CHAPTER 6 — THE BROTHER WHO CAME BACK
Emily rushed toward the lobby.
Detective Grant tried to stop her.
“That could be a trap.”
“That is my brother.”
Nathan looked older.
Thinner.
A scar crossed his forehead.
But his eyes were the same.
Preston held a gun beneath his coat.
“Bring me the ledger, the report, and the tape,” he shouted.
Emily held the evidence box.
“Let Nathan go.”
Nathan looked directly at her.
“Don’t give him anything, Em.”
Only her brother had called her that.
Preston pressed the weapon harder into Nathan’s ribs.
Emily stepped closer.
“What happened to you?”
Nathan’s expression filled with pain.
“Dad hid me.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted control of my inheritance.”
Preston smiled.
“Tell her the rest.”
Nathan looked at Emily’s stomach.
“The embryo implanted in you belonged to me and my wife.”
Emily could not breathe.
Nathan had married a woman named Claire shortly before his disappearance.
After the boating accident, Claire vanished.
“You mean this baby is yours?”
“My wife’s and mine,” Nathan said. “The embryo was preserved before the accident.”
Emily looked at Preston.
“You arranged the procedure.”
“I needed a Bennett heir,” Preston replied. “Your father’s trust transfers voting control to Nathan’s first surviving child.”
“You married me to carry an heir you could control.”
“I married you because your family owned everything I deserved.”
Nathan moved suddenly.
He drove his shoulder into Preston.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
People screamed.
Detective Grant tackled Preston, but Preston broke free, grabbed the evidence box, and escaped through a side exit.
Nathan collapsed.
Emily caught him.
For twelve years she had imagined finding him alive.
But the moment brought no peace.
Only more questions.
Daniel and Lydia entered the lobby.
Nathan’s entire body stiffened when he saw Daniel.
“That man helped erase me.”
Daniel stopped.
“Charles asked me to protect you.”
“You kept me locked inside private clinics for nine years.”
Lydia stepped away from her partner.
Detective Grant aimed his weapon at Daniel.
“Explain.”
Daniel slowly removed his phone.
“There is one person who can.”
He started an encrypted video call.
A pale elderly man appeared on the screen.
A familiar scar marked his chin.
A wooden cane rested beside his chair.
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“Dad?”
Charles Bennett looked at her.
“I am sorry, Emily.”
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
Charles lowered his eyes.
“Because Preston was not the person I feared most.”
A woman’s hand appeared on his shoulder.
She wore a silver bracelet with a bird-shaped charm.
Charles looked toward her.
“The woman you know as Vanessa Crane is not Vanessa Crane.”
Emily stared at the screen.
“Who is she?”
May you like
Charles answered quietly.
“She is Nathan’s wife.”
