Daniel crossed the street slowly.
He wore a dark coat and carried no weapon.
That somehow made him more frightening.
Ryan stepped between us.
“Don't.”
Daniel smiled.
“Move aside.”
“No.”
“You've made enough mistakes.”
Ryan didn't move.
Daniel looked at me.
“Lauren, I think we should talk.”
“I don't.”
“You will.”
Rachel came out of the house.
Daniel glanced at her.
“Attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
“Then perhaps you understand the seriousness of what she's holding.”
Rachel folded her arms.
“She has legal counsel now.”
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“That won't protect her.”
I held the metal box tighter.
“You worked for my father.”
“I did.”
“You helped him create the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You also helped Barbara.”
“I represented several members of the family.”
“You notarized documents with my forged signature.”
“I notarized what was presented to me.”
“You're lying.”
His expression remained calm.
“Can you prove it?”
Rachel stepped forward.
“We can.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then you should.”
He turned back to me.
“Your father made many enemies.”
“So did you.”
“Perhaps.”
“Where is he?”
Daniel's expression changed.
For the first time, I saw something like concern.
“He is not where you think.”
“Where is he?”
“He's looking for you.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You don't.”
He looked at the metal box.
“Your father left something inside that file that will change your understanding of everything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To stop you from opening it.”
I almost smiled.
“That's exactly why I'm going to.”
Daniel stepped closer.
Ryan grabbed his arm.
Daniel turned.
“You don't want to do this.”
Ryan released him.
“I've wanted to for years.”
Daniel looked at him with disappointment.
“You were given one task.”
“I failed.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“And now you've endangered everyone.”
Ryan's jaw tightened.
“Leave her alone.”
Daniel laughed.
“You still think this is about her.”
I felt a chill.
“What is it about?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father.”
I opened the metal box.
Rachel said, “Lauren, wait.”
I removed the first document.
Daniel's expression changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
I turned the page.
It was a trust amendment.
My father had changed the succession order.
The first beneficiary was no longer me.
It was someone else.
I read the name.
Emily Carter.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why is Emily the beneficiary?”
He didn't answer.
Rachel took the document.
“This isn't possible.”
“Why?”
“The amendment isn't dated.”
I looked closer.
The signature was my father's.
But the ink looked fresh.
Daniel smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“This is fake.”
“No.”
“Then why is it undated?”
“Because the amendment was never filed.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father disappeared before he could.”
I felt confused.
“Then what does it mean?”
“It means the trust can still be changed.”
Daniel looked directly at me.
“And someone is about to change it.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
“Lauren, don't trust Daniel.”
My heart stopped.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then:
“Go to the house.”
“What house?”
“Our house.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Rachel.
“Was that him?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel suddenly looked frightened.
“Where is your phone?”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Lauren, listen to me.”
He stepped forward.
Rachel blocked him.
“Don't touch her.”
Daniel looked at Ryan.
“Your mother has already gone to the house.”
Ryan froze.
“Which house?”
“The one your father built.”
Ryan's face drained of color.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked at me.
“The house you just bought was never the real house.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The property was a decoy.”
Rachel shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if the trust assets are hidden.”
I felt dizzy.
“The house is connected to the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Then why sell it?”
“To bring you there.”
“For what?”
“To make you sign.”
I thought of the hidden compartment.
My father's key.
The file.
The secret room.
The house had been prepared long before I ever met Ryan.
Daniel continued.
“Your father hid the original trust ledger beneath that property.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because he knew the Bennett family would search everywhere else.”
“Then Barbara knew?”
“No.”
“Ryan?”
“No.”
“Who knew?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father.”
I stared at him.
“You're saying nobody else knew?”
“I knew.”
“And Susan?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she sell it to me?”
“To put the property under your control.”
I finally understood.
The discounted sale.
The house.
The secret compartment.
The succession file.
The trust.
It had all been designed to bring me into control of the property before the Bennetts could reach it.
But then why had Ryan been involved?
Why had he added himself to the deed?
Daniel answered as though he could read my thoughts.
“Because Barbara discovered the plan.”
“And Ryan?”
“He was ordered to marry you and gain control.”
I looked at Ryan.
He didn't deny it.
Daniel continued.
“Ryan was supposed to obtain your signature.”
“But he didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“Because he fell in love with you.”
I looked at Ryan.
His eyes were wet.
I wanted to believe him.
That was the dangerous part.
I still wanted to.
Then Rachel asked the question none of us had considered.
“If the ledger is under the house, why hasn't anyone found it?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because it isn't under the house.”
Silence.
“Where?”
Daniel pointed toward me.
“You're carrying the key.”
I looked down.
The brass key from my father's envelope.
“That's for the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he leave it in the book?”
“Because only you were supposed to find it.”
I looked toward the house.
Barbara had already gone there.
I understood immediately.
“We have to go.”
Ryan stepped toward me.
“I'll come.”
“No.”
“Lauren.”
“I don't know whether I can trust you.”
He stopped.
“You shouldn't.”
That answer hurt.
But it was honest.
Rachel, Megan, and I got into the car.
Daniel followed in his SUV.
Ryan drove behind us.
The house was dark when we arrived.
Barbara's car stood in the driveway.
The front door was open.
I stepped inside.
“Mom?”
Ryan called.
No answer.
The air smelled like smoke.
I froze.
A thin trail of it came from the hallway.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
We moved toward the hidden room.
The bookshelf had been torn away.
The compartment was empty.
The metal box was gone.
I turned.
“Barbara.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Then a crash.
Ryan ran ahead.
We followed.
Barbara stood in the bedroom holding the metal box.
Beside her was Daniel.
I stopped.
Daniel hadn't followed us.
Yet he was already there.
I looked behind me.
His SUV was still outside.
My blood ran cold.
The man beside Barbara wasn't Daniel.
It was someone who looked almost exactly like him.
Older.
Gray-haired.
And when he turned toward me, I knew the face.
I had seen it in my father's photograph.
My father.
He stared at me.
“Lauren.”
I couldn't breathe.
Ryan whispered behind me.
“Dad?”
My father looked at him.
Then at Barbara.
Then back at me.
“You weren't supposed to come here yet.”
Barbara's grip tightened around the metal box.
My father took one step forward.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
I could barely speak.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
His face broke.
“Because I wasn't hiding from them.”
He looked at Ryan.
“I was hiding from my own son-in-law.”
Ryan went pale.
I stared at him.
My father continued.
“Ryan is not the man you think he is.”
I looked at my husband.
He said nothing.
Then my father opened his hand.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Ryan standing beside Barbara.
And between them was another man.
A man I recognized from the old trust records.
Arthur Bennett.
Ryan's father.
But Arthur had supposedly died eleven years earlier.
My father looked at me.
“Your husband has been working with a dead man.”
I felt the room tilt.
Then Barbara smiled.
“Finally,” she whispered.
And the lights went out.
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: When the Lights Went Out, My Father Revealed the Lie Behind Ryan’s Family, and the Truth Made Our Marriage Look Like a Carefully Built Trap
Four Days After Our Wedding, a Photograph From My Husband’s Cousin Turned Our Perfect Honeymoon Into Something I Couldn’t Explain
Part 8 of 20
