Chapter 14 - The Father Who Never Died
Daniel could not move.
He remembered the funeral.
The closed casket.
His mother crying.
Ethan standing beside him.
The lawyers.
The doctors.
The reports.
Everything had been built around a lie.
“You’re dead.”
Henry smiled faintly.
“That was the intention.”
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“You knew.”
“From the beginning.”
Daniel’s eyes returned to his father.
“Why?”
Henry walked to the fireplace.
“Because I was going to prison.”
Daniel stared at him.
Henry explained with horrifying calm.
Seventeen years earlier, federal investigators had been closing in on financial crimes involving Whitmore companies.
Henry had moved money through foreign accounts.
He had bribed executives.
He had falsified contracts.
Rather than face prosecution and destroy the family name, he staged his death.
Margaret helped create the medical records.
Charles Benton’s father handled the legal side.
A paid physician signed the necessary documentation.
Then Henry disappeared.
Daniel felt disgust.
“You abandoned your children.”
“I protected you.”
“You protected yourself.”
“I gave you an empire.”
“You left Ethan and me grieving for a man who was hiding.”
Henry shrugged.
“You survived.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“Let her go.”
“Soon.”
Henry’s tone was almost affectionate.
Daniel wanted to hit him.
Instead, he asked the question that mattered.
“Did you kill Rachel?”
For the first time, Henry’s expression changed.
“No.”
“Do not lie to me.”
“I did many things.”
Henry looked toward Lily.
“But I did not kill your wife.”
“Then who did?”
“Rachel killed herself by refusing to stop.”
Daniel lunged forward.
Margaret moved toward Lily.
Daniel stopped instantly.
Henry smiled.
“That is why children are useful.”
Daniel’s hands shook.
“Tell me what happened.”
Henry explained that Rachel’s investigation had threatened everything.
She had discovered Project Evergreen and followed the money.
Henry ordered Margaret to frighten her.
Nothing more.
Margaret arranged break-ins.
Anonymous threats.
Fake messages.
But Rachel continued.
Then she discovered Henry was alive.
Daniel’s face went pale.
“She knew?”
“Three days before she died.”
“What happened?”
“She called me.”
Henry’s eyes became distant.
“She offered me a deal.”
“What deal?”
“She would keep my existence secret if I turned over evidence against Margaret and Charles.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
Daniel noticed.
“So Rachel thought Margaret had gone beyond your orders.”
“She had.”
Henry looked at Margaret.
“She became ambitious.”
Margaret smiled without warmth.
“And you became sentimental.”
Daniel realized there was tension between them.
This alliance was breaking.
“Who killed Rachel?”
Margaret answered this time.
“Ask Ethan.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He wasn’t there.”
“No.”
Margaret looked toward Henry.
“But he gave someone access to the house.”
Henry’s expression changed.
Daniel felt another layer open beneath him.
“Who?”
Before either could answer, the mansion lights died.
A gunshot exploded somewhere downstairs.
Lily screamed.
Daniel rushed toward her.
Margaret grabbed the child.
Then another gunshot rang out.
A window shattered.
Henry dropped to the floor.
Daniel reached Lily and pulled her behind a heavy sofa.
Marcus’s voice shouted from the hallway.
“Daniel.”
Margaret ran toward another door.
Daniel saw her disappearing into darkness.
Henry shouted.
May you like
“Don’t let her leave.”
Then Daniel realized Margaret was carrying Rachel’s second journal.
