Chapter 4: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
My father was standing in a hotel room.
Alive.
Six years after my mother had told me he died in a car accident, his face appeared on the enormous screen above the wedding dance floor.
He looked older. His hair had turned almost completely gray, and there were deep lines around his eyes.
But I recognized him immediately.
Richard Bennett.
My father.
The man who used to carry me on his shoulders at the county fair. The man who taught me to ride a bicycle. The man whose funeral I had been forbidden to attend because my mother claimed his body had been too badly damaged to identify.
I grabbed the edge of the DJ booth.
"No.""
My mother covered her mouth.
Vanessa whispered, "Turn it off.""
But Graham stepped between her and the equipment.
"Nobody touches that computer.""
On the screen, my father placed a brown envelope on a hotel desk.
"Daniel, I don't have much time," he said.
The camera shifted.
Daniel appeared.
My ex-husband looked exhausted.
"Mr. Bennett, you told me Claire would be protected.""
My father's expression tightened.
"She will be. But you have to understand something. Patricia and Vanessa have been moving money through accounts connected to the foundation for years.""
Daniel shook his head.
"That's not my problem anymore.""
"It became your problem when you married my daughter.""
I felt my stomach twist.
My father continued.
"Vanessa has convinced Patricia that Graham's family fortune can solve everything. She believes she can marry him, gain control of the foundation, and make the missing money disappear.""
Daniel looked down.
"And Claire?""
My father was silent for several seconds.
"Claire is the only person they cannot afford to have asking questions.""
I stopped breathing.
On the recording, Daniel stepped closer.
"Then tell her the truth.""
"I tried.""
"Try harder.""
My father looked directly into the camera.
"Patricia controls the documents. If Claire discovers what happened, her mother will make sure she never sees Lily again.""
My legs felt weak.
Then Daniel asked the question I had been asking myself for years.
"Why did you let them tell Claire you were dead?""
My father's face crumpled.
"Because I was afraid.""
The video ended.
The ballroom remained silent.
Three hundred people had just watched a dead man speak.
I turned toward my mother.
"You told me he died.""
She was crying now.
"Claire, please.""
"You made me believe my father was dead.""
"I was trying to protect you.""
"From my own father?""
She reached for my arm.
I pulled away.
"Don't touch me.""
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
"Can we stop pretending Dad was some innocent victim? He abandoned us long before any of this happened.""
I stared at her.
"You knew he was alive?""
She didn't answer.
"Vanessa!""
"Yes!"" she screamed.
"I knew!""
A woman near the front covered her mouth.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"He contacted us years ago. He wanted money. He wanted to come back. He wanted everyone to forgive him.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because you would have believed him!""
I looked at Graham.
He was standing beside the head table, his face pale.
"Vanessa, you told me your father died before you graduated college.""
"He did. To us.""
Graham shook his head.
"That's not an answer.""
My mother finally spoke.
"Richard was a complicated man. He made terrible decisions.""
I laughed bitterly.
"Apparently, so did everyone else in this family.""
I turned toward the screen.
"Play the recording again.""
The DJ looked uncertain.
Graham nodded.
"Please.""
The video restarted.
This time, I noticed something in the background.
A framed photograph on the hotel desk.
My father was standing between two men.
One was Daniel.
The other was unfamiliar.
I moved closer to the screen.
"Stop!""
The DJ paused the footage.
I pointed.
"Who is that man?""
Graham approached.
His expression changed.
"That's Martin Cole.""
"Who?""
"My father's former financial director.""
Graham took out his phone and examined the image.
"He was fired seven years ago after a series of suspicious withdrawals from the foundation.""
My mother suddenly stopped crying.
Graham noticed.
"Patricia?""
She looked away.
"That man has nothing to do with this.""
"Then why was he meeting Richard?""
Nobody answered.
Graham turned toward Vanessa.
"Did you know Martin?""
Vanessa folded her arms.
"I don't remember.""
"You were standing beside him in photographs from the foundation's charity gala.""
She looked startled.
Graham continued.
"I checked those photographs before proposing. You told me he was a distant family friend.""
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Then she closed it.
My daughter tugged at my sleeve.
"Mom?""
I looked down.
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"There's something else.""
My heart sank.
"What?""
She reached into her little handbag and pulled out a folded envelope.
"I didn't want to show it until you were ready.""
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my father standing outside our old apartment.
He was holding a bouquet of white flowers.
On the back was a date.
October 12.
The day before Lily's fifth birthday.
I remembered that day.
I had spent the entire afternoon waiting for Daniel to return with a birthday cake.
He never came.
My father had apparently been standing outside our building.
I turned the photograph over again.
There was another sentence written beneath the date.
*I came to see my granddaughter. Your mother wouldn't let me inside.*
My eyes filled.
I looked at Patricia.
She was staring at the floor.
"Why?"" I whispered.
She finally looked up.
May you like
And her answer was worse than any lie she'd told me before.
"Because your father wasn't supposed to come back.""
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