Chapter 12 — The Trap
Chapter 12 — The Trap
The police officer's words followed me all the way down the hospital corridor.
Victor Bennett is alive.
I couldn't make the pieces fit.
For nineteen years, my family had spoken about Victor as though he were a ghost.
A dangerous man.
A ruthless businessman.
A man who had disappeared after my father's death.
A man who had supposedly fled the country.
Yet now Anna was telling me he was alive.
And worse—
he was my biological father.
I stopped walking.
“Where is he?”
Anna looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“You just said he's alive.”
“I said he survived.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
Anna's face tightened.
“Somewhere close.”
“How close?”
She hesitated.
“Closer than you think.”
Before I could ask another question, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
If you want to know why Daniel died, come to the Carter estate before midnight. Come alone.
I stared at the screen.
Anna read it over my shoulder.
Her face immediately changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“You can't go.”
“Why?”
“Because this is what they wanted.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“The trap has already been set.”
I looked at Ethan.
He had been silent for several minutes.
Now he stepped forward.
“She's right.”
I turned toward him.
“Then tell me what the trap is.”
He didn't answer.
“Ethan.”
“I don't know.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“I genuinely don't.”
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Anna.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was Victor's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the will.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're telling me you don't know what's happening?”
His jaw tightened.
“I know enough to be afraid.”
“For yourself?”
“For you.”
I almost laughed.
“You don't get to use that word anymore.”
“What word?”
“Protect.”
He looked wounded.
“I'm not trying to protect you from the truth.”
“Then what are you trying to protect me from?”
He lowered his voice.
“My father.”
We returned to Bennett's office.
The police had taken my mother.
Richard was missing.
Thomas was dead.
Laura was still recovering in the hospital.
Chloe had disappeared.
And now Victor Bennett was apparently alive.
The family I had trusted for decades had become a maze of lies.
Anna placed an old photograph on the table.
“This was taken twenty-one years ago.”
I looked at it.
My father stood on the left.
A younger Victor stood beside him.
Between them was a woman.
My mother.
And in her arms—
a baby.
Me.
I stared at the photograph.
“Why would Dad keep this?”
“Because it was the last photograph of all of you together.”
I looked closer.
Victor wasn't smiling.
Neither was my mother.
But my father was.
He looked happy.
Almost peaceful.
Then I noticed something.
A small mark on the back of the photograph.
Three numbers.
11—17—03.
“What is that?”
Anna looked at it.
“I don't know.”
Bennett took the photograph.
His expression changed.
“I've seen this before.”
“Where?”
“In your father's financial records.”
“What does it mean?”
He turned the photograph over.
“It's not a date.”
“What is it?”
“A code.”
“For what?”
“A bank vault.”
My heart pounded.
“Which bank?”
Bennett looked at me.
“First Chicago Trust.”
“Does it still exist?”
“No.”
“Then the vault is gone.”
“Not necessarily.”
He opened an old database.
“First Chicago Trust was absorbed into another institution.”
“Which one?”
He gave me the name.
I recognized it immediately.
It was the bank where my sixty-thousand-dollar inheritance had been held.
My father's final gift.
The money my mother had demanded.
The money I had nearly handed over.
I stared at Bennett.
“That can't be a coincidence.”
“No.”
“The sixty thousand…”
“Wasn't the inheritance.”
I swallowed.
“What was it?”
“A key.”
We arrived at the bank shortly before closing.
Bennett had arranged access through a court order.
The vault manager met us in a private room.
He looked at the photograph.
Then at me.
“You're Daniel Carter's daughter.”
“Yes.”
He studied my face.
“You look exactly like him.”
I didn't know whether that comforted me or hurt.
“I need access to vault 111703.”
He hesitated.
“That vault hasn't been opened in nineteen years.”
“Can I open it?”
He looked at the paperwork.
“Yes.”
The vault was located beneath the old building.
A steel door.
A keypad.
A second lock.
Bennett entered the code.
Nothing happened.
He looked at me.
“Try your father's date of birth.”
I entered it.
Nothing.
Anna stepped forward.
“Try yours.”
I did.
Nothing.
Then I remembered my mother's words.
Your father created three trusts.
Three.
I entered:
1-1-1-7-0-3.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Inside was a single black box.
No money.
No jewelry.
No documents.
Just a black box.
I lifted it.
It was heavier than it looked.
I opened the lid.
Inside was a flash drive.
A key.
And a photograph.
I picked up the photograph.
My blood froze.
It showed my father.
Alive.
Standing outside St. Mary's.
Beside him was Victor.
And beside Victor—
Ethan.
But Ethan looked much younger.
Maybe eighteen.
I turned the photograph over.
A sentence was written in my father's handwriting.
The boy knows the truth.
I slowly looked at Ethan.
He had gone pale.
“You were there.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“With Dad.”
“Yes.”
“How old were you?”
“Eighteen.”
“What happened?”
“My father brought me there.”
“Why?”
“To meet yours.”
“Why?”
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“Because your father wanted me to know what my father had done.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That Victor had betrayed him.”
“Did he tell you he was my biological father?”
“No.”
“Then when did you find out?”
“Years later.”
I looked at the flash drive.
“What is this?”
Ethan didn't answer.
I plugged it into the laptop.
One file appeared.
FINAL_MEETING.mp4
I pressed play.
My father's face filled the screen.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
I covered my mouth.
“Hello, Natalie.”
My heart shattered.
“If you're watching this, then I failed to come home.”
He paused.
“But don't believe everything you've been told.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Victor did not kill me.”
Everyone in the room froze.
“What?”
My father continued.
“Victor betrayed me. He stole from me. He lied to me. But he did not order my death.”
The video paused.
Then continued.
“The person who ordered the attack was someone I loved.”
My blood ran cold.
My father leaned closer to the camera.
“Someone I trusted with my life.”
The screen went black.
A second video automatically opened.
My mother appeared.
She was much younger.
Crying.
Sitting in a dark room.
“I didn't know what else to do.”
Her voice shook.
“Daniel found out.”
The recording ended.
A third file opened.
My father again.
“Margaret is not the killer.”
I stared at the screen.
“Then who?”
My father's expression became grim.
“The person who ordered my death is the person who will inherit everything if Natalie dies.”
I stopped breathing.
The third trust.
The final beneficiary.
The trap.
I opened the will.
The last clause had been hidden beneath a second layer of encryption.
Bennett decrypted it.
A name appeared.
ETHAN BENNETT.
Silence.
I looked at Ethan.
He looked devastated.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You are the beneficiary.”
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
“If I die, you inherit everything.”
“I swear I didn't know.”
I looked at the screen.
My father's voice continued.
“If Natalie dies before the age of thirty-five, the third trust transfers to Ethan Bennett.”
My heart pounded.
“But there is one condition.”
The screen changed.
Ethan must be married to Natalie at the time of her death.
Nobody moved.
The room seemed to lose oxygen.
My engagement ring suddenly felt like a weight around my finger.
Ethan stepped toward me.
“Natalie…”
I backed away.
“Don't.”
“I didn't know.”
“But someone did.”
He looked at the will.
“Yes.”
“And someone has spent years making sure we stayed together.”
His expression changed.
“My father.”
“Maybe.”
“Or someone else.”
I stared at the screen.
My father's final sentence appeared.
If Ethan is still with you when you discover this, do not assume he is your enemy.
I swallowed.
Assume someone wants you to believe he is.
The video ended.
That night, I didn't sleep.
I sat alone in my apartment.
The engagement ring lay on the table.
I stared at it for hours.
Then I noticed something.
A tiny inscription inside the band.
I'd never seen it before.
I picked it up.
Three words.
NOT WHAT IT SEEMS.
My blood ran cold.
Ethan had chosen this ring.
Or someone had.
I called him.
“Where did you get my ring?”
Silence.
“Ethan.”
“My father gave it to me.”
I closed my eyes.
“When?”
“Before I proposed.”
“Why?”
“He told me it belonged to your father.”
I stared at the ring.
“It belonged to Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you give it to me?”
“He told me to.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
I heard him breathing.
Then he said:
“Because he wanted you to have it.”
I looked at the inscription.
“Did Dad tell you what it meant?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Another silence.
“Ethan.”
He whispered:
“Victor.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he say?”
“He told me that if you ever asked about the ring…”
He paused.
“I was supposed to bring you to him.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“I swear.”
A sound came from my hallway.
I froze.
Someone was outside my apartment.
I whispered:
“Someone's here.”
Ethan's voice became urgent.
“Lock the door.”
I grabbed the nearest object.
“I'm calling the police.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever is there wants you to do that.”
I moved toward the door.
A shadow passed beneath it.
Then a folded piece of paper slid across the floor.
I picked it up.
One sentence.
You have ten minutes.
Below it:
Then your sister dies.
My blood froze.
I called Chloe.
No answer.
Anna.
No answer.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Do you want your sister alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then leave the apartment.”
“Where?”
“Your father's old house.”
“Why?”
“Because the truth is there.”
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“You've known me all your life.”
The call ended.
I looked at Ethan.
He was standing in my doorway.
I hadn't heard him enter.
“How did you get in?”
He didn't answer.
His face was pale.
“Natalie…”
“What?”
“Don't go to the house.”
“Why?”
“Because it's a trap.”
“I know.”
He looked shocked.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
I picked up the ring.
“But now I want to know who set it.”
The old Carter estate was dark.
The gates stood open.
No security.
No lights.
No guards.
We entered.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, everything was exactly as I remembered.
My father's desk.
My mother's piano.
The portrait above the fireplace.
But something felt wrong.
Too quiet.
I walked toward the study.
A light was on.
Someone was sitting behind my father's desk.
I stopped.
The figure slowly stood.
A man stepped into the light.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
A familiar face.
My breath caught.
Ethan stopped behind me.
“Dad.”
Victor Bennett looked at his son.
Then at me.
“Natalie.”
I couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
He smiled.
“I never died.”
“You killed my father.”
“No.”
“You betrayed him.”
“Yes.”
“You stole from him.”
“Yes.”
“You're my biological father.”
His smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“Where is Chloe?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“She's upstairs.”
I started forward.
Victor raised a hand.
“First, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“Your father didn't leave you sixty thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“He left you an empire.”
“I know.”
“He didn't create three trusts.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“There were four.”
My heart stopped.
“Four?”
Victor nodded.
“The fourth contains the truth.”
“What truth?”
“The identity of the person who ordered your father's death.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
Victor looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
“I didn't kill Daniel.”
He paused.
“Neither did your mother.”
“Then who?”
Victor's voice became barely audible.
“The person standing closest to you.”
My heart pounded.
I looked at Ethan.
Victor shook his head.
“Not him.”
I turned.
There was no one else.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
I spun around.
My mother stood in the doorway.
She was supposed to be in police custody.
Yet she was smiling.
“Hello, Natalie.”
My blood froze.
“How did you get out?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she walked toward me.
“Your father made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He believed blood was stronger than fear.”
She pulled a small remote from her pocket.
Victor's expression changed.
“Margaret.”
She pressed a button.
The doors slammed shut.
The windows locked.
The lights went out.
Then a voice came through the house speakers.
My father's voice.
“If you're hearing this, the trap has begun.”
I stared into the darkness.
My father's voice continued.
“Natalie, whoever brought you here is not the person you should fear.”
A pause.
Then:
“The person you should fear is already inside the house.”
I heard a click.
A gun being loaded.
Someone was standing behind me.
I turned.
And saw Chloe.
She was holding a gun.
Her eyes were full of tears.
“Natalie…”
I couldn't breathe.
“Chloe?”
She raised the weapon.
“I never wanted this.”
My mother smiled.
Victor stepped backward.
Ethan whispered my name.
And Chloe said the words that destroyed everything I thought I knew about my sister.
“I'm sorry.”
The gun pointed directly at me.
Then the lights came back on.
And on the wall behind Chloe was a photograph.
A photograph of my father.
Standing beside the same woman I had spent nineteen years believing was my mother.
But she wasn't Margaret.
She was someone else.
Someone I had never met.
Someone who looked exactly like me.
My father's first daughter.
Anna.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were four words:
SHE STARTED IT ALL.
