Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
I couldn't feel my hands.
My father.
Thomas Bennett.
Dead for seven years.
Standing in a hospital hallway six months ago.
It was impossible.
I stared at the photograph until the pixels blurred.
“That's him.”
Adrian didn't speak.
“That's my father.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
“But you recognize him.”
“I recognize the face.”
My voice broke.
“Adrian, my father is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then who is that?”
Marco answered.
“We don't know.”
I looked at him.
“Find out.”
Adrian's eyes remained on the screen.
“Already doing it.”
I hated how calm he sounded.
I wanted him to be shocked.
I wanted someone else to tell me this was impossible.
Instead, Adrian stepped closer.
“Claire, look at me.”
I did.
“We're leaving this hospital.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my appointment isn't finished.”
“Your safety matters more.”
“My baby matters more.”
His eyes softened.
“Our baby.”
I looked away.
Those two words still felt dangerous.
We were divorced.
He was still the man who had broken my heart.
And yet, somehow, he was the only person standing beside me while my entire understanding of my family collapsed.
The elevator doors opened.
A woman stepped out.
Black coat.
Dark hair.
Gold ring.
Vanessa.
She saw us.
Her expression changed.
Then she turned around.
Adrian moved instantly.
“Vanessa.”
She stopped.
Slowly, she faced him.
“I didn't come here for you.”
“Then why are you wearing Claire's bracelet?”
Her eyes dropped to the silver chain in his hand.
She went pale.
“I don't have her bracelet.”
“Someone does.”
Vanessa looked at me.
For the first time, I saw something I hadn't expected.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
She whispered,
“Claire, you shouldn't be here.”
I stepped toward her.
“Why?”
She glanced at Adrian.
Then Marco.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
She swallowed.
“Your father is alive.”
The corridor seemed to disappear.
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Tell us everything.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because he isn't the person you think he is anymore.”
I felt anger rise.
“My father is dead.”
“He was supposed to be.”
“Supposed to be?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Your father survived the crash.”
I couldn't speak.
Adrian asked,
“Why was his death reported?”
Vanessa looked down.
“Because he asked for it.”
My mind struggled to catch up.
“Why would he do that?”
“Because someone was hunting him.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You know more than you're saying.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know that Claire was never the target.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“The target was you.”
Adrian went still.
Vanessa continued.
“Your father believed marrying Adrian would put you in danger.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It did to him.”
“Did my father know Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Vanessa looked at Adrian.
“His mother.”
Adrian's face changed.
“My mother?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Your mother knew Thomas Bennett.”
I remembered the story.
Adrian's mother had been distant from most people.
She had worked with charities and rarely discussed her private life.
“How?”
Vanessa took a breath.
“They were investigating the same people.”
“Which people?”
She looked at me.
“People inside Moretti Capital.”
Adrian's expression turned cold.
“That company has hundreds of employees.”
“Not them.”
She lowered her voice.
“Three.”
“Names.”
“I don't have all three.”
“Then give me what you have.”
Vanessa hesitated.
“One was your father's attorney.”
My heart sank.
“My father's attorney died years ago.”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“He changed his name.”
The world felt unreal.
I looked at Adrian.
“What does this have to do with the divorce?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“You should tell her.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Tell me what?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I was the reason he divorced you.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“I was used.”
Adrian said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“They gave Adrian photographs of you with another man.”
“I remember.”
“They told him you were helping someone steal information from Moretti Capital.”
I stared at her.
“I wasn't.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because they needed Adrian to believe you were compromised.”
I looked at Adrian.
“You believed I was betraying you?”
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
“I never believed you.”
I stared at him.
“Then why did you act like you did?”
“Because they were watching.”
Vanessa nodded.
“They told him if he didn't divorce you, they would make it look like you were responsible for the company's losses.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“They would have put you in prison.”
Silence.
Adrian's face was rigid.
“I chose the divorce because prison was temporary.”
I looked at him.
“And losing me?”
His eyes met mine.
“I thought I could survive that.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“I was wrong.”
For the first time, I believed him.
But another question remained.
“Why did you stay with Vanessa?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I never stayed with him.”
“What?”
“I helped him.”
She looked at me.
“From the beginning.”
I didn't understand.
“Then why did you let me hate you?”
“Because they believed I was still in love with Adrian.”
Adrian added quietly,
“And that belief kept them watching her instead of Claire.”
The pieces were falling together.
But one piece was still missing.
My father.
I turned to Vanessa.
“Where is he?”
She looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you say he was alive?”
“Because I saw him six months ago.”
“Where?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Outside a private clinic.”
My hand went to my stomach.
“The clinic in the photograph?”
She nodded.
“What was he doing there?”
Vanessa's eyes moved to my stomach.
“He was asking about you.”
My heart broke open.
“What did he ask?”
“She said you were pregnant.”
I froze.
“Who?”
“The woman pretending to be you.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She told your father that Claire Bennett was expecting Adrian Moretti's child.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“When was this?”
“Six months ago.”
I did the math.
Six months ago.
Before I knew I was pregnant.
Before the divorce.
Before everything.
Vanessa reached into her purse.
She pulled out a small object.
A gold pocket watch.
She handed it to me.
I recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to my father.
He had carried it every day.
My fingers closed around it.
On the back was the inscription he had always hidden from me.
T.B. — FOR THE CHILD WHO MUST NEVER KNOW.
I looked up.
“What does this mean?”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“It means your father knew Adrian's family long before you ever met him.”
Then the watch clicked open.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Not of my father.
Not of Adrian.
But of my mother.
Standing beside Adrian's mother.
May you like
And between them was a young man who looked exactly like Adrian.
Except he wasn't Adrian.
