Chapter 4: My Father Finally Watched the Truth
Daniel immediately pulled the blinds across his office windows.
"Stay away from the entrance," he said.
I stared at the photograph attached to my father's email. Vanessa stood beside Robert Hale outside the building. Robert held a photograph of me, apparently taken sometime that morning.
"They know I'm here," I said.
Daniel picked up his phone.
"I'm calling security.""
"Wait.""
He turned.
"What's wrong?""
I pointed at Robert's hand.
"Look at the photograph he's holding.""
Daniel enlarged the image.
It showed me leaving the diner the previous night, wearing the same gray hoodie I had on now.
My stomach tightened.
"Someone followed me.""
"Apparently.""
"Why would they need a photograph of me?""
Daniel didn't answer.
Instead, he called the building's security office and asked them to lock the main entrance. Then he instructed his assistant to contact a lawyer specializing in estate fraud.
I sat down, unable to stop thinking about my father.
He had watched the footage.
For the first time since throwing me out, he had seen what Vanessa had done.
I opened his email.
There was another message beneath the photograph.
Ethan, I was wrong. I should have listened. Please call me.
I stared at those words.
They were simple.
But they came too late to erase the image of him standing in the doorway while I begged him to believe me.
I called.
He answered immediately.
"Ethan?""
His voice sounded different. Smaller.
"Yes.""
"Son, thank God.""
I closed my eyes.
"Don't call me that like nothing happened.""
He exhaled shakily.
"I watched the recording. All of it.""
"And?""
"I saw what she did.""
I looked at Daniel.
He had stopped working and was listening.
My father continued.
"She grabbed your wrist. She pulled herself backward. She deliberately hit her face against the desk.""
I said nothing.
"She lied to me, Ethan.""
"Yes.""
"She made me believe you attacked her.""
"Yes.""
There was a long silence.
Then he whispered, "I'm sorry.""
I laughed once, without humor.
"You threw me out.""
"I know.""
"You wouldn't even check the footage.""
"I know.""
"You stood there and watched her cry while I begged you to believe me.""
His breathing became uneven.
"I know, son.""
I looked toward the window.
Outside, a black SUV had stopped across the street.
Two men sat inside.
"Why are you calling now?"" I asked.
"Because I need to explain something. Vanessa is gone.""
"What?""
"She packed a bag and left the house about an hour ago. She took some documents from my office. I found the study camera disconnected.""
I felt a chill.
"Did you see Robert?""
Another silence.
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"At the house. He came to see Vanessa yesterday evening. I thought he was there to discuss some business matters.""
"Did you hear them talking?""
"Not at first. But this morning, I found an envelope in my office. It contained copies of documents from your mother's trust.""
I leaned forward.
"What documents?""
"A transfer authorization. My signature is on it.""
"Did you sign it?""
"No.""
My stomach tightened.
"Then someone forged your signature.""
"I think so.""
I glanced at Daniel.
He mouthed, Record everything.
I turned on the call recording feature.
"Where are you now, Dad?""
"At home.""
"Are you alone?""
"Yes.""
"Lock the doors. Don't touch anything Vanessa left behind.""
He sounded confused.
"Ethan, what is happening?""
"Mom's inheritance was never what you told me it was.""
Silence.
Then my father asked, "What do you mean?""
"She left eight-point-four million dollars in an irrevocable trust. I was the beneficiary. You were only supposed to manage it until I turned twenty-one.""
My father's breathing stopped.
"That's not possible.""
"Daniel has the documents.""
"Daniel?""
"He has the original letter Mom left for me. She also recorded a video.""
My father became quiet.
Finally, he said, "Your mother never told me about eight million dollars.""
"Maybe because she didn't trust you with that information.""
I regretted the words as soon as I said them.
But my father didn't argue.
Instead, he whispered, "What else did she say?""
I looked at the screen.
"She said Robert was working with someone. Someone who was supposed to be dead.""
My father didn't respond.
Then I heard a noise on his end.
A door opening.
"Dad?""
"Someone's here.""
"Who?""
I heard footsteps.
Then my father's voice changed.
"Robert?""
Daniel stood up immediately.
"Marcus, don't let him inside!"" he shouted.
But my father wasn't listening.
"What are you doing here?"" Marcus asked.
A familiar voice answered.
"Just checking on you, old friend.""
Robert.
My father moved away from the phone.
"Get out.""
"Now, Marcus. Let's not make a scene.""
"Did you forge my signature?""
A brief silence.
Then Robert laughed.
"You're upset. I understand.""
"I saw the documents.""
"Then you saw what you wanted to see.""
My father raised his voice.
"Did you steal from Claire's trust?""
Robert sighed.
"Claire was a complicated woman. She made arrangements nobody understood.""
"Did you forge her signature?""
This time, Robert didn't answer.
Instead, I heard a glass breaking.
Then my father shouted.
"Get away from me!""
The call disconnected.
I jumped out of my chair.
"Call the police!""
Daniel was already dialing emergency services.
I tried calling my father again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
The security guard outside Daniel's office called to report that the black SUV had left.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
"We're going to your father's house.""
We arrived twenty minutes later.
The front door was open.
A lamp lay shattered in the hallway. My father's office had been ransacked, with drawers pulled out and papers scattered across the carpet.
Marcus stood beside the dining table, holding a bloodied hand.
He looked up when I entered.
"Ethan.""
I stopped.
For a moment, I saw the man who used to carry me on his shoulders through the backyard.
Then I remembered the front door closing behind me the previous night.
"Are you hurt?"" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Just a cut.""
Daniel called the police again, reporting the break-in.
My father looked at me.
"Robert took something.""
"What?""
"A small black notebook. Claire kept it in her desk.""
I glanced toward the study.
"What's in it?""
Marcus swallowed.
"Names. Dates. Transactions. Your mother said it was important, but I never understood why.""
I walked into the study.
The leather folder was missing.
So was the small wooden box where my mother kept her jewelry.
I examined the desk.
There were scratches around the bottom drawer.
Someone had forced it open.
Then I noticed a photograph lying beneath the chair.
It showed my mother standing beside a tall man in a dark suit.
I picked it up.
"Who's this?""
My father came to the doorway.
He looked at the photograph.
His face went completely white.
"That's Richard.""
I stared at him.
"Your brother?""
Marcus nodded slowly.
"But that's impossible. I buried him.""
Daniel stepped closer.
"Apparently, you buried an empty coffin.""
My father grabbed the edge of the desk.
"No. I saw the accident report. I identified his belongings.""
"Did you identify his body?"" Daniel asked.
Marcus didn't answer.
I turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten message on the back.
To Claire. Until the truth comes out, trust no one in the Bennett family.
The date was written beneath it.
Three days before my mother's death.
My father read the message.
His knees almost gave way.
Then his phone rang.
The screen displayed an unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?""
A man's voice came through.
"Hello, Marcus.""
My father went rigid.
I recognized the voice immediately.
The man from the video.
Richard.
"You're supposed to be dead," my father whispered.
The man chuckled.
"That's what everyone was supposed to believe.""
Then he added:
"By the way, Marcus, you might want to ask your son what his mother really knew about the night I disappeared.""
The call ended.
May you like
My father slowly lowered the phone.
For the first time in my life, I saw genuine terror in his eyes.
