My Wife Kissed Her “Cousin” Because She Thought I Was Blind—Then I Discovered What They Had Done to My Brakes

Detective Mitchell arranged for the recording to be examined before it was played.

She wanted to make sure it hadn't been altered.

We waited in the conference room while a forensic technician worked on the file.

Neither woman spoke.

Evelyn sat at one end of the table.

Eleanor sat at the other.

Daniel stood beside Sarah, staring at the photographs.

I remained near the window.

My entire life had been built around a lie.

The woman I'd believed was dead was alive.

The woman I'd believed was my mother might have been an impostor.

And my father, the man who raised me, had apparently died because he'd discovered a conspiracy inside the company he built.

The technician finally entered.

"The recording is authentic. It appears to have been captured on an old digital voice recorder.""

Detective Mitchell nodded.

"Play it.""

A faint clicking sound came through the speakers.

Then my father's voice filled the room.

"October seventeenth. If anything happens to me, this recording must be given to my children.""

I closed my eyes.

I'd almost forgotten what his voice sounded like.

He continued.

"Thomas Bennett speaking. I am recording this because I no longer trust the people around me.""

There was a pause.

Then another voice.

Richard Hayes.

"Thomas, you're making a mistake.""

My father answered.

"No. The mistake was trusting you.""

A chair scraped.

Richard spoke again.

"Victor will never accept the agreement.""

"Victor has already stolen enough.""

"Then give him the shares.""

"They aren't yours to take.""

My father's voice became sharper.

"The company belongs to the family. Not to you. Not to Victor. Not to Adrian.""

A second recording began.

This one was quieter.

My father was speaking to someone else.

"Vanessa, you have a choice. Tell me everything, and I'll protect you.""

A woman's voice answered.

"I can't.""

"Why?""

"Because Richard knows where my brother lives.""

My stomach tightened.

Vanessa.

My father had known her long before our marriage.

She hadn't simply been hired to spy on me.

She'd been trapped.

Then my father's voice returned.

"If you continue helping them, they'll destroy Marcus.""

The woman began crying.

"I don't want that.""

"Then help me stop them.""

The recording ended.

I looked at Detective Mitchell.

"That's Vanessa.""

She nodded.

"Her voice appears consistent with the recordings we've already recovered.""

Eleanor leaned forward.

"Play the final section.""

The technician opened another file.

My father's voice returned, weaker this time.

"If this reaches Marcus, I need him to know that I loved him. I don't care what the blood tests say. He is my son.""

I felt my throat tighten.

Then came another voice.

A woman.

"Thomas, you need to leave. They're coming.""

My father answered.

"Is that you, Evelyn?""

The woman replied:

"No. It's Eleanor.""

I looked toward the two women.

Eleanor closed her eyes.

The recording continued.

"Richard knows about the trust," my father said.

"He knows the original document is hidden in the cellar.""

"Then I'll get it.""

"No. You need to protect the children.""

There was a loud crash.

My father's voice became urgent.

"Don't let him near the medication.""

Then the recording stopped.

The technician looked up.

"That's all there is.""

Daniel turned toward Eleanor.

"Why did you move the money?""

"Because Richard had already started transferring company assets. Thomas knew he would eventually come after the trust.""

"Did you poison him?""

Eleanor's face changed.

"No.""

"Then who did?""

She looked at Evelyn.

"Ask her.""

Evelyn stood abruptly.

"Don't you dare.""

Detective Mitchell raised her voice.

"Both of you sit down.""

Eleanor continued.

"Thomas's medication was switched the night he died. The hospital records show that someone changed his prescription shortly before he suffered cardiac arrest.""

I looked at Evelyn.

"Was it you?""

She began crying.

"No.""

Eleanor opened another folder.

"Richard arranged the medication. But someone delivered it.""

She placed a photograph on the table.

A hospital corridor.

A nurse standing outside my father's room.

And beside her was Vanessa.

I stared at the image.

"She was there?""

Eleanor nodded.

"Yes. But she wasn't the person who switched the medication.""

She pointed toward the nurse.

"That woman was working for Richard.""

Detective Mitchell examined the photograph.

"We'll need to identify her.""

Eleanor reached into her handbag.

"Her name is Patricia Cole. Victor's sister.""

Daniel whispered, "They were all involved.""

"Not all," Eleanor replied.

She turned toward me.

"Vanessa tried to warn Thomas. That's why Richard threatened her family. But after Thomas died, she made a terrible decision.""

"She married me.""

"Yes.""

I looked away.

Even if Vanessa had been threatened, even if she'd once tried to help my father, she had still betrayed me.

She'd let me believe I was helpless.

She'd stolen from my company.

And she'd allowed someone to tamper with my medication.

I wasn't ready to forgive her.

Detective Mitchell's phone rang.

She listened, then stood.

"Victor Cole has been arrested.""

Daniel exhaled.

"What about Richard?""

"He's being questioned again. The new recording changes everything.""

Then her expression hardened.

"And Adrian has disappeared.""

I felt a chill.

"Where?""

"We don't know. But his car was found abandoned near the airport.""

Eleanor suddenly stood.

"He's going after the original trust.""

I looked at her.

"Why would he?""

"Because the trust contains something more valuable than the company.""

"What?""

She opened the final page of the document.

A handwritten clause was printed beneath the beneficiary section.

It stated that if fraud or criminal interference was proven, control of the entire family estate would transfer to the three beneficiaries immediately.

But there was another paragraph.

A hidden account.

An inheritance worth more than $12 million.

I stared at the figure.

"Where is it?""

Eleanor shook her head.

"Thomas hid the account information with the original trust.""

Detective Mitchell grabbed her coat.

"Then we need to secure that document.""

I looked at Daniel and Sarah.

"We're going back to the house.""

Eleanor shook her head.