Chapter 14: The Woman Who Never Died
I didn't speak during the entire drive to the police station.
The woman's name was Catherine Bennett.
My father had secretly supported her for twenty years.
She had worn my mother's necklace in the hospital photograph.
And according to Detective Hill, she had supposedly died sixteen years earlier.
I remembered the funeral.
I was twenty-four.
Nathan had been there.
My father had stood beside me throughout the service, holding my shoulder.
I'd never questioned the circumstances.
Catherine had been introduced to me as a distant relative who lived overseas.
But now I wondered whether I'd ever known the truth about my own family.
At the station, Dr. Adrian Mercer was waiting in an interview room.
He looked older than the photographs I'd seen. His hair was thinning, and his hands shook as he held a paper cup.
When I entered, he immediately looked away.
"Dr. Mercer," Detective Hill began, "this is Olivia Bennett.""
The doctor nodded.
"I know who she is.""
I sat opposite him.
"Tell me what happened to my father.""
He swallowed.
"I was called to the hospital that night by Thomas Whitmore.""
"Why?""
"He said Robert was having complications and needed an additional medication order.""
"Did you examine him?""
"No.""
I stared at him.
"You prescribed medication without examining my father?""
"I was told the attending physician had approved it.""
"But he hadn't.""
Mercer lowered his eyes.
"No.""
I gripped the edge of the table.
"Did you know the medication could be dangerous?""
"At that dosage, yes.""
My throat tightened.
"Then why did you authorize it?""
He rubbed his hands together.
"Thomas had financial records showing that I had received payments from one of his companies. He threatened to report me for professional misconduct if I refused to cooperate.""
"So you helped him kill my father?""
"I didn't know that was the intention.""
I stood.
"Don't hide behind that excuse.""
Detective Hill motioned for me to sit.
Mercer continued.
"After I left the room, Thomas contacted me again. He said the patient had deteriorated. He told me someone had disconnected the oxygen backup and that I needed to amend the medical notes.""
I stared at him.
"Who disconnected it?""
Mercer closed his eyes.
"Catherine.""
The room went silent.
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"Who is Catherine?""
He looked at me.
"Your father's second wife.""
I shook my head.
"My father was married to my mother.""
"Not after she died.""
I stared at him.
"My father never remarried.""
Mercer looked toward Detective Hill.
"That's what he wanted everyone to believe.""
Detective Hill placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my father standing beside a dark-haired woman.
The woman wore a simple wedding band.
It was the same woman from the hospital photograph.
Mercer continued.
"Catherine was Robert's business partner before she became his wife. Their marriage was never publicly announced because they wanted to keep her identity separate from the Bennett family assets.""
I felt sick.
"Why?""
"Because she had a criminal history involving financial fraud. Robert believed she had changed.""
I looked at the photograph.
"Then why was she wearing my mother's necklace?""
Mercer hesitated.
"Because she had been given it.""
I shook my head.
"No. My mother died sixteen years ago. Catherine was supposedly dead.""
Detective Hill spoke carefully.
"Olivia, we found evidence that Catherine used a different identity after the reported death.""
I stared at him.
"Are you saying she faked her death?""
"We believe so.""
Mercer leaned forward.
"She was at the hospital that night. Thomas told me she wanted Robert dead because he was preparing to expose her.""
My hands began shaking.
"What did she do?""
"She entered the room after the medication had been administered. I saw her near the oxygen equipment.""
"Did you see her disconnect it?""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
I closed my eyes.
My father had been surrounded by people he trusted.
And every single one had betrayed him.
"Where is she now?""
Detective Hill answered.
"We believe she's in Atlanta. We've been tracking financial accounts connected to her aliases.""
Mercer looked at me.
"There's something else.""
I turned.
"More?""
He nodded.
"Your father didn't die immediately after the oxygen interruption. He regained consciousness briefly.""
I stopped breathing.
"What?""
"He spoke.""
"What did he say?""
Mercer hesitated.
"According to Catherine, he asked for you.""
Tears filled my eyes.
"Did she let him?""
"No.""
I stood so quickly that my chair fell backward.
"She was there while he was dying, and she didn't let him see me?""
Mercer lowered his head.
"She told Thomas that Robert had already lost consciousness.""
I turned away.
Detective Hill approached me.
"We're going to find her.""
I wiped my cheeks.
"Not just find her. I want her to answer for what she did.""
Two hours later, officers located Catherine at a luxury apartment in Midtown Atlanta.
She was preparing to leave the country.
When they brought her into the interview room, I almost didn't recognize her.
Her hair was now blonde.
Her face had changed.
But her eyes were exactly like the woman in the photograph.
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then she smiled sadly.
"Olivia.""
I stood.
"Don't say my name.""
She sighed.
"You look just like your father.""
"Did you kill him?""
Her expression remained calm.
"Your father was a difficult man.""
"Did you disconnect his oxygen?""
She looked at Detective Hill.
"I want a lawyer.""
"Answer me!""
She finally turned toward me.
"Your father was going to destroy everything. He wanted to give the company to you and leave everyone else with nothing.""
"So you killed him?""
"I protected myself.""
I felt something inside me snap.
"You let him die alone.""
Catherine's smile disappeared.
"He wasn't supposed to die that night.""
The room went silent.
Detective Hill leaned forward.
"What do you mean?""
She looked at him.
"Thomas said the medication would make him unconscious long enough for us to obtain his signature.""
"On what?""
She looked at me.
"An agreement transferring the original intellectual property rights to Daniel.""
I stared.
"So my father was supposed to sign away his company while he was unconscious?""
"Yes.""
"And when he refused?""
Catherine looked down.
"Things got out of control.""
Detective Hill asked another question.
"Who disconnected the oxygen?""
She slowly raised her eyes.
"Thomas ordered me to do it.""
I closed my eyes.
Finally.
The truth.
But then Catherine leaned forward and whispered something that made my blood run cold.
"There's one more person you should be looking for, Olivia.""
"Who?""
She smiled faintly.
"The person who paid Thomas to arrange everything.""
Detective Hill frowned.
"Who financed the operation?""
Catherine looked directly at me.
"Your father didn't just have enemies inside his family.""
She paused.
"He had one outside it, too.""
Then she gave us a name.
A name I recognized from the company's original shareholder records.
Eleanor Price.
The woman who had invested in Daniel's business before my father ever did.
May you like
The woman who had attended my wedding.
And the woman who had stood beside me at my father's funeral, promising that she would always protect the Bennett family.
