Chapter 7 - ETHAN’S MEMORY
Ethan refused to name the person who had been in the stairwell.
That was the first thing he said when Daniel reached him.
I watched through a video call from the bridal lounge while paramedics examined the swelling along Ethan’s cheekbone.
“Did somebody push you?” Daniel asked.
Ethan looked toward someone outside the camera frame.
“No.”
“You told me not to trust the envelope.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t leave it.”
Daniel went silent.
I felt my stomach tighten.
The envelope had been staged.
Someone had placed suspicious documents in Ethan’s car and written Daniel’s name across the front.
“Then where are the real copies?” I asked.
Ethan finally looked at the screen.
“Claire?”
“I’m here.”
“Is Lily okay?”
Vanessa flinched at the question.
“She will be.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I should’ve told you.”
Daniel leaned toward the phone.
“Told her what?”
Ethan’s gaze shifted again.
“I found irregular transfers six weeks ago. Small ones first. Legal fees. Administrative fees. Then a request to move the principal.”
“From Lily’s trust?”
“Yes.”
Daniel swore under his breath.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“You told me there were discrepancies.”
“Because every time I scheduled a meeting, somebody knew what I was bringing before I arrived.”
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
She shook her head.
Ethan continued.
“I stopped using company email.”
“Who had access?”
“More people than you think.”
That answer irritated me.
“Ethan, my daughter was physically attacked over a piece of paper today. Stop protecting people.”
His face tightened.
“I’m protecting evidence.”
“From whom?”
He didn’t answer.
Then he said something that changed the entire shape of the problem.
“The $2.4 million was never transferred.”
Daniel blinked.
“What?”
“The request was submitted. It failed compliance review.”
Relief hit me so suddenly my knees weakened.
Lily’s money was still there.
That was the major payoff I needed.
Vanessa’s supposed company did not control the trust.
But Ethan wasn’t finished.
“The attempt triggered an internal review. That’s why whoever did this panicked.”
Daniel sat beside me.
“So Lily’s money is safe.”
“For now.”
“For now?”
Ethan looked directly at him.
“Because the trust wasn’t the only account attached to the authorization package.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“What else?”
“Your personal investment account.”
“How much?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Just under nine million.”
Vanessa whispered, “Oh my God.”
I looked at her.
Her surprise appeared genuine.
That disturbed me.
If Vanessa didn’t know about the larger target, then either she was an exceptional actress—
or she wasn’t the person running this.
Daniel asked Ethan where the real authorization package was.
Ethan hesitated.
Then a male voice sounded from somewhere beside his hospital gurney.
“Don’t answer that.”
Ethan’s head snapped toward the voice.
The video call abruptly ended.
Daniel called back.
No answer.
Vanessa stared at him.
“Who was that?”
Daniel didn’t respond.
I recognized the voice.
I had heard it dozens of times during my marriage.
It belonged to Daniel and Ethan’s father.
Charles Bennett.
May you like
And Charles had been standing beside Daniel during the reception when Vanessa grabbed Lily.
📖 Vanessa had looked like the obvious villain, but Charles’s intervention forced me to reconsider who had enough authority to manipulate every Bennett in the room. 👇
