Chapter 9: The Mother I Never Knew
I drove to my mother's apartment in Manhattan that afternoon.
Nathan insisted on accompanying me.
Neither of us spoke during the journey.
My mother, Patricia Bennett, lived in a penthouse overlooking the Hudson River.
She had always been elegant, controlled, and almost impossibly private.
Even after my father's death, she rarely discussed her past.
I'd never questioned it.
Until now.
When the elevator doors opened, she was waiting.
Her eyes were red.
"Claire.""
I walked straight past her.
"Is it true?""
She closed the apartment door.
"Please sit down.""
"Don't tell me to sit down. Just answer me.""
She looked at Nathan.
"Can we have some privacy?""
"No," I said.
"He stays.""
My mother took a shaky breath.
"Rebecca was my older sister.""
I felt my throat tighten.
"Thomas said she was my mother.""
Patricia lowered her eyes.
"Yes.""
The room seemed to disappear around me.
I gripped the back of a chair.
"Then who are you?""
She began crying.
"I'm your aunt.""
I stared at her.
"Why did you raise me?""
"Because Rebecca died when you were six months old.""
"What happened?""
My mother walked toward the window.
"She was involved with a man your grandfather considered dangerous. When she became pregnant, she wanted to marry him. Richard refused to approve.""
"Who was the man?""
She hesitated.
"Your father.""
I shook my head.
"My father was Edward Bennett.""
"Edward adopted you when you were two years old.""
I felt sick.
Nathan remained silent.
Patricia continued.
"Your biological father was a man named Daniel Cross. He worked for one of your grandfather's investment companies. He and Rebecca fell in love, but Richard believed Daniel was using her to gain access to the family.""
"Was he?""
"I don't know.""
"Did Rebecca die in an accident?""
My mother wiped her cheeks.
"That's what we were told.""
I stepped closer.
"Who told you?""
"Thomas.""
"And you believed him?""
She looked away.
"At the time, I had no reason not to.""
I laughed bitterly.
"You had twenty years to tell me.""
"I was protecting you.""
"From the truth?""
"From a family scandal that could have destroyed your life.""
I looked at her.
"My life is already being destroyed by people who knew the truth.""
She reached for my hand.
I stepped back.
"Don't.""
Her face crumpled.
"Claire, I loved you as my own daughter. I changed your diapers. I held you when you cried. I was there for your first steps and your first day of school.""
"I know.""
"Nothing about that was false.""
I looked at the family photographs on the mantel.
My childhood.
My birthdays.
My graduation.
My wedding.
Every photograph showed Patricia beside me.
Every memory now carried a question.
"Did Grandfather know?""
She nodded.
"He knew everything.""
"Then why did he let me believe you were my mother?""
"Because he was afraid Thomas would use your real identity against you.""
Nathan finally spoke.
"Mrs. Bennett, do you know anything about the second will?""
My mother looked startled.
"You found Margaret's letter?""
"Yes.""
She walked toward a locked cabinet.
From inside, she removed a small leather-bound journal.
"Your grandmother gave me this two days before she died.""
She handed it to me.
I opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of my biological mother.
Rebecca.
She was holding me as a baby.
Her smile was radiant.
Beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.
My darling Claire, if you ever discover the truth, remember that you were never unwanted. Your mother loved you more than anything.
I turned the page.
A series of entries described my grandmother's growing suspicions about Thomas.
One entry caught my attention.
November 14. Thomas visited Rebecca's old apartment. He believes the original documents are still hidden there. I must find them before he does.
Another entry was dated three days later.
Rebecca's death was not an accident.
My fingers froze.
I read it again.
"Mom?""
Patricia looked at me.
"What?""
I showed her the page.
She covered her mouth.
"Oh, my God.""
Nathan took the journal.
"There's a name here.""
He pointed to the bottom of the entry.
My grandmother had written:
I spoke to Daniel. He says he knows who was driving the car.
I looked up.
"Where is Daniel Cross?""
Patricia shook her head.
"I haven't heard that name in decades.""
Nathan pulled out his phone.
"I'll have investigators locate him.""
I turned another page.
A folded photograph slipped out.
It showed Rebecca standing outside a hospital.
Beside her was a young man.
And behind them stood Everett's father, William Hale.
I stared at the photograph.
"Why is Everett's father in this picture?""
My mother sat down slowly.
"William knew Rebecca.""
"How?""
She looked at me.
"Because he was Daniel's business partner.""
Nathan studied the photograph.
"That's significant.""
I turned it over.
There was a handwritten date.
Twenty-one years earlier.
And one sentence:
*If anything happens to me, tell Claire that the Hale family knows who killed her mother.*
I felt the blood drain from my face.
My mother began shaking.
"Claire, there's something else.""
I looked at her.
"What?""
She swallowed.
"William Hale came to see me two weeks before your wedding.""
"Why?""
"He told me Everett wanted to marry you.""
I waited.
"Then he asked me to give him something.""
"What?""
My mother reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
"I refused. But he left this behind.""
Inside was a photograph of Everett as a teenager.
He was standing beside a man I had never seen before.
The man wore a hospital bracelet.
On the back, someone had written:
*Daniel Cross — believed dead.*
Nathan took the photograph.
"That's impossible.""
"Why?"" I asked.
He turned the picture over.
"Because Daniel Cross signed a sworn statement six months ago confirming that Rebecca's death was arranged by someone inside the Bennett family.""
I stared at him.
"Where is he now?""
Nathan looked at his phone.
"I've just received an address.""
He turned the screen toward me.
The location was a private medical facility in upstate New York.
Then another notification appeared.
A message from an unknown number.
*Don't come looking for Daniel. Everett already knows where he is.*
I looked at the clock.
It was 4:36 p.m.
And for the first time, I understood that the fight for my husband's company was only a small part of something that had begun before I was even born.
My mother reached for my hand.
"Claire, please. Whatever you do, don't let Everett find Daniel.""
I looked at her.
"Why?""
Her voice broke.
"Because Daniel isn't just the man who knew how your mother died.""
She paused.
"He's the man who knows why your grandfather spent his entire life protecting you.""
And then Nathan's phone rang.
The caller was the head of security at Hale Global.
His first sentence made us all stand up.
"Mr. Brooks, we've got a problem. Someone just emptied the Bennett family vault.""
May you like
A second later, he added:
"And they left one thing behind. A photograph of Claire with a red circle drawn around her face.""
