Chapter 12 - The Villain Jason Prepared
The fake evidence was clever because it used something true.
Years before I married Jason, Adrian paid one medical bill for me.
I had been furious.
Eight thousand dollars.
An emergency hospitalization.
Insurance dispute.
Adrian discovered through a mutual friend.
He paid anonymously.
I found out.
Made him let me repay part over time.
That transaction existed.
Jason found it.
Then built around it.
His folder contained drafts suggesting Adrian had continued secretly funding my care after marriage.
False.
He created spreadsheets.
Bank reference examples.
Not actual transfers.
Templates.
Then one real payment confused things.
Three thousand dollars to my specialist’s foundation.
From Vale Holdings.
Adrian’s company.
Was it for me?
No.
Annual charity donation.
The foundation served hundreds of patients.
Jason highlighted it anyway.
Then:
Narrative option:
Claire remained financially dependent on Vale.
Vale interfered in marriage.
Vale orchestrated escape.
That was what Jason planned to say if I ever left.
Then he added Adrian’s criminal reputation.
A feared mafia boss obsessed with another man’s wife.
Simple.
Powerful.
False in the important parts.
Then his message after arrest:
Ask Adrian why he knew where to find you.
He was following the script.
But the evidence showed Mara called Adrian.
Then my own choices mattered.
I had once loved Adrian.
Jason knew.
That could make his story believable.
I would not lie.
When asked:
“Yes, Adrian and I had feelings for each other years ago.”
“Did you have an affair during marriage?”
“No.”
“Did he pay you secretly?”
“No.”
“Did he communicate?”
Birthday messages twice.
Nothing more.
“Did you ever consider leaving Jason for Adrian?”
“No.”
I planned to leave Jason because Jason hurt me.
Important.
Then the medical bills.
Jason controlled most household finances.
Yet I kept one separate account.
Balance:
Twenty seven thousand dollars.
He knew.
So I was not financially trapped completely.
But he controlled access to car, phone, prescriptions.
Abuse did not require total poverty.
Then one item in VALE folder had been created after Europe was booked.
A fake wire confirmation.
VALE HOLDINGS TO CLAIRE MERCER.
$250,000.
Never happened.
Why create?
To claim Adrian paid me to stage disappearance?
Maybe.
File note:
Use only if necessary.
Jason had contemplated fabricating evidence.
Had he submitted it anywhere?
No.
Draft only.
Then his attorney could argue fantasy.
Still.
Then one real transfer appeared.
$50,000.
From Mercer Family Holdings to a company called:
Graymark Intelligence.
Purpose:
VALE REPUTATIONAL ASSESSMENT.
Evelyn approved invoice.
She admitted.
She wanted to know whether Adrian posed danger because Jason obsessed over him.
Graymark investigated Adrian.
Legal public records.
No secret hacking.
Report conclusion:
No evidence Vale has current contact with Claire Mercer beyond sporadic public interactions.
Evelyn had a report telling her Adrian was not interfering.
Did she show Jason?
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he would say I was taking Adrian’s side.”
So she hid another fact that contradicted her son.
Then Graymark report contained something unexpected.
Jason’s obsession with Adrian predated me.
He applied for a job with a Vale controlled logistics company at twenty five.
Rejected.
Why?
Background reference described him as volatile during management disputes.
Jason never told anyone.
Later he attended the gala.
Saw Adrian.
Saw me.
Maybe the fixation was about status long before romance.
Then Jason’s first message to his investigator about me:
Find out why Vale cares about her.
Not:
Find out who she is.
I was part of a rivalry.
Then another line six months later:
If she chooses me, Vale loses something.
I closed the file.
That was enough.
Then Mara called.
She had obtained Rachel’s estate tax records.
One payment after Rachel died:
$74,000.
Exact number again.
Recipient:
Celeste Warren Foundation.
The marriage coach who created the original Seventy Four Day Reset.
Why would Rachel’s estate pay her?
Jason authorized.
Celeste was stunned.
Her foundation never received it.
The payment went to a different organization with nearly identical name.
A shell.
Who owned it?
Mercer Family Holdings.
Jason had created an internal account using Celeste’s program name.
May you like
Why?
Continue to the next part: Jason secretly created a shell using the name of the original 74 Day Reset program after Rachel died, and money from Rachel’s estate flowed into it for years.
