Chapter 10 - The Traitor at My Father’s Table
My father listened to Margaret Monroe’s recording four times.
Each time, his face became harder.
The message lasted only ninety-three seconds.
Margaret never named Blackthorn.
She said Laura had discovered someone with access to the Bennett family’s internal trusts.
Someone who knew which investments were public.
Which were hidden.
Which security firms protected which assets.
Someone close enough to my father to survive every internal purge.
Then Margaret said something that made me cold.
“Charles trusts blood more than evidence.”
I looked at Dad.
“Who was she talking about?”
He closed the laptop.
“We need to leave.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You have a relative she suspected.”
Dad’s eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He exhaled.
“My brother.”
I stared at him.
I had not seen Uncle Richard in years.
Richard Bennett was charming, funny, extravagant, and permanently traveling.
As a child, I adored him.
After Mom died, he visited less.
By the time I married Nathan, he had almost disappeared from family events.
“What did Uncle Richard do?”
“He co-founded the original investment office with me.”
“Did Mom suspect him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have considered him.”
“I considered everyone.”
“Did you investigate him?”
Dad hesitated.
There it was.
Margaret’s accusation.
Blood over evidence.
“You didn’t.”
“I reviewed his accounts.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dad looked away.
“Because Richard was with me the night Laura died.”
My mind raced.
“So he had an alibi.”
“Yes.”
“Was he with you the entire night?”
Dad did not answer.
“Dad?”
“For most of it.”
I felt anger rise again.
Nathan watched from across the vault.
“Where is Richard now?”
Dad looked at him.
“Switzerland.”
Evelyn spoke from behind us.
“No.”
We all turned.
She held her phone.
“Richard Bennett entered the United States nine days ago.”
Dad stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“His passport was scanned through a private aviation terminal in New Jersey.”
“Why wasn’t I notified?”
Evelyn’s expression tightened.
“Because the flight was registered under a holding company.”
“What company?”
She looked at me.
“Monroe Aviation Partners.”
Nathan cursed.
Dad’s phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief spoke rapidly.
Dad’s face changed.
“When?”
He listened.
“Lock everything.”
Another pause.
“No one leaves.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?”
Dad looked at me.
“Someone accessed the main Bennett Sovereign archive tonight.”
“Where?”
“Our family office.”
“Who?”
“They used Richard’s biometric authorization.”
I felt numb.
“Could it be stolen?”
“Not easily.”
“What did they access?”
Dad checked his message.
Then went completely still.
“Your trust.”
Nathan looked at me.
“What is in her trust?”
Dad ignored him.
I stepped closer.
“What did they take?”
“Copies of succession documents.”
“What succession documents?”
Dad hesitated.
I almost shouted.
“No more secrets.”
He looked at me.
“When your mother died, her voting authority transferred to you.”
“I was seventeen.”
“The authority remained dormant until you turned twenty-five.”
I remembered Celeste’s words.
Ask your father why your mother’s trust was activated six months before you married Nathan.
I felt sick.
“You activated it.”
“No.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“I didn’t.”
Silence.
“Then who did?”
Dad looked toward the laptop.
“Someone submitted Laura’s original activation key.”
“That key should have died with her.”
Nathan whispered.
“Unless Blackthorn had it.”
I stared at him.
The idea was horrifying.
If my mother’s credentials had been compromised before her death, someone may have spent nineteen years moving through the family empire using her authority.
My phone vibrated.
A video call.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Uncle Richard appeared on the screen.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Smiling.
“Claire.”
My father grabbed the phone.
“Richard.”
My uncle sighed.
“Hello, Charles.”
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere you should have checked a long time ago.”
Dad’s voice dropped.
“If you touched Laura—”
Richard’s smile vanished.
“I loved Laura.”
“Then tell me who killed her.”
My uncle looked at me.
“That is why I came back.”
“Because Blackthorn finally made one mistake.”
I leaned closer.
“What mistake?”
Richard’s eyes hardened.
“He chose Nathan.”
Nathan froze.
Richard continued.
“Your husband was never supposed to marry you.”
“He was supposed to get close enough to steal one thing.”
“What?”
My uncle smiled sadly.
“Your mother’s final key.”
I stared at him.
“I don’t have a key.”
Richard looked almost pitying.
“Yes, Claire.”
May you like
“You do.”
“You have been wearing it around your neck for sixteen years.”
