Chapter 4
Richard stepped between the door and the children.
“Get behind me.”
Noah grabbed Lily.
Thomas called hotel security.
The handle moved again.
Slowly.
Then stopped.
A man’s voice came from outside.
“Room service.”
Richard looked at Thomas.
“We didn’t order anything.”
The voice came again.
“Mr. Bennett?”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“How do you know my name?”
Silence.
Then footsteps moved away.
Richard rushed to the peephole.
The hallway was empty.
Thirty seconds later, hotel security arrived.
Two guards searched the floor.
Nothing.
The elevator cameras showed a man in a baseball cap entering from the parking garage.
But he had kept his head down.
He left through a service staircase before security reached the room.
Richard didn’t sleep.
At six the next morning, he made a decision.
They were going home.
Not because the mansion felt safe.
It didn’t.
But because Richard needed to confront Margaret.
And he wanted the children protected behind gates, cameras, and professional security.
They arrived shortly after eight.
The Bennett estate sat behind iron gates in Lake Forest.
Noah stared through the car window.
The house looked like something from television.
Stone walls.
Tall windows.
A circular driveway.
Lily whispered, “Is this a castle?”
“No,” Noah said.
“It kind of is.”
Richard almost laughed.
Then the front door opened.
Margaret Bennett stepped outside.
She wore a cream sweater and perfectly pressed pants.
Her silver-brown hair was arranged neatly.
She looked exactly like the woman Richard had kissed goodbye the previous morning.
Until she saw Noah.
The color left her face.
Then she saw Lily.
Margaret’s hand gripped the doorframe.
“Richard?”
He got out.
“Inside.”
Her eyes stayed on the children.
“Who are they?”
Richard stared at his wife.
“Don’t insult me.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
Noah stepped out.
Lily held his hand.
Margaret stared at the silver locket.
For one second, something flashed across her face.
Recognition.
Fear.
Then it vanished.
“Oh my God.”
She put a hand over her mouth.
“Emily’s children?”
Richard watched carefully.
“You knew she had children?”
Margaret hesitated.
“No.”
“Wrong answer.”
Her eyes snapped toward him.
“What?”
Richard walked past her.
“Come inside.”
Noah didn’t move.
Richard looked back.
“You’re okay.”
The boy whispered, “Mom hated this house.”
Margaret heard him.
Her expression hardened.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Richard noticed.
They entered.
Noah stared at the huge staircase.
Family portraits covered one wall.
There was Richard.
Margaret.
Daniel.
And, in one older photograph near the corner, Emily.
She was sixteen.
Smiling.
Noah walked toward it.
“That’s Mom.”
Lily looked up.
“Mommy had long hair.”
Noah touched the frame.
Margaret approached.
“She was beautiful.”
Noah turned.
“You’re Margaret?”
The question landed like a gunshot.
Margaret froze.
“How do you know my name?”
Noah looked toward Richard.
He immediately regretted it.
Margaret saw.
“What did she tell you?”
Richard stepped in.
“That’s enough.”
“Richard, what is happening?”
“You tell me.”
He pulled Emily’s letter from his coat.
Margaret stared at the handwriting.
Her face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“From my grandson.”
She reached for it.
Richard pulled it back.
“No.”
“Let me see it.”
“You know what it says.”
“I have no idea.”
“Emily said you framed her.”
Margaret’s eyes filled instantly.
“That is insane.”
“She said you planted stolen jewelry and drugs.”
“Richard.”
“She said you paid her to disappear.”
“I never paid Emily anything.”
“She said you protected Daniel.”
Margaret looked toward the hallway.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Why?”
“Because the staff—”
“Because the staff might discover who you really are?”
Margaret’s face hardened.
“You’ve known these children for less than twelve hours.”
Richard stepped closer.
“They are Emily’s children.”
“And you know that because of a necklace?”
“I know because Emily wrote me a letter.”
“Emily lied constantly.”
Noah looked up sharply.
“My mom didn’t lie.”
Margaret ignored him.
Richard’s anger rose.
“Watch yourself.”
Margaret stared at Noah.
“You have no idea what your mother did to this family.”
Noah stepped toward her.
“You made her leave.”
Margaret blinked.
“What?”
“She said somebody did.”
Richard watched his wife carefully.
Margaret forced a laugh.
“Children misunderstand things.”
“No,” Noah said.
“She said if I ever met you, I shouldn’t trust you.”
Margaret’s face turned cold.
“Of course she did.”
Lily began squeezing Noah’s hand.
Richard pointed toward the sitting room.
“Children, go with Thomas.”
Noah refused.
“I’m staying.”
“This is adult business.”
“It’s about my mom.”
Richard couldn’t argue.
Margaret saw the stuffed rabbit under Lily’s arm.
Her eyes dropped to it.
Only for a second.
But Noah saw it.
He pulled Lily slightly behind him.
Margaret smiled strangely.
“What a sweet rabbit.”
Lily hugged it tighter.
“Mommy gave it to me.”
Margaret took one step toward her.
“Did she?”
Noah blocked the way.
“Don’t touch it.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
Then a voice came from the staircase.
“What the hell is going on?”
Daniel Bennett walked down.
Forty-two years old.
Tall.
Expensive suit.
Perfect hair.
He looked annoyed.
Then he saw Noah.
He stopped.
Richard watched his son.
Daniel’s reaction was even stronger than Margaret’s.
“What is he doing here?”
Richard went still.
Daniel realized too late what he had said.
Richard’s voice dropped.
“How do you know who he is?”
Daniel recovered quickly.
“What?”
“You said, ‘What is he doing here?’”
“I heard Mom say Emily’s children were here.”
Margaret cut in.
“I told him upstairs.”
Richard looked between them.
“You’ve been here all morning?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Margaret nodded too.
Richard glanced at Thomas.
Thomas understood.
The mansion security system logged every vehicle.
If Daniel had arrived that morning, they could confirm it.
But if he had been there overnight, he couldn’t have been the man outside the hotel.
Unless someone else was working for them.
Richard pulled out his phone.
“Security.”
A guard answered.
“Mr. Bennett?”
“When did Daniel arrive?”
Silence.
Then, “Mr. Daniel Bennett arrived at 7:42 this morning.”
Richard looked at his son.
Daniel shrugged.
“Like I said.”
Richard continued.
“Did any vehicle leave this property between six last night and seven this morning?”
Another pause.
“Yes, sir.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Richard stared at her.
“Whose?”
“Mrs. Bennett’s Range Rover exited at 7:11 p.m. and returned at 1:03 a.m.”
Nobody moved.
Richard slowly lowered the phone.
Margaret crossed her arms.
“I went out.”
“Where?”
“To dinner.”
“Until one?”
“I saw friends.”
“What friends?”
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
“I don’t need permission to leave my own house.”
“No.”
Richard stepped closer.
“But I do want to know where you were while a man followed Emily’s children to my hotel.”
Margaret stared at him.
“What are you accusing me of?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Daniel intervened.
“Dad, stop.”
Richard turned.
“No.”
“You’ve known these kids one night and suddenly Mom is a criminal?”
Noah spoke.
“Someone followed us.”
Daniel looked down at him.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“He came to our apartment too.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
Noah saw it.
The boy was young.
But hunger had taught him to watch faces.
Fear had taught him even more.
“You know him,” Noah said.
Daniel stared at him.
“No, I don’t.”
“You looked scared.”
“I’m not scared of anything.”
Noah answered quietly.
“My mom used to say people who say that are usually scared the most.”
Richard almost heard Emily speaking.
Daniel’s face reddened.
“Dad, control him.”
Richard’s eyes went cold.
“He’s not an employee.”
Daniel stepped back.
At that moment, Thomas’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes?”
He listened.
Then looked at Richard.
“We have the preliminary hospital report.”
Richard’s stomach tightened.
“What report?”
“I asked a contact to confirm Emily’s cause of death.”
Noah stared at him.
Thomas continued carefully.
“The official record lists acute liver failure.”
Richard nodded.
“That’s what Noah said.”
Thomas didn’t move.
“But the toxicology report notes abnormal concentrations of a chemical solvent.”
Margaret’s face changed.
Daniel’s did too.
Richard noticed both.
“What chemical?”
“Carbon tetrachloride.”
Richard frowned.
Thomas lowered his voice.
“It can cause severe liver damage.”
Noah looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas hesitated.
Richard answered.
“It means we need more information.”
But Thomas shook his head.
“There’s more.”
He looked directly at Richard.
“The emergency physician documented that Emily said she believed she had been poisoned.”
Noah dropped Lily’s hand.
“What?”
Richard’s blood turned cold.
Thomas continued.
“Police were notified.”
Richard stared.
“Then why wasn’t there an investigation?”
“There was.”
Thomas held up his phone.
“For forty-eight hours.”
“And?”
“It was closed.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked toward Daniel.
“Because someone provided evidence that Emily had been using industrial cleaning chemicals at work and may have accidentally exposed herself.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Richard followed Thomas’s stare.
“What?”
Thomas said, “The company that submitted those employment records was one of our subcontractors.”
Silence.
Richard turned to Daniel.
“You manage subcontractors.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Hundreds of them.”
“Which company?”
Thomas looked at his phone.
“Hawthorne Industrial Services.”
Daniel went pale.
Richard saw it.
“So you know them.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
Thomas’s phone rang again.
He answered.
A voice spoke quickly.
Thomas’s expression changed.
He looked at Richard.
“The police recovered security footage from Emily’s apartment building after her death.”
“And?”
“The man with the scar has been identified.”
Margaret abruptly sat down.
Richard looked at her.
“Who is he?”
Thomas answered.
“Victor Shaw.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Richard heard himself ask, “Who the hell is Victor Shaw?”
May you like
Thomas looked straight at him.
“A former Bennett Construction security contractor.”
