Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE WHOLE TRUTH
Helen stood at the top of the staircase.
Thomas Carter stood beside her.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
The man I had been told was dead for more than a decade was standing inside my mother's house.
Alive.
Calm.
Watching me.
Thomas looked older than the photographs.
His silver hair was neatly combed back.
His dark suit was perfectly pressed.
His face carried almost no emotion.
But his eyes were cold.
Very cold.
Helen looked completely different from the woman who had stormed into my wedding.
There was no anger in her expression now.
Only confidence.
She had come here believing she had already won.
My father stepped in front of me.
“Thomas.”
Thomas smiled.
“Richard.”
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I could say the same about you.”
My father clenched his jaw.
Michael stepped beside me.
Thomas looked at him.
For the first time, his expression changed.
“Michael.”
My brother stiffened.
“You know me.”
Thomas smiled.
“I knew you before you knew yourself.”
Michael's hands curled into fists.
“You took me.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I saved you.”
“You stole me from my mother.”
“No.”
“You made everyone believe I was dead.”
“I made everyone believe you were someone else.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Because your mother was going to destroy everything.”
I stepped forward.
“You murdered her.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I didn't.”
“Then tell me who did.”
He looked at Helen.
Helen looked back.
Neither spoke.
My father said:
“Don't listen to him.”
Thomas laughed.
“You still haven't told her.”
I turned toward my father.
“Told me what?”
Thomas smiled.
“Ask him why he was in Eleanor's bedroom the night she died.”
My father closed his eyes.
I stared at him.
“Dad?”
He didn't answer.
Thomas continued.
“He arrived before the doctor.”
My father finally spoke.
“That's not true.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You held her hand.”
“Yes.”
“You took the box.”
My father's face changed.
I looked at him.
“What box?”
Thomas laughed.
“The box you just opened.”
I looked down at the metal container.
Thomas knew about it.
“How?”
“Because I put it there.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Thomas slowly walked down the stairs.
“The box was never Eleanor's.”
He pointed at it.
“It was mine.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
“You planted evidence in the house?”
Thomas smiled.
“I planted a message.”
“What message?”
“The truth.”
I shook my head.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I expect you to watch.”
Helen pulled a small remote from her pocket.
She pressed a button.
The television in the living room turned on.
An old recording appeared.
My mother.
Alive.
She was sitting in the same bedroom.
Her face looked frightened.
Beside her stood my father.
But there was another person in the room.
Helen.
I felt my stomach drop.
The recording was dated twenty-eight years earlier.
My mother was holding a baby.
Michael.
She was crying.
“Please,” she said.
Helen answered:
“You can't protect both children.”
My mother looked at my father.
“Richard, take Lily.”
My father nodded.
“And Michael?”
Helen stepped forward.
“I'll take care of him.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
The recording ended.
I stared at Helen.
“You took my brother.”
She didn't deny it.
“I protected him.”
“You separated us.”
“I saved him from Thomas.”
Thomas laughed.
“You see?”
Helen turned.
“Don't pretend you were innocent.”
Thomas's expression hardened.
“You weren't supposed to survive.”
Helen smiled.
“Neither were you.”
My heart raced.
This wasn't a family dispute.
It was a war that had lasted decades.
Jonathan quickly copied the recording.
“We have enough.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You think this ends here?”
“No,” Jonathan said.
“But your evidence does.”
Thomas smiled.
“You still don't understand the trust.”
He turned toward me.
“The Bennett fortune wasn't created by your mother.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Your grandfather started it.”
“Yes.”
“He stole the original assets.”
“From whom?”
Thomas looked at Michael.
“His father.”
Michael froze.
“My father?”
Thomas nodded.
“Your biological father wasn't Richard.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
Thomas continued.
“Your mother had an affair with a man named Daniel Reed.”
Michael stepped backward.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“Your mother married Michael Bennett to hide the pregnancy.”
I looked at my brother.
“Then why does everyone call you Michael Bennett?”
Thomas smiled.
“Because your mother gave you both false identities.”
I felt dizzy.
My entire life had been built on names that weren't real.
Thomas continued.
“The man you believe was your father, Richard, was only the protector.”
My father looked at me.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because your mother made me promise.”
“Promise what?”
“That you would never learn the truth unless the trust was threatened.”
I looked at the trust.
It suddenly felt heavier.
Thomas walked closer.
“The trust was designed to protect both children.”
“Then why did you try to steal it?”
“I didn't.”
I laughed.
“You brought Helen to my wedding.”
“I didn't.”
“Helen worked for you.”
“She worked for herself.”
Helen suddenly looked angry.
“You're lying.”
Thomas turned toward her.
“You betrayed me.”
“You killed my husband.”
“I didn't.”
“You ordered it.”
“I ordered nothing.”
Helen's face hardened.
I looked between them.
“What happened to Andrew's father?”
Helen went silent.
Thomas answered.
“He discovered what she had done.”
Helen stepped toward him.
“Don't.”
“You poisoned him.”
Andrew suddenly appeared in the doorway.
He had followed us.
I hadn't even realized he was there.
“Mom?”
Helen turned.
Andrew's face was devastated.
“You killed Dad?”
Helen shook her head.
“No.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Ask her about the hospital.”
Andrew stared.
“What hospital?”
“The private clinic in Zurich.”
Helen stepped backward.
Andrew's voice became louder.
“Mom?”
She didn't answer.
Andrew looked at me.
“Lily, I need to know.”
Jonathan received a message.
He read it.
Then looked at us.
“The Swiss records have been located.”
Andrew's face turned white.
“What records?”
“Your father's medical records.”
Helen suddenly ran.
Security caught her before she reached the door.
She struggled.
“Let me go!”
Andrew stared at her.
“Mom.”
She stopped.
For the first time, Helen looked at her son with fear.
“I did everything for you.”
Andrew's voice broke.
“You destroyed everything for me.”
“No.”
“You destroyed my marriage.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You destroyed my father.”
“I didn't.”
“You stole from Lily.”
“I was trying to save you.”
Andrew shook his head.
“You were saving yourself.”
Helen looked at him.
Then she laughed.
“You still don't know the truth.”
Andrew froze.
“What truth?”
Helen looked directly at me.
“Ask Lily who her real father is.”
I felt my heart stop.
My father stepped forward.
“Don't listen to her.”
Helen smiled.
“Your mother never told you.”
I looked at my father.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
Thomas slowly walked toward the table.
“Richard.”
My father looked at him.
“You've hidden it long enough.”
Thomas placed a photograph on the table.
It showed my mother.
Pregnant.
Beside her stood a man.
Not my father.
Not Michael.
Not anyone I recognized.
Thomas said:
“That man is your biological father.”
I stared at the photograph.
Then I looked at the man's face.
Something about him seemed familiar.
Very familiar.
My father whispered:
“His name was Daniel Reed.”
I looked at Michael.
He was staring at the photograph.
“That's my father.”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
Michael looked at me.
“Then we're not Bennett.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Jonathan quietly examined the document attached to the photograph.
His face changed.
“Lily.”
“What?”
“This changes the trust.”
“How?”
He turned the page.
“The Bennett trust was established under a false paternal record.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the Carter family may have no legal claim.”
Thomas smiled.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did you come?”
His smile disappeared.
“Because the real owner isn't you.”
Silence.
He pointed at the photograph.
“Your mother left everything to Daniel Reed's descendants.”
Michael stared.
“And we are his children.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Only one of you is.”
I froze.
Michael looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
Thomas reached into his coat.
He pulled out a DNA report.
Then he placed it on the table.
The room went completely silent.
The report identified Michael as Daniel Reed's biological son.
But beneath it was another result.
I was not.
My father stared at the document.
I couldn't breathe.
Thomas looked at me.
“Lily…”
He paused.
“You were never Daniel Reed's daughter.”
I stared at the paper.
Then at my father.
“Then whose daughter am I?”
My father finally looked at me.
Tears filled his eyes.
May you like
And he whispered:
“Mine.”
