Chapter 4 - The Lie Behind the Engagement
Clare wanted answers from Robert immediately.
Vincent stopped her for one reason.
“Read Ethan's letter first.”
She hated that he was right.
Inside the envelope were six handwritten pages.
Ethan had discovered the fraud accidentally.
He had initially suspected Luca Moretti.
Then he learned Luca was trying to expose the same scheme.
The two had secretly worked together.
Marcus Vale was the architect.
Daniel Mercer handled legitimate-looking transactions.
Salvatore Moretti provided access.
But Ethan had written one sentence twice.
Dad knows more than he's telling me.
Clare's stomach twisted.
The final paragraph was addressed directly to her.
If something happens, don't assume Dad caused it. Fear makes good people do terrible things, and Vale knows how to use fear.
Clare folded the letter.
“Take me to him.”
Robert Bennett looked twenty years older when Clare entered his study.
Vanessa sat nearby.
Diane was crying quietly.
Clare placed Ethan's letter on the desk.
“No more lies.”
Robert looked at it.
His shoulders collapsed.
“I tried to protect all of you.”
“Tell me.”
Five years earlier, Robert had discovered Ethan's investigation.
Marcus Vale approached him.
Vale knew where Clare worked.
Where Diane shopped.
Where Ethan lived.
He offered Robert a choice.
Convince Ethan to stop.
Or lose another member of his family.
Robert begged Ethan.
Ethan refused.
Then Ethan died.
Robert had blamed himself ever since.
“Did Vale kill him?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Salvatore?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what do you know?”
Robert opened his desk safe.
He removed a ledger.
“I know Daniel has worked for Vale longer than you think.”
Clare stared.
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
That meant Daniel had already been involved when Clare met him.
Her entire relationship suddenly felt contaminated.
“Did he date me because of Ethan?”
Robert's silence answered.
Clare stepped backward.
“No.”
“Clare—”
“No.”
Daniel had met her at a charity gala.
He had known her name before introduction.
He had pursued her relentlessly.
Flowers.
Lunches.
Weekend trips.
Then a proposal.
Three years of her life.
“Vale wanted someone close to our family,” Robert said.
“And Daniel volunteered?”
“Yes.”
Clare felt physically sick.
“Why did he leave me for Vanessa?”
Vanessa answered.
“Because I worked for your father's finance department.”
Clare looked at her.
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“He used both of us.”
For the first time since the betrayal, Clare saw Vanessa not as the woman who had stolen her fiancé, but as another woman Daniel had manipulated.
It did not erase what Vanessa had done.
But it changed the shape of the wound.
“Why are you here?” Clare asked.
“Your father contacted me after I called you. He told me this house had security.”
Robert slid the ledger toward Vincent.
“These are payments Vale forced through Bennett accounts.”
Vincent examined it.
“This could bury him.”
“Then use it.”
A sound came from the doorway.
Daniel stood there.
Nobody had heard him enter.
Vanessa rose.
“How did you get in?”
Daniel looked devastated.
“I still had a key.”
Vincent's security men moved forward.
Daniel raised both hands.
“I didn't come to hurt anyone.”
“That's a low standard,” Clare said.
Daniel looked at her.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve considerably more.”
“I can help.”
Vincent's voice was cold.
“Why would we trust you?”
“Because Vale is going to kill me.”
Nobody spoke.
Daniel removed his jacket slowly.
Then his shirt collar shifted.
Bruising marked his neck.
Vanessa recoiled.
“He knows I lost the drive.”
“You mean the drive I stole,” Vanessa said.
“He thinks I gave it away.”
“You did.”
Daniel looked at Clare.
“There is a second ledger.”
“Where?”
“Salvatore has it.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
Daniel continued.
“Vale doesn't trust Salvatore anymore. Neither should you.”
“I don't.”
“He's planning to leave the country.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“With Vale?”
Daniel shook his head.
“He's going to betray Vale.”
Clare almost laughed at the absurdity.
Everyone was betraying everyone.
“What does any of this have to do with Ethan's death?”
Daniel looked at her.
Pain appeared genuine.
“I was there that night.”
The room went silent.
Clare's body turned cold.
“You were what?”
“I followed Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Vale ordered me to.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Continue.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Ethan met Luca near the Hudson. They had evidence. They were planning to take it to federal investigators the next morning.”
Clare's hands began shaking.
“Then what?”
“Salvatore arrived.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“Did he kill Ethan?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
Clare crossed the room and slapped Daniel.
The sound cracked through the study.
“You were there.”
“I lost them.”
“You followed my brother on the night he died and then spent years sleeping beside me?”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
She wanted to hit him again.
She didn't.
“What happened?”
“I saw Ethan drive away. Another car followed him.”
“Whose?”
“I couldn't see.”
“Liar.”
“I swear.”
Vincent stepped in.
“Plate?”
“Covered.”
“Vehicle?”
“Black Mercedes.”
Robert sat down abruptly.
Clare noticed.
“Dad?”
Robert's face had gone white.
“What?”
He looked at Diane.
Then Clare.
“I owned a black Mercedes.”
Clare stopped breathing.
“Five years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“I sold it after Ethan died.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
Robert couldn't finish.
Diane whispered, “Robert.”
He looked at Clare.
“Because it came back damaged the morning after Ethan died.”
Silence.
“Who had borrowed it?”
Robert closed his eyes.
“Salvatore.”
Vincent turned away.
His hands clenched.
Everything pointed toward his uncle.
They needed proof.
Daniel gave them an address.
A private townhouse Salvatore used on the Upper East Side.
Vincent refused to let Clare go.
Clare refused his refusal.
“You promised I could choose.”
“This is different.”
“No. This is exactly when that matters.”
Vincent stared at her.
Then nodded.
They arrived after dark.
The townhouse appeared empty.
Vincent's men entered first.
Clear.
Inside, they found packed luggage.
Passports.
Cash.
And a locked study.
Vincent forced the door.
The room contained filing cabinets and an old desktop computer.
Clare searched the desk.
Vincent opened the cabinets.
Then Clare found a photograph beneath a blotter.
Ethan.
Luca.
Together.
Both smiling.
On the back Ethan had written:
WE FOUND HIM.
Below that was a date.
The day before Ethan died.
“Vincent.”
He came over.
Clare handed him the photograph.
His face changed.
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Vincent motioned for Clare to remain behind him.
His men moved toward the staircase.
A door slammed.
Footsteps.
They reached the second floor.
A bedroom window stood open.
Someone had escaped onto the fire stairs.
One guard pursued.
Clare noticed something on the bed.
A phone.
Still unlocked.
A message was open.
SALVATORE: She found Ethan's letter.
The reply had arrived seconds ago.
VALE: Then Moretti will have to choose.
Another message appeared.
VALE: Bring me the Bennett woman.
Clare's blood chilled.
Vincent took the phone.
Then another message appeared.
Not from Vale.
From Isabella.
VINCENT, DON'T GO HOME.
A photograph loaded beneath it.
May you like
Jenna was sitting in Vincent's penthouse.
Behind her stood Salvatore.
