Chapter 9: The Father Who Never Told Me the Truth
My father had been dead for six years.
At least, that was what I believed.
His name was Thomas Bennett. He had been a quiet man who preferred gardening to business meetings and old jazz records to expensive restaurants.
After my mother's death, he had raised me almost alone.
He never remarried.
He never spoke badly about Adrian.
And he had spent the final years of his life insisting that I deserved happiness.
Now Adrian was threatening to reveal something about him.
I sat in Julian's office, staring at the message.
"Did my father know about the attempted murder?""
Julian looked uncomfortable.
"Claire, I don't know.""
"Did he investigate it?""
"Yes. He hired a private investigator.""
"Who?""
Julian opened a drawer and removed an old file.
"An investigator named Peter Walsh.""
He searched through the documents.
"Here.""
The file contained several handwritten notes.
One entry was dated six months after my mother's death.
Thomas Bennett believes Robert Vale arranged the accident. He refuses to accept the official findings.
Another note appeared three weeks later.
Client requests immediate suspension of investigation following threats against daughter.
I looked up.
"Threats against me?""
Julian nodded.
"There was a letter delivered to your father's home. It warned him to stop investigating if he wanted you to remain safe.""
I felt sick.
"Why didn't he tell me?""
"Perhaps he believed you were safer not knowing.""
I pushed the file away.
"Everyone decided what I could handle. My mother, my father, Celeste. Even Adrian.""
Celeste sat beside me.
"Your parents were trying to protect you.""
"By letting me marry the man who might have been involved in my mother's death?""
Her eyes filled.
"Your father didn't know what Adrian had become.""
I stood and walked toward the window.
"What if he knew more?""
Nobody answered.
The next morning, Vanessa agreed to meet us.
She was staying in a private apartment arranged by her solicitor.
When I entered, she stood near the window wearing a cream sweater and no makeup.
Without the expensive gowns and jewelry, she looked much younger.
And much less confident.
"Claire.""
"Vanessa.""
She looked at Celeste.
"Can we speak alone?""
I hesitated.
Celeste gave me a warning glance.
Then Julian said, "We'll be just outside.""
Vanessa waited until the door closed.
"I know you hate me.""
"I don't have the energy to hate you.""
She lowered her eyes.
"Adrian told me you were separated.""
I sat down.
"That doesn't explain the necklace.""
She touched her bare collarbone.
"I gave it to the police.""
"Good.""
"He told me it was a family heirloom he had purchased years ago. I believed him.""
"You believed him because you wanted to.""
Her eyes filled.
"Yes.""
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Vanessa opened a small handbag and removed a flash drive.
"I copied everything before I left.""
I stared at it.
"What is it?""
"Adrian's private correspondence. Financial transfers. Messages with Asterion. And something else.""
"What?""
She placed the drive on the table.
"A recording from his office.""
I looked at her.
"Why are you giving this to me?""
"Because he threatened me.""
She took a shaky breath.
"Last night, after the fashion show, he told me that if I didn't cooperate, he would make sure I was charged with stealing company property.""
"You were involved in the transfer.""
"I know. I made a terrible decision.""
She wiped her eyes.
"But I didn't know he was using me to steal from you. I thought I was going to become his partner.""
I studied her.
"Did you love him?""
She gave a small, bitter laugh.
"I thought I did.""
"And now?""
"Now I think I loved the version of him he invented.""
I understood that more than I wanted to.
Vanessa leaned forward.
"There's something in those messages about your father.""
My entire body went still.
"What?""
"Adrian received a payment from an account belonging to someone named Thomas Bennett.""
I stared at her.
"My father?""
She nodded.
"Three months before he died.""
"How much?""
"Five hundred thousand dollars.""
I stood so quickly that the chair moved backward.
"That's impossible.""
Vanessa opened her laptop.
"I downloaded the transaction record.""
She turned the screen toward me.
The payment was real.
The sender was an account registered in my father's name.
The recipient was a company controlled by Asterion Holdings.
I looked at the date.
Three months before my father's death.
"Why would my father send Adrian half a million dollars?""
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know.""
I felt the room spinning.
"Did Adrian explain it?""
"He said your father was paying for his silence.""
"Silence about what?""
Vanessa hesitated.
Then she played the recording.
Adrian's voice filled the room.
"Thomas agreed to stay quiet. He knew what happened, and he accepted the money.""
Another man responded.
"And Claire?""
Adrian laughed.
"Claire knows nothing. She believes her father died of natural causes. Once the transfer is complete, there won't be anyone left to challenge us.""
The recording ended.
I couldn't move.
My father had taken money from Adrian?
Had he been involved in the cover-up?
Or had he been forced to accept it?
Vanessa touched my arm.
"I'm sorry.""
I pulled away gently.
"Give me the flash drive.""
She handed it over.
I placed it in my handbag.
Then I walked out.
At Julian's office, I showed him the transaction.
He examined it carefully.
"This account is genuine," he said.
"Could my father have been blackmailed?""
"Possibly.""
"Could the money have been compensation?""
"Also possible.""
Celeste looked troubled.
"Thomas would never have betrayed Eleanor.""
"Then why did he take the money?"" I demanded.
She shook her head.
"I don't know.""
Daniel had been quiet throughout the conversation.
Now he spoke.
"Perhaps because he was protecting you.""
I turned toward him.
"How?""
"Your father knew what happened to Eleanor. He also knew the people involved had enough influence to destroy anyone who challenged them.""
"That doesn't explain the money.""
Daniel reached into his coat.
He removed an old photograph.
It showed my father standing outside a hospital.
Beside him was a young woman holding a baby.
I recognized the hospital.
It was the one where my mother had been taken after the accident.
"Who is the woman?"" I asked.
Daniel looked at me.
"Your mother.""
I frowned.
"But that's not possible. She was already dead.""
Daniel shook his head.
"The photograph was taken two days before the accident.""
He pointed toward the baby.
"And that's you.""
I stared.
My mother was holding me.
But something else caught my attention.
She was wearing the emerald necklace.
The same necklace Vanessa had worn.
The photograph had been taken years before I believed my mother had received it.
"Why is this important?""
Daniel turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten note.
Thomas, if anything happens to me, take Claire to the place we discussed. Do not let Robert find the original.
I looked up.
"What original?""
Daniel answered.
"The original ownership ledger.""
Julian's eyes widened.
"The ledger that records every transfer made under the Bennett-Cross partnership?""
Daniel nodded.
"Eleanor hid it somewhere only Thomas knew.""
I stared at the photograph.
"My father had it?""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
Daniel looked toward the blue portfolio.
"That's what we need to discover.""
Celeste suddenly spoke.
"There's only one place Eleanor would have trusted Thomas to keep something that important.""
"Where?""
"The house where you grew up.""
I felt a chill.
The old Bennett family home had been sold after my father's death.
A property developer had purchased it and renovated the entire building.
"Then we need to contact the new owner.""
Julian was already reaching for his phone.
But before he could make the call, his assistant rushed into the office.
"Mr. Julian, there's a problem.""
"What?""
"The police have received an anonymous complaint alleging that Claire Bennett committed fraud against Vale Group.""
I stared at him.
"That's ridiculous.""
"The complaint includes copies of your signature on the disputed transfer documents.""
Julian frowned.
"Those signatures were forged.""
"I know, but there's more.""
The assistant placed a photograph on the table.
It showed me entering the old Bennett family home the previous evening.
I had never been there.
Someone had used my identity.
Then Julian's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"Understood.""
He ended the call.
"Claire, the police want to question you.""
"For what?""
Julian looked at me.
"Adrian has filed a formal complaint accusing you of stealing confidential company records and attempting to blackmail him.""
I laughed in disbelief.
"He stole my inheritance, and now he's accusing me?""
"He's trying to turn the investigation around.""
Daniel stood.
"Then we need the ledger before he destroys it.""
I looked at the photograph of my mother and father.
For the first time, I understood that the missing piece of this story wasn't in Paris.
It was waiting somewhere in the house where I had grown up.
That evening, Julian received a call from the developer.
The new owner had discovered something during renovations.
A sealed metal box hidden behind the fireplace in my father's old study.
Inside were several documents, a cassette recorder, and an envelope addressed to me.
The developer agreed to hand everything over.
I held the envelope while Julian unlocked it.
The first line made my heart stop.
Claire, if this has reached you, then I failed to tell you the truth.
I read the next sentence.
I did not take Adrian's money to protect myself.
I swallowed.
I took it because he told me he would kill you next.
My fingers began to shake.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
But there is something even worse that I must confess.
The man who ordered your mother's death was not Robert Vale.
I looked up.
Celeste had gone completely pale.
Daniel slowly stepped backward.
Because the name written beneath my father's final confession was one none of us had expected.
*Thomas Bennett's own final note accused Celeste Moreau of knowing who had ordered the murder.*
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And beneath it was a second line.
Ask her why she was the last person to speak to Eleanor.
