Chapter 3: The Secret My Father Took to His Grave
For twelve years, I had lived with one unanswered question.
Why did my father’s car crash on a perfectly clear night?
The official report called it an accident.
A simple mechanical failure.
A tragic loss.
Those three words had appeared everywhere.
In newspapers.
In business reports.
In sympathy letters from people who barely knew him.
*Accident.*
But deep down, I had never believed it.
My father was not careless.
He checked everything twice. He inspected contracts line by line. He remembered the birthdays of employees’ children and noticed when someone changed their hairstyle.
He was the kind of person who would test a car three times before driving it across the city.
An accident had never made sense.
And now, standing inside a luxury boutique while Victoria Ashford watched me, someone was telling me the truth I had spent years trying to bury.
“Your father didn’t die from an accident.””
The words echoed through my mind.
I pressed the phone tighter against my ear.
“Who is this?””
The person on the other end breathed shakily.
“You don’t recognize my voice?””
I closed my eyes.
There was something familiar.
Something from childhood.
A memory hidden behind years of grief.
Then it hit me.
“Daniel?””
Silence.
Then a quiet breath.
“Yes.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
Daniel Cross.
My father’s closest friend.
His business partner before Bennett Group became the global company it was today.
The man who vanished three days after my father’s funeral.
Everyone thought he had abandoned us.
I thought he had betrayed us.
“Where have you been?”” I whispered.
A pause.
“Trying to stay alive.””
The noise around me disappeared.
Victoria.
The customers.
The employees.
None of them mattered anymore.
“Daniel,” I said carefully, “you disappeared.””
“I know.””
“You didn’t come to the funeral.””
“I couldn’t.””
My jaw tightened.
“You couldn’t?””
His voice cracked.
“Evelyn, if I had shown up that day, you would have buried two people instead of one.””
I looked toward the glass doors of the boutique.
Outside, the city moved like nothing had changed.
People walked.
Cars passed.
The world continued.
But mine had just shifted.
“What are you talking about?””
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Your father found out something about Ashford Holdings.””
My eyes moved toward Victoria.
She was still standing there.
Watching.
Listening.
She couldn’t hear Daniel’s words, but she could tell something serious was happening.
“What did he find?”” I asked.
“A hidden financial network.””
I frowned.
“Explain.””
“Your father discovered that the Ashford family wasn’t just trying to expand their company. They were using acquisitions to cover illegal transfers of money.””
My stomach tightened.
“You’re saying they were laundering money?””
“I’m saying your father found evidence that could have destroyed them.””
I looked around the boutique.
The expensive clothes.
The luxury products.
The image of perfection.
A beautiful building built on something rotten.
“Why didn’t he expose them?””
“Because he tried.””
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“And that’s when they realized he knew too much.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Daniel…”
“I’m sorry, Evelyn.””
The apology sounded painful.
“Your father trusted the wrong person.””
I swallowed.
“Who?””
He didn’t answer immediately.
That hesitation told me everything.
“Who was it?””
Daniel finally spoke.
“Someone close to him.””
My heart sank.
“How close?””
Another pause.
“Inside your company.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
Someone inside Bennett Group.
Someone my father trusted.
Someone who had been there when I was growing up.
Someone who had possibly watched me inherit everything while knowing the truth.
“Give me a name.””
“Not over the phone.””
“Daniel.””
“No.””
His voice became urgent.
“You need to understand something. Phones can be monitored. Messages can be traced. If they know I contacted you—”
“Who are they?””
Silence.
Then:
“The same people who destroyed your father.””
The call suddenly became filled with static.
“Daniel?””
A sharp noise interrupted.
Then his voice returned.
“Evelyn, listen to me carefully.””
I held my breath.
“There is a file hidden in your father’s old office.””
I frowned.
“My father’s office was emptied years ago.””
“Not everything.””
My heartbeat increased.
“There’s a false wall behind the bookshelf.””
I froze.
“What?””
“Your father built a hidden compartment. He told me if anything happened to him, only one person should know about it.””
“Who?””
“You.””
I looked around the boutique.
Everyone seemed far away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I was afraid.””
That answer shocked me more than anything else.
Daniel Cross was fearless.
My father used to say Daniel was the only person who could walk into a room full of billionaires and make them nervous.
But now he sounded terrified.
“Afraid of what?””
“Of making you the next target.””
Before I could respond, the call ended.
I stared at my phone.
The screen reflected my face.
A woman who had walked into a store thirty minutes earlier expecting to buy a jacket.
A woman who had just discovered her father’s death might have been murder.
“Ms. Bennett?””
Thomas’s voice pulled me back.
I looked up.
The boutique manager was standing several feet away.
He looked nervous.
“I apologize, but… security needs to know if you’re leaving.””
I almost laughed.
Security.
The same people who had dragged me out moments ago.
Now they wanted permission to let me walk away.
“I’m leaving.””
Thomas nodded quickly.
Victoria stepped forward.
“Wait.””
I stopped.
She looked different.
The arrogance was still there.
But fear had replaced confidence.
“You heard what your father said, didn’t you?”” I asked.
Her expression changed.
“What?””
I studied her face.
“You know something.””
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
“Your father told you who I was.””
She looked away for half a second.
That was enough.
“You knew my family was connected to mine.””
Victoria crossed her arms.
“My father knows many people.””
“But he reacted differently when he heard my name.””
Her silence confirmed it.
I walked closer.
“What did your father tell you about Evelyn Bennett?””
She looked at me.
For a moment, I saw a conflict in her eyes.
Fear.
Confusion.
Maybe even guilt.
Then the mask returned.
“You’re imagining things.””
“Am I?””
“Yes.””
She stepped closer.
“You think because you have money, you can accuse anyone you want.””
I smiled slightly.
“That’s interesting.””
“What?””
“Because that’s exactly what you did to me thirty minutes ago.””
Her face hardened.
“That’s different.””
“No.””
I looked directly at her.
“It isn’t.””
The customers who had filmed my humiliation were now watching silently.
They had wanted a show.
They got one.
But not the one they expected.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“You have no idea what you’re involving yourself in.””
The words were almost a warning.
Almost.
I noticed.
“You’re telling me to stop?””
“I’m telling you to be careful.””
I studied her.
“Why?””
She looked toward the entrance.
Then back at me.
“Because my father isn’t the worst person you’ll find.””
Before I could ask what that meant, her phone rang.
She looked down.
The caller ID appeared.
Her father.
She answered immediately.
“Dad?””
Her expression changed as she listened.
Then she looked at me.
“What?””
A long pause.
“Where?””
Another pause.
“Tonight?””
She ended the call.
“What happened?”” I asked.
She hesitated.
Then she said something I never expected.
“My father wants to meet you.””
“Why?””
Victoria looked uncomfortable.
“Because he said…”
She swallowed.
“He said you finally found out the truth.””
The air became heavy.
“And?””
She looked me directly in the eyes.
“He wants to know if you’re ready to learn why your father really died.””
My phone buzzed again.
Another message from David.
I opened it.
This time, there was an attachment.
A photograph.
A photograph of a document.
At the bottom was a signature.
My father’s signature.
And beside it was another name.
A name I recognized instantly.
A name that made my blood run cold.
Because it belonged to someone who had comforted me at my father’s funeral.
Someone who had promised to protect me.
Someone who had been running Bennett Group with me for twelve years.
May you like
The message beneath the photo contained only five words.
*THE TRAITOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLOSE.*
