Chapter 3 - The Name They Tried to Erase
I didn't sleep that night.
Neither did Elena.
We took Julian to a hotel across town because I refused to let my family stay another minute on that property.
The hotel room was small compared with the mansion.
But when Julian climbed into the bed and whispered, “Daddy, this is our room?”
I almost cried.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“It's warm.”
That sentence broke me.
A warm room shouldn't have felt like a luxury to my own child.
Elena sat beside him.
I stood near the window, staring at the city lights.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered immediately.
“Tell me.”
“I found the school records.”
“And?”
“There are inconsistencies.”
“What kind?”
“Julian was registered under a different emergency contact.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
I closed my eyes.
“That's not unusual.”
“It is when your wife is listed as his mother but you're listed as deceased.”
I couldn't speak.
“What?”
Daniel repeated it.
“The record says you died overseas two years ago.”
My blood turned cold.
“I wasn't dead.”
“I know.”
“Who submitted it?”
“Your sister.”
I looked toward the bed.
Elena was staring at me.
She knew from my expression that something was wrong.
“Why would Victoria tell a school I was dead?”
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
“I already did.”
I swallowed.
“What?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She applied for guardianship.”
My hands went numb.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why?”
“The application claimed Elena was unable to provide stable care.”
I stared at the floor.
“Was it approved?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because someone withdrew the application.”
“Who?”
Daniel paused.
“Your mother.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So my mother tried to control my son, then stopped my sister from taking him?”
“It gets stranger.”
“Of course it does.”
“Victoria wasn't trying to take Julian permanently.”
“Then what?”
“She was trying to establish herself as his legal guardian long enough to authorize the sale of certain assets.”
“What assets?”
Daniel's voice became quiet.
“Your life insurance policy.”
I felt like someone had punched me.
“My life insurance?”
“Two million dollars.”
I looked at Elena.
She covered her mouth.
My mother had planned for my death.
Or at least planned to make everyone believe I was dead.
“And the beneficiary?”
“Originally Elena.”
My heart sank.
“Originally?”
“Changed two years ago.”
“To whom?”
Daniel didn't answer.
I already knew.
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Five years ago, I had trusted my family.
Now I couldn't recognize them.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Can you prove the changes were fraudulent?”
“Yes.”
“Then prepare everything.”
“For court?”
“For court.”
I hung up.
Elena stood.
“What did he say?”
I told her.
She stared at me.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You knew?”
“I knew they were doing something with your documents.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Her voice broke.
“Your mother took every phone I had.”
I sat beside her.
“I'm sorry.”
She shook her head.
“You don't owe me an apology.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You believed your mother.”
“So did you.”
“I didn't have a choice.”
Neither did I.
That was the part I couldn't forgive myself for.
At sunrise, I drove back to the mansion.
Not alone.
Daniel came with me.
So did a private investigator he recommended, a former financial crimes investigator named Marcus Reed.
The three of us entered through the front door.
My mother was waiting.
Her luggage was packed.
But she wasn't leaving.
Victoria stood behind her.
“I told you to leave,” I said.
My mother smiled.
“I have rights.”
“No.”
“You'll regret treating me like this.”
Marcus quietly examined the room.
Daniel handed me a document.
“Julian, before we do anything, you need to see this.”
I opened it.
My mother's signature appeared on a transfer agreement.
But the signature beneath it wasn't mine.
It was a digital reproduction.
“Forgery,” Daniel said.
I looked at my mother.
“Why?”
She crossed her arms.
“Because you weren't here.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“You were supposed to stay overseas.”
My blood ran cold.
“Supposed to?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Mom.”
My mother snapped.
“Enough.”
I looked between them.
“You knew I was coming home?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say I was supposed to stay overseas?”
She didn't answer.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Mr. Bennett, there's something else.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a man standing outside the mansion.
I recognized him.
My mother knew him too.
Her face changed.
“Who is that?”
Marcus looked at her.
“You tell us.”
She said nothing.
Marcus placed another photograph down.
Then another.
The man had been visiting the estate repeatedly.
Three times in one month.
Five times the next.
Then almost every week.
“Who is he?”
My mother finally whispered:
“An investor.”
“An investor in what?”
She looked at Victoria.
Victoria looked away.
Marcus said:
“Blackridge Development.”
My stomach tightened.
The same company trying to buy my estate.
I looked at Daniel.
“What's their connection?”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's what we're investigating.”
My mother suddenly grabbed the photographs.
“You're trespassing.”
I laughed.
“This is my property.”
“You're making a mistake.”
“No.”
I took the photographs back.
“The mistake was trusting you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
For a second, she looked like my mother again.
The woman who used to pack my lunch before school.
The woman who kissed my forehead when I was sick.
Then I remembered Julian eating stale bread.
The feeling disappeared.
I turned toward Victoria.
“Where is the money?”
She stared at me.
“What money?”
“The money I sent.”
“I don't know.”
“Eight thousand dollars a month.”
“I didn't handle it.”
“You changed my passwords.”
“I was helping Mom.”
“Where did it go?”
She said nothing.
Daniel answered for her.
“Most of it went into an account registered to a company called Bennett Family Holdings.”
I looked at him.
“Who owns it?”
“Your mother.”
I laughed.
Of course.
Then Marcus spoke.
“Actually, no.”
Everyone turned.
He held up a folder.
“The company isn't owned by Evelyn.”
“Then who owns it?”
Marcus looked directly at me.
“You do.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You've been the legal owner since three months before you left for Saudi Arabia.”
I looked at my mother.
Her face had gone completely white.
“What did you do?”
She didn't answer.
Marcus continued.
“Someone created a second set of corporate records.”
“Why?”
“To make it appear your mother controlled the company.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Can we recover the money?”
“Possibly.”
“How much?”
Daniel hesitated.
“About $470,000.”
My heart sank.
Nearly half a million dollars.
Gone.
Then Marcus opened another file.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“The money didn't disappear.”
I looked at him.
“Where did it go?”
He pointed to a series of transfers.
They all went to the same company.
Blackridge Development.
My stomach turned.
My mother and sister weren't just stealing from me.
They were financing the company that planned to buy my house.
I looked at my mother.
“You were using my money to buy my property.”
She whispered:
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“You don't know why.”
“Then tell me.”
She stared at me.
And finally she said:
“Because your father left something behind.”
I froze.
My father had been dead for fifteen years.
“What did he leave?”
My mother's eyes filled with tears.
“A fortune.”
Silence.
“What fortune?”
She shook her head.
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you…”
She looked toward the hallway.
“…they'll kill us.”
The room went silent.
Marcus immediately reached for his phone.
Daniel looked alarmed.
I stared at my mother.
“Who?”
She whispered a name.
And the moment I heard it, I realized this wasn't just a family betrayal anymore.
It was something much bigger.
Something my father had buried before he died.
May you like
Something worth millions.
And apparently, someone was willing to destroy my family to get it.
