaukee," Marcus replied. "And according to my source, Harold knows Arthur made contact with you. Harold’s legal team just filed an emergency injunction claiming you are mentally incompetent following your accident, attempting to take legal guardianship over you."