Chapter 14 - THE FINAL TRAP
The hospital went into lockdown.
Security guards blocked every entrance.
Police officers searched every floor.
My mother was moved to a secure room.
Michael stayed beside her.
Gabriel went with the detective.
Elise checked the security system.
My father stood beside me.
“We need to find the person behind this.”
I looked at him.
“I thought we already had.”
He shook his head.
“Victor was only part of it.”
“Carmen was part of it.”
“Yes.”
“Your business partner was part of it.”
“Yes.”
“And now my grandfather.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“How many people have been lying to me?”
He looked at me.
“Not everyone.”
“Who can I trust?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Trust the people who had nothing to gain from your inheritance.”
I looked toward Michael.
My mother.
Gabriel.
Daniel.
Elise.
Then I realized something.
Daniel had plenty to lose.
He had chosen me anyway.
I pulled out my phone.
“Where is Daniel?”
The detective checked.
“He's still being questioned.”
“I want him here.”
The detective hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because he knows Carmen.”
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
He looked exhausted.
I asked:
“Who would Carmen obey?”
He thought.
“My grandfather.”
I froze.
“Your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“Victor?”
Daniel nodded.
“But Victor isn't my real grandfather.”
“What?”
“Carmen's father was someone else.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at my father.
“Your father knows.”
My father closed his eyes.
“His name was Edward Bennett.”
I stared.
“Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“The Bennett family?”
“Yes.”
My father explained.
“Edward built the original financial network.”
“And Victor?”
“An employee.”
“Carmen?”
“His daughter.”
“So why did Carmen obey Victor?”
“Because Victor controlled the money.”
“And who controlled Victor?”
My father looked at me.
“Edward.”
I suddenly understood.
Edward had never died.
He had changed identities.
He had built shell companies.
He had created Victor.
He had created Carmen's operation.
And he had been manipulating everyone.
The detective entered.
“We found him.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“An old estate outside the city.”
“Is he there?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
My father looked at me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“No more.”
I grabbed the legal folder.
“I am done hiding.”
We drove to the estate.
Police surrounded the property.
The gates were open.
Too open.
The house was silent.
We entered.
Photographs covered the walls.
My grandfather.
My mother.
Michael.
Richard.
Carmen.
Victor.
Me.
I stared at one photograph.
I was a baby.
My grandfather was holding me.
The date was printed underneath.
The day after I was born.
I felt sick.
“He knew me.”
My father nodded.
“He watched you grow.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the key to Michael's evidence.”
We entered the study.
A man sat behind the desk.
Old.
Thin.
White hair.
He looked directly at me.
“Sofia.”
I froze.
“Grandfather.”
He smiled.
“You finally came.”
Police surrounded him.
He didn't resist.
Instead, he laughed.
“You think you have won?”
The detective placed handcuffs on him.
“Edward Bennett, you are under arrest.”
Edward looked at me.
“You have your father's stubbornness.”
“Which father?”
He smiled.
“Both.”
I stepped closer.
“Why did you do this?”
“Money.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
He looked at Michael.
“Your biological father humiliated me.”
Michael shook his head.
“I exposed you.”
“You destroyed everything.”
“I stopped you.”
Edward looked at me.
“So I used the people around you.”
“Carmen.”
“Yes.”
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel.”
“He was supposed to be useful.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“But I wasn't.”
Edward smiled.
“You became sentimental.”
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
“I became human.”
Edward laughed.
Then he looked at me.
“You think your inheritance makes you powerful?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Because I'm done being afraid.”
His smile disappeared.
The detective opened the evidence case.
“We have the ledger.”
Edward's face changed.
“You found it.”
“Yes.”
“And the recordings.”
“Yes.”
“And the financial records.”
“Yes.”
Edward looked at me.
“You don't understand what you've uncovered.”
“What?”
“The money wasn't mine.”
“Whose was it?”
He smiled.
“Your grandmother's.”
I froze.
“My grandmother?”
“She built the original trust.”
“But she left everything to me.”
“Exactly.”
He laughed.
“Because she knew you would eventually expose us.”
I stared.
“My grandmother knew?”
“Yes.”
My father stepped forward.
“She knew.”
Edward nodded.
“She was the one who designed the trust.”
“And the clause?”
“The clause protecting your inheritance.”
I remembered the documents.
Any attempt to manipulate me would trigger an investigation.
My grandmother had anticipated all of it.
Edward was taken away.
Carmen.
Victor.
Edward.
All arrested.
The conspiracy was finally exposed.
But as we left the estate, Daniel stopped me.
“Sofia.”
I turned.
He held out my wedding ring.
I had left it at my mother's house after the attack.
“I thought you might want this.”
I looked at it.
Then at him.
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to you.”
I took it.
“I don't know if I can forgive you.”
“I know.”
“I don't know if I can marry you again.”
“You don't have to.”
He looked down.
“I just want you safe.”
For the first time, I believed him.
But I wasn't ready to forget.
Not yet.
As we drove home, my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
Edward told you only half the truth.
Then another.
Ask your father what happened the night Michael disappeared.
I looked at my father.
He saw the message.
May you like
His face went pale.
And I knew the story wasn't finished.
