Chapter 8 - MY FATHER WAS ALIVE
The bank erupted into chaos.
People screamed.
Security officers rushed toward the exits.
Alexander grabbed my hand.
“We're leaving.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My father is alive.”
“I know.”
“I need to know where he is.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“He wants you to find him.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs something.”
“What?”
Jonathan looked at the key in my hand.
“The rest of the trust.”
My father had planned everything.
The stolen money.
The fake death.
The disappearance.
The arranged marriage.
Even my wedding.
Everything.
Except Alexander.
He had never expected me to marry the man he wanted destroyed.
We followed the coordinates hidden inside the video.
They led to the house where I had spent my childhood.
My parents' old summer estate.
It had been empty for years.
Or so I thought.
The front door opened before we reached it.
My father stood inside.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar ran from his temple to his jaw.
I couldn't move.
“Dad?”
He smiled.
“Come inside.”
Alexander stepped in front of me.
My father laughed.
“Still protecting her.”
“Yes.”
My father looked at him.
“You were always the problem.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“You tried to kill me.”
“I tried to scare you.”
“You kidnapped my brother.”
“He was in my way.”
“You shot Victor.”
“He survived.”
I stared at him.
“You destroyed our family.”
My father looked at me.
“No, Claire.”
He smiled sadly.
“I built it.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to inherit everything.”
“What everything?”
He walked toward a desk.
“The Bennett fortune.”
“There is no fortune.”
“There is now.”
He opened a folder.
Inside were documents.
Offshore accounts.
Property deeds.
Investment portfolios.
Trust agreements.
Hundreds of millions.
My name appeared on several documents.
“You stole all this.”
“I moved it.”
“You destroyed people.”
“I protected you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You protected yourself.”
His face hardened.
“Your mother poisoned you against me.”
“My mother lied.”
“So did I.”
That admission shocked me.
He looked at me.
“But I lied because I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
He smiled bitterly.
“That's what young people believe.”
Then he turned to Alexander.
“Tell her.”
Alexander frowned.
“Tell her what?”
My father said:
“You killed Victor.”
Silence.
I looked at Alexander.
“No.”
My father smiled.
“You were holding the gun.”
Alexander went pale.
I turned to him.
“Is that true?”
He didn't answer.
My father laughed.
“Ask him.”
Alexander finally spoke.
“I picked up the gun.”
My heart shattered.
“Why?”
“Because Victor was bleeding.”
“You shot him?”
“No.”
My father interrupted.
“He did.”
Alexander looked at me.
“I didn't shoot him.”
My father smiled.
“You see how easy it is to confuse her?”
Then the door behind us slammed shut.
A voice came from the hallway.
“Because he didn't.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“You did.”
My father turned.
Jonathan was holding the original warehouse footage.
“You forgot there was another camera.”
My father's face changed.
Jonathan pressed play.
The truth appeared.
My father had shot Victor.
Not Alexander.
My father rushed toward Jonathan.
Alexander blocked him.
For the first time, my father looked afraid.
Then sirens sounded outside.
Police.
I stared at him.
“You called them?”
Alexander nodded.
My father looked at me.
“Claire.”
I didn't move.
He whispered:
“You're my daughter.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You'll always be my daughter.”
I looked at the police entering the house.
“And you'll always be the man who taught me that love can look exactly like betrayal.”
They arrested him.
But before they took him away, he turned toward me.
“Your mother knows where the money is.”
I froze.
“What money?”
He smiled.
May you like
“The money that killed us all.”
:::
