Chapter 8 - THE DINNER TABLE
Richard asked to meet me.
I chose the place.
Claire’s conference room.
No restaurants.
No family home.
No comfortable setting where he could pretend we were still relatives.
Richard arrived in a gray suit.
Perfectly pressed.
Perfectly composed.
He had spent forty years building a reputation as a respected physician and philanthropist.
People listened when Richard Bennett entered a room.
I used to.
Not anymore.
“Rachel.”
“Richard.”
He sat.
“I’m deeply sorry about Daniel.”
“Which part?”
He sighed.
“I understand you’re angry.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn facts into emotions.”
He looked surprised.
“This isn’t about me being angry.”
I placed a copy of the financial ledger on the table.
“It’s about this.”
Richard’s expression changed.
Barely.
But enough.
“Where did you get that?”
“Interesting question.”
He stared at the notebook.
“That document is private.”
“So was my inheritance.”
His jaw tightened.
“Daniel assured me you approved those investments.”
“Did he also assure you I approved his girlfriend?”
Richard looked away.
“I told him the affair was a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“Yes.”
“You vacationed with her.”
“That trip was supposed to help resolve a difficult family situation.”
I laughed.
“Rome?”
He said nothing.
“You were going to help resolve his affair in a luxury hotel?”
“Rachel.”
“You stood beside Vanessa at the airport while Daniel was on the phone telling me he was at the hospital.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“I did not know he was telling you that.”
“Did you think he told me he was going to Rome with his mistress?”
Silence.
Exactly.
I slid another paper across the table.
$310,000.
Richard stared at it.
“Explain.”
“It was a loan.”
“From a company funded partly by my inheritance.”
“It was repaid.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
His eyes moved toward Claire.
She said nothing.
Richard realized he wasn’t talking to the daughter-in-law who used to bring dessert to Sunday dinner.
He was talking to the woman whose attorney had already traced the money.
“I intended to repay it.”
“When?”
“The timing became complicated.”
“Everything becomes complicated when someone gets caught.”
He leaned forward.
“Rachel, destroying Daniel financially will not heal you.”
There it was.
The family argument.
Protect Daniel.
Protect Richard.
Protect the Bennett name.
Even now.
“I’m not destroying anyone.”
I leaned forward too.
“I’m asking where my money went.”
“You will receive everything you are entitled to.”
“Entitled to?”
I repeated.
“It was mine before you touched it.”
Richard stood.
“This conversation is becoming unproductive.”
I remained seated.
“No.”
“It finally became productive.”
He picked up his coat.
At the door, he turned.
“You should think carefully before making private family matters public.”
It sounded almost like a warning.
Claire immediately spoke.
“Richard.”
He looked at her.
“You may want to be extremely careful with your next sentence.”
He stared at us.
Then left.
Two hours later, Marcus called.
He had found the overseas account.
And Richard’s name was on it.
So was Daniel’s.
But that wasn’t the surprise.
The surprise was the balance.
$1.3 million.
May you like
Far more money than they had taken from me.
Which meant my inheritance wasn’t the only money the Bennett family had been moving.
