Chapter 6 - VANESSA'S SECRET
Vanessa immediately denied everything.
"I didn't do anything!"
The detective calmly placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Vanessa entering a private security office.
Another showed her leaving.
A third showed her purchasing the tracking device.
Vanessa stared at the photographs.
"That's impossible."
The detective looked at her.
"We have the receipt."
Grant turned toward his wife.
"You did this?"
Vanessa looked terrified.
"You told me to."
Grant froze.
"I never told you to track the girls."
"You said we needed leverage!"
"I meant legal leverage!"
"You said Lauren had to disappear!"
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
"What?"
Vanessa covered her mouth.
She realized too late that she had said too much.
The detective immediately stepped closer.
"Mrs. Bennett, I need you to repeat that."
Vanessa shook her head.
"I didn't mean—"
"You said Lauren had to disappear."
"I was angry."
"Anger doesn't explain surveillance."
Grant began shouting.
"This is ridiculous!"
The detective turned toward him.
"Actually, Mr. Bennett, it gets worse."
He placed another file on the table.
Financial transfers.
Private investigator payments.
Offshore accounts.
And one final document.
A contract.
Grant had paid someone to create false evidence suggesting that I had misused military funds years earlier.
My stomach turned.
He had planned to destroy my career.
My reputation.
My family.
Everything.
Michael looked at me.
"How long has he been doing this?"
The detective answered.
"At least eighteen months."
Then Daniel entered.
Grant stared at him.
His face went white.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"Hello, Grant."
Grant took a step backward.
"You died."
Daniel smiled sadly.
"Apparently not."
My father stood.
"Daniel..."
Daniel looked at him.
"You knew I was alive."
My father closed his eyes.
"I couldn't stop him."
"You could have told Lauren."
"I was afraid."
Daniel's voice hardened.
"That's what everyone says."
Then Grant shouted:
"None of this matters!"
Everyone turned.
He pointed at me.
"She isn't even entitled to the trust!"
I froze.
"Why?"
Grant laughed.
"Because she's not Eleanor's daughter."
Daniel's expression changed.
The detective looked confused.
I stared at Grant.
"What did you just say?"
Grant smiled.
"Your precious father didn't tell you everything."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Grant."
But Grant continued.
"Lauren isn't Eleanor's biological daughter."
My world stopped.
I looked at Daniel.
"Is that true?"
Daniel said nothing.
I felt something break inside me.
All the answers.
All the documents.
Everything I had believed.
Gone.
Then Daniel finally spoke.
"Lauren..."
"Tell me."
He swallowed.
"You are Eleanor's daughter."
Grant laughed.
"Then why did the DNA test say otherwise?"
I turned toward him.
"What DNA test?"
He pulled out his phone.
A laboratory report.
My DNA.
Compared to Daniel's.
The result showed no biological relationship.
Daniel stared at the document.
Then he smiled.
Not happily.
He looked almost relieved.
"That's the trick."
Grant's smile disappeared.
Daniel pointed at the report.
"This isn't Lauren's DNA."
I stared.
"What?"
"The sample was contaminated."
Grant went pale.
Daniel looked at the detective.
"That laboratory has already been investigated."
The detective nodded.
"It was."
I suddenly understood.
Grant had fabricated the DNA report.
He wanted me to believe I wasn't Eleanor's daughter.
Why?
Because the trust belonged to Eleanor's biological child.
Me.
If I believed I wasn't her daughter, I might surrender my claim.
Grant had built an entire conspiracy around one lie.
But there was still one unanswered question.
Who had helped him?
The detective opened another folder.
"We know."
He slid a photograph across the table.
A lawyer.
My father's longtime attorney.
The man who had handled the adoption.
The man who had prepared the forged trust documents.
My father's oldest friend.
My father stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
"Richard."
The detective nodded.
"Richard Hale."
May you like
And then he added:
"He's already talking."