Chapter 4: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Gloria couldn't hear anything except the pounding of her own heart.
“My father is dead,” she said.
Richard didn't answer.
“My mother told me he died before I was born.””
Margaret's face crumpled.
“Gloria—”
“Don't.”” Gloria lifted a shaking hand.
“Don't say my name like you can make this better.””
Daniel moved toward her, but she stepped away.
She couldn't bear to look at him. Not because she blamed him, but because every time she saw his face, she remembered the photograph of Arthur holding a newborn baby.
She remembered the warning written on its back.
And she remembered that she had married into the very family that had apparently spent decades hiding the truth about her own.
Jessica placed the recorder on the table.
“Arthur told me Thomas was alive when I saw him that night.””
Richard shook his head.
“Arthur was confused.””
“He knew exactly what he was saying.””
“He was dying!””
“And you were standing in his study, begging him to sign something.””
Richard lunged toward her.
Robert caught his arm.
“Sir, step back.””
Richard tried to pull free.
“Let go of me!””
“Not until you calm down.””
Daniel stared at his uncle with a look Gloria had never seen before.
“You knew Thomas Cole was alive?””
Richard's chest rose and fell.
“I knew rumors.””
“What rumors?””
“Your father believed Thomas had survived the accident.””
“What accident?””
Richard's eyes shifted toward Margaret.
She was crying silently now, her hands clasped against her chest.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Tell me what happened.””
Richard looked at the guests who remained near the ballroom doors.
Then he pointed toward a private corridor.
“We need to talk somewhere else.””
“No,” Gloria said.
Everyone turned toward her.
She straightened her shoulders, gathering the torn layers of her wedding dress in one hand.
“I have spent my entire life being told that my father died before I was born. If there's even a chance that's a lie, I deserve to hear the truth here, in front of everyone who helped hide it.””
Richard's face hardened.
“You don't understand what you're asking.””
“Then explain it to me.””
For a moment, he seemed ready to refuse.
Then his gaze settled on the photographs.
He exhaled slowly.
“Thomas Cole worked for the Bennett family. He handled some of our business accounts. He was intelligent, ambitious, and very good at discovering things people wanted kept quiet.””
“What kind of things?”” Gloria asked.
“Financial irregularities. Missing funds. Payments made to companies that didn't exist.””
Daniel stared at him.
“Was my father involved?””
Richard hesitated.
“Arthur discovered the same discrepancies. He asked Thomas to investigate them.””
“And?””
“Thomas found evidence that someone had been stealing from the company for years.””
“Who?””
Richard looked at Jessica.
She answered before he could.
“Richard.””
Richard slammed his hand against the table.
“That's enough!””
Gloria flinched, but Jessica didn't move.
“You forged signatures,” Jessica continued.
“You moved money through shell companies. When Thomas discovered it, you threatened him.””
Richard's face turned crimson.
“You have no proof.””
“I have bank records.””
“Those records were stolen.””
“They were copied before you destroyed the originals.””
Richard turned toward Daniel.
“Your father was the chairman of the company. He had access to every account. If money went missing, he was responsible for the oversight.””
Daniel shook his head.
“My father would never steal from his own company.””
“Your father wasn't the saint you think he was.””
“Stop.””
Daniel's voice was low and dangerous.
“You don't get to stand here and accuse a dead man because you're afraid of what he left behind.””
Richard stared at him.
Then he laughed bitterly.
“You sound just like him.””
Gloria felt a chill.
“Did Thomas discover that you were stealing money?””
Richard didn't answer.
“Did he threaten to expose you?””
Still nothing.
“Did you kill him?””
Richard's hand shot across the table and knocked over a glass.
It shattered against the marble.
“No!”” he shouted.
The force of his voice silenced the room.
He stood breathing hard, his eyes wild.
Then he lowered his voice.
“I didn't kill Thomas Cole.””
Jessica watched him carefully.
“But you know who did.””
Richard looked at her.
And for the first time, he didn't deny it.
Margaret began sobbing.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Stop. Please stop.””
Gloria turned toward her.
“Mom, what happened to my father?””
Margaret shook her head.
“I thought he was dead.””
“You thought?””
“I was told he died in the crash. The police found a burned car near the old Bennett estate. They said there was no chance anyone could have survived.””
“Did you see his body?””
Margaret's lips trembled.
“No.””
Gloria closed her eyes.
All her life, she had imagined a father she had never met. Sometimes she pictured him as a kind man with Daniel's eyes. Sometimes she wondered whether he would have taught her to ride a bike, or walked her down the aisle, or told her that she was brave when the world frightened her.
She had never imagined that he might be alive somewhere, unaware that his daughter had grown up believing him dead.
Or that he might have deliberately stayed away.
“Why didn't you search for him?”” Gloria whispered.
Margaret looked at her.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
“Of Richard.””
Richard moved toward the exit.
Robert stepped in front of him.
“I'm afraid I need you to stay here until we understand what's happening.””
Richard stared at the security manager.
“You work for this hotel.””
“And I have a responsibility to prevent another confrontation.””
Richard's lips curled.
“You have no idea who you're dealing with.””
“Maybe not,” Robert replied.
“But I know what I saw on that security footage.””
For a moment, Richard seemed ready to attack him.
Then Daniel stepped forward.
“If you leave, I'll call the police myself.””
Richard slowly turned toward his nephew.
“You would call the police on your own family?””
“You stopped being family when you started threatening my wife.””
Richard looked at Gloria.
“She isn't your wife in the way you think.””
Daniel stiffened.
“What does that mean?””
Richard smiled, but the expression was empty.
“You haven't read the rest of Arthur's letter.””
Jessica looked down at the torn pages.
“There's no rest.””
Richard shook his head.
“Arthur kept a copy. A complete one.””
“Where?”” Daniel demanded.
Richard didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into his inside jacket pocket and withdrew a small brass key.
He placed it on the table beside the photograph.
“His study.””
Daniel stared at the key.
“My father's study was cleared after his death.””
“Not the locked cabinet behind the bookcase.””
Jessica's expression changed.
“You knew about the cabinet?””
Richard ignored her.
“The letter is inside. Along with a photograph of the man who raised me, standing beside the man who gave me life.””
Gloria looked at him.
“You said Arthur wasn't your biological father.””
“He wasn't.””
“Then who was?””
Richard's face went strangely blank.
For a long moment, he looked older than his sixty years. The confidence that had carried him through decades of business dinners and family gatherings seemed to drain away.
“My biological father was Thomas Cole.””
Gloria stared at him.
“No.””
Richard nodded slowly.
“Thomas was my father, too.””
The room erupted in whispers.
Daniel took a step back.
“You and Gloria are—”
“Half-siblings,” Richard finished.
“At least, that's what the records suggest.””
Gloria felt a wave of nausea.
“No. That can't be true.””
Margaret rushed toward her.
“Gloria, I swear I didn't know Richard was Thomas's son until after the accident.””
“Which accident?”” Gloria demanded.
“The one that supposedly killed my father, or the one that supposedly killed Arthur?””
Margaret stopped.
Richard's face tightened.
Jessica quietly picked up the recorder.
“There was no accident that killed Thomas,” she said.
“Not the way you were told.””
Daniel looked at her.
“What do you mean?””
Jessica turned the recorder over in her hands.
“Arthur told me Thomas was taken away before the car burned. He said someone arranged the scene to make it look like Thomas had died.””
“Who arranged it?””
Jessica looked at Richard.
“He never told me the name.””
Richard shook his head.
“Because he didn't know.””
Jessica's eyes narrowed.
“You're lying.””
“Arthur suspected me. He suspected everyone. But he never found the person who ordered it.””
Daniel rubbed a hand over his face.
“So my father spent years investigating a man who might have been alive, while my mother knew he wasn't my biological father, and my uncle knew Thomas was his father?””
Richard nodded.
“Yes.””
“And nobody told me?””
“No.””
“Why?””
Richard's answer was almost a whisper.
“Because the truth would have destroyed the family.””
Daniel laughed once, hollowly.
“Look around, Uncle. You managed that without telling me.””
For the first time, Richard looked ashamed.
It lasted only a second.
Then his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
Whatever he saw made him stop breathing.
Jessica noticed.
“What's wrong?””
Richard shoved the phone back into his pocket.
“Nothing.””
Daniel held out his hand.
“Show me.””
“No.””
“Show me the phone.””
Richard turned away.
Daniel caught his shoulder.
“Now.””
Richard pulled free, but the phone slipped from his pocket and hit the floor.
Its screen lit up.
A message appeared.
*UNKNOWN NUMBER: SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH. GET RID OF JESSICA BEFORE SHE OPENS THE SECOND ENVELOPE.*
Gloria stared at the words.
Jessica went deathly pale.
Daniel picked up the phone.
“Who sent this?””
Richard said nothing.
Another message appeared.
*UNKNOWN NUMBER: AND DON'T LET GLORIA FIND OUT WHERE HER FATHER IS BEING HELD.*
Gloria's knees weakened.
“Being held?””
She looked at her mother.
Margaret began shaking her head.
“No. No, no, no.””
Gloria grabbed the phone from Daniel.
“Where is my father?””
Richard's mouth opened.
But before he could answer, Jessica reached into her handbag and pulled out a final envelope.
“This is why I came today,” she whispered.
She placed it in Gloria's hands.
“Your father sent this to me six months ago. I was supposed to give it to you only when I could prove the Bennett family had lied.””
Gloria stared at the envelope.
Her name was written across the front in handwriting she had never seen before.
Beneath it were six words.
Gloria, if you're reading this,
I'm still alive.
She tore the envelope open.
Inside was a photograph of a man standing behind the bars of a narrow window.
His hair was silver. His face was thinner than it should have been. But his eyes were unmistakable.
They were the same deep green eyes she saw in her own mirror every morning.
On the back, someone had written an address and a date.
Tomorrow.
Gloria looked up, tears streaming down her face.
“Who has him?””
Richard stared at the photograph.
Then he whispered the name that made Daniel's entire body go rigid.
“Your husband's father.””
Daniel's face drained of color.
“My father is dead.””
Richard slowly shook his head.
“Arthur's body was identified by your mother. But the man who died that night wasn't Arthur Bennett.””
He looked at Jessica.
Then at Gloria.
“Your father has been held in the Bennett family’s private estate for twenty-nine years.””
And as Gloria stared at the photograph, she realized the most terrifying possibility of all.
May you like
If her father had been alive all this time, someone had spent nearly three decades making sure he stayed a ghost.
Someone who had just received a message warning them that she finally knew the truth.
