Chapter 2 - THE TRUST MY FATHER HID
The trust agreement was almost twenty years old.
I stared at the date.
I hadn't even been an adult when my father created it.
“What is this?” I asked again.
Gabriel sat across from me.
“It is the protection your father established for you.”
“But I thought Dad left me the apartment.”
“He did.”
“That's all anyone ever told me.”
“Because that's all you were supposed to know.”
I looked at my mother.
She lowered her eyes.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“For years.”
I felt betrayed.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
I looked back at Gabriel.
“Promise what?”
“That I wouldn't reveal the trust unless someone tried to take your property by force.”
I stared at the papers.
“So Carmen triggered it.”
“Yes.”
The attorney beside Gabriel opened another folder.
“These are the documents Carmen wanted you to sign.”
He placed them on the table.
I recognized the pages.
But now they looked different.
The attorney pointed to the bottom.
“This isn't merely a property transfer.”
“What is it?”
“Power of attorney.”
My stomach tightened.
“Meaning?”
“If you signed it, Daniel would have gained authority over your financial assets.”
“All of them?”
“Most.”
“How much?”
He looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel answered.
“Approximately twenty-eight million dollars.”
I couldn't breathe.
Twenty-eight million.
My father had never told me.
I had lived in a modest apartment.
I had worked.
I had paid my own bills.
I had never thought of myself as wealthy.
My father had always said:
“Live as though nobody owes you anything.”
I thought that was his way of keeping me humble.
Now I understood.
He had been hiding something.
The attorney continued.
“There's more.”
He placed another document on the table.
“The apartment is not simply an apartment.”
“What do you mean?”
“It contains an encrypted archive.”
“Of what?”
“Your father's business records.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Records involving Carmen's family.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because your father believed they were stealing from his company.”
I remembered something.
My father had warned me about Daniel before I met him.
Not directly.
But he had once asked:
“Do you know what his family does?”
I had laughed.
“Dad, you're interrogating my boyfriend again.”
He had smiled.
“I'm only asking.”
I had thought he was being protective.
Now I wondered whether he had known exactly who Daniel's family was.
The detective took the documents.
“We need the original copies.”
“They're at the hotel.”
“Where?”
“In the suite.”
“We'll retrieve them.”
Gabriel nodded.
Then he looked at my bracelet.
“You still have it.”
I touched the silver band.
“Dad gave it to me.”
“Did he tell you what it could do?”
“No.”
Gabriel reached for it.
“Press the small stone.”
I did.
A tiny light appeared.
I looked at him.
“What is this?”
“An emergency recorder.”
My heart stopped.
“Dad gave me a recording device?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew there would come a day when you would need evidence.”
I pressed the button again.
The bracelet blinked.
My mother covered her mouth.
Gabriel looked at the detective.
“Can you retrieve the audio?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the bracelet.
I suddenly remembered putting it on before the wedding.
I had worn it all night.
If it had recorded everything...
Carmen's threats.
The slap.
Daniel's voice.
Everything.
The detective connected the device to his laptop.
A waveform appeared.
He pressed play.
Carmen's voice filled the room.
“Sign.”
Then my voice.
“No.”
Then the slap.
Then Daniel.
“Don't leave marks people can recognize.”
Nobody moved.
The recording continued.
Carmen said:
“She will sign.”
Daniel replied:
“She doesn't know what she's signing.”
My mother began crying.
Gabriel's expression became terrifyingly calm.
The detective stopped the recording.
“That is enough for an initial report.”
Gabriel nodded.
“No.”
He looked at the detective.
“Play the rest.”
The recording continued.
Carmen said:
“If she refuses, we use the second plan.”
Daniel asked:
“What second plan?”
“Make everyone believe she was unstable.”
My heart stopped.
“She planned that?”
“Yes,” Gabriel said.
The recording continued.
Carmen's voice became colder.
“Once she is discredited, we can petition for control of the estate.”
Then Daniel asked:
“And if she goes to her mother?”
Carmen laughed.
“She won't.”
“Why?”
“Because her family is broken.”
My uncle's eyes narrowed.
Carmen continued:
“Her uncle disappeared years ago.”
Gabriel looked at me.
I finally understood.
Carmen believed my family was weak.
She believed my father was dead.
She believed Gabriel had abandoned us.
She believed my mother was alone.
She believed I had nobody.
She had made a terrible mistake.
The detective stood.
“We need to move quickly.”
“Why?”
“Because if Carmen knows the recording exists, she may destroy the other evidence.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Your father's apartment.”
I nodded.
“Let's go.”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
“I do.”
“You were attacked tonight.”
“I know.”
“You're injured.”
“I know.”
“Then why would you go back?”
I looked at the legal folder.
“Because Dad left something there.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And Carmen knows it.”
We left before sunrise.
Three black SUVs moved through the empty streets.
The city was quiet.
But I couldn't stop thinking about one thing.
Carmen had said there was a second plan.
I needed to know what it was.
When we reached my father's apartment building, the lobby lights were still on.
The security guard recognized me.
“Ms. Bennett?”
I nodded.
“Has anyone been here tonight?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
My heart dropped.
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
He pulled up the security footage.
The screen showed a blonde woman entering the building.
She wore a black coat.
She carried a folder.
I recognized her.
She had attended my wedding.
She had spoken to Carmen.
I looked at Gabriel.
“Who is she?”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Elise Morgan.”
“Who?”
“She used to work for your father.”
The security guard looked nervous.
“She went upstairs forty minutes ago.”
I stared at the elevator.
“Is she still there?”
The guard shook his head.
“She left.”
“Did she take anything?”
He checked the log.
“Yes.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“She accessed your father's private office.”
My blood went cold.
“What did she take?”
The guard zoomed in.
A box.
Small.
Black.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
“That box contains the archive key.”
The elevator doors opened.
We stepped inside.
And as the doors closed, my phone received a message.
Unknown number.
You should have signed the papers.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
Now your father's secrets will disappear with you.
