Chapter 7
Harrison suffered two broken ribs and a fractured wrist.
He refused to stay overnight at the hospital.
“I’ve had worse,” he said.
“No, you haven’t,” Khloe replied.
“Then I’ve imagined worse.”
Despite everything, she laughed.
It was the first time she had laughed since the fall.
Hope continued growing stronger.
Doctors removed her breathing tube, and Khloe held her for the first time.
The baby fit against her chest like she had always belonged there.
“You saved both of us,” Khloe whispered.
Harrison sat beside them with his arm in a cast.
“She saved herself.”
But Richard’s final words would not leave Khloe’s mind.
Ask your mother what happened the night your father died.
Their father, Samuel Bennett, had died in a car accident six years earlier.
His vehicle had gone through a barrier during a storm.
Police ruled it accidental.
After his funeral, Khloe inherited his controlling shares in Bennett Construction.
Richard had proposed two weeks later.
At the time, she had believed he wanted to comfort her.
Now the timing felt poisonous.
Diane entered the room carrying coffee.
Khloe waited until the nurse left.
“Mom, what happened the night Dad died?”
The cup slipped from Diane’s hand.
Coffee spilled across the floor.
Harrison stood.
“You know something.”
Diane stared at the closed door.
“Not here.”
They moved to a family consultation room.
Diane sat across from her children.
Her hands would not stop trembling.
“Your father called me that night,” she said. “He told me someone had tampered with the company accounts.”
“Who?” Khloe asked.
“He didn’t know. He believed an employee was sending money through fake suppliers.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“I did.”
Harrison frowned.
“There was nothing about fraud in the accident report.”
“The detective said the call wasn’t connected to the crash.”
“What else did Dad say?” Khloe asked.
Diane began crying.
“He said Richard had offered to meet him and bring financial records.”
The room became silent.
“Richard was with Dad that night?” Harrison asked.
“I don’t know. Richard said the meeting never happened.”
Khloe remembered something she had buried for years.
Richard had arrived at her apartment after midnight on the night of the accident.
His clothes were wet.
There was a cut across his hand.
He said he had broken a glass after hearing the news.
“Why did you keep this from us?” Harrison demanded.
“Khloe was falling apart. Richard was the only person who could calm her. I wanted to believe him.”
Khloe felt no anger toward her mother.
Richard had manipulated all of them.
Detective Ortiz reopened Samuel Bennett’s case.
The construction company’s archived records revealed payments to a business owned by Richard’s uncle.
More than two million dollars had disappeared.
Samuel discovered the theft three days before his death.
Ortiz visited Richard in jail.
He refused to answer questions.
Vanessa, however, was ready to talk.
She had learned Richard kidnapped Natalie and planned to flee without either of them.
Her love had turned into hatred.
“I can prove Richard killed Samuel Bennett,” she told Ortiz.
In exchange for consideration in her own case, Vanessa surrendered an encrypted drive.
It contained recordings Richard had made to protect himself from his criminal partners.
In one recording, his uncle asked what happened on the bridge.
Richard replied, Samuel wouldn’t stop asking questions, so I gave his car a little help.
Khloe listened to the recording with Harrison and Diane beside her.
Her father’s death had never been an accident.
Richard had entered her life, married her, and spent years waiting to steal what murder had not given him.
Then Ortiz played another file.
Vanessa’s voice filled the room.
If Khloe dies before the baby is born, you inherit everything.
Richard answered, That’s why the courthouse hearing has to be the end.
May you like
Vanessa had not simply lost control on the steps.
The push had been planned.
