Chapter 10 - THE GRAVE
My father didn't go alone.
He brought security.
Michael.
Lily.
And me.
The cemetery was quiet.
Fog covered the trees.
We stopped near my mother's grave.
Someone was standing beside it.
A young man.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
Nathan.
I knew immediately.
He looked at me.
Then at Lily.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Finally, he smiled.
“Ethan.”
I nodded.
“Nathan.”
He laughed softly.
“You look like her.”
“So do you.”
He looked toward Lily.
“And you.”
Lily stepped closer.
“You're my brother.”
“Yes.”
She hugged him.
Nathan froze.
Then he hugged her back.
My father watched.
His eyes filled with tears.
Nathan finally looked at him.
“You're my father.”
Dad nodded.
“Yes.”
“You didn't know about me.”
“No.”
“Would you have come for me?”
Dad's voice broke.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked away.
“I wanted to believe that.”
Dad stepped forward.
“I am sorry.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You don't have to apologize for what you didn't know.”
“But I failed you.”
“Yes.”
Dad accepted it.
Then Nathan pulled out a folder.
“Your grandfather created everything.”
He explained that my grandfather believed the company should never be controlled by one branch of the family.
He created hidden heirs.
Nathan was the first.
Lily the second.
I was the third.
But my mother discovered the plan and rejected it.
She believed children should never be used as pieces in a corporate war.
She tried to expose him.
That's why she died.
My father listened in silence.
“Why did Nathan survive?”
“Because my mother hid me.”
“Where?”
“With Eleanor.”
“The woman who raised Lily?”
“Yes.”
“She protected both of you.”
Nathan nodded.
“But she died.”
“How?”
“Robert found her.”
Dad looked devastated.
“So everyone who knew the truth…”
“Was being removed.”
I suddenly remembered Vanessa.
“Then who is Clara?”
Nathan's expression darkened.
“She is my grandfather's daughter.”
Dad froze.
“What?”
“Your grandfather had another family.”
Clara wasn't trying to steal the company.
She was trying to destroy it.
Because she believed the Bennett family had ruined her mother.
Michael frowned.
“Then why did she work with Robert?”
“To gain access.”
“And Robert?”
“Money.”
The entire conspiracy suddenly made sense.
But Nathan wasn't finished.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
He handed Dad a document.
It was the original company charter.
At the bottom was a clause nobody had seen.
No heir may control the company if another heir is alive and objects.
Dad looked at Michael.
“What does this mean?”
“It means Ethan's shares aren't automatically safe.”
Nathan looked at me.
“I don't want your inheritance.”
“I don't want yours.”
Lily smiled.
“Then what do we do?”
Nathan looked at Dad.
“We expose everything.”
Dad nodded.
But before we could leave, a car approached.
Police lights flashed.
A detective stepped out.
“Daniel Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“You need to come with us.”
Dad frowned.
“Why?”
The detective held up a warrant.
“You are being investigated for the death of your wife.”
My father stared.
“What?”
The detective continued:
“We found new evidence.”
Michael stepped forward.
“What evidence?”
The detective handed him a photograph.
It showed my father entering the house on the night my mother died.
Dad stared.
“I was there.”
“Your wife was alive when you entered.”
“Yes.”
“She was dead when you left.”
Dad looked at me.
“I didn't kill her.”
May you like
The detective said:
“Then explain why your fingerprints were found on the murder weapon.”
