Chapter 13 - THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED
Nobody moved.
Nobody could.
The man standing at the top of the stairs looked like a ghost.
Older.
Weaker.
But alive.
Laura stared at him, unable to process what her eyes were seeing.
“No…”
The word came out as a whisper.
“No, that’s impossible.”
The old man smiled.
A cold, familiar smile.
“Life is full of impossible things.”
Mark stepped forward.
His entire body was tense.
“Thomas Bennett.”
The man nodded.
“My grandson.”
Mark’s face twisted with anger.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
Thomas slowly walked down the stairs.
“I needed people to believe that.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked around the hidden room.
“At first, to survive.”
He touched the old files.
“Later, to control everything.”
Laura felt sick.
All these years.
All the secrets.
All the pain.
It had all started with him.
“You destroyed this family.”
Thomas looked at her.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Laura stepped closer.
“You ruined Dad’s life.”
Thomas laughed quietly.
“Your father was weak.”
The words hit Mark harder than anything.
“Don’t talk about him like that.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Your father had one weakness.”
“What?”
“He loved people more than power.”
Nobody answered.
Because that was exactly who their father was.
Thomas continued.
“I built the Bennett empire because I understood something your father never did.”
“What?”
“Trust is a luxury.”
He looked at Claire.
“Daniel Cross trusted the wrong people.”
Claire’s fists clenched.
“You killed my father.”
Thomas didn’t deny it.
“I removed a problem.”
The room became silent.
Claire moved forward.
“You destroyed my entire life.”
Thomas looked at her.
“And yet you survived.”
Mark stepped between them.
“You’re admitting everything?”
Thomas smiled.
“No.”
He pointed toward the files.
“I’m explaining.”
He walked closer.
“Daniel Cross discovered what our family was really built on.”
Laura frowned.
“What?”
Thomas looked at the documents.
“The Bennett fortune was never business.”
A pause.
“It was stolen.”
Everyone froze.
“The land. The companies. The money.”
Thomas looked at them.
“All of it came from people who never had the power to fight back.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“So Dad spent his whole life fixing your mistakes.”
Thomas smiled.
“Your father spent his whole life trying to become a better man than me.”
“And he succeeded.”
The words came from Mark.
For the first time, Thomas looked angry.
Only for a second.
But everyone saw it.
Then Thomas pulled something from his coat.
A small device.
Rebecca’s face changed.
“No.”
Mark looked at her.
“What is that?”
Rebecca whispered:
“The final backup.”
Thomas smiled.
“Your father was always prepared.”
The device beeped.
Thomas looked at the siblings.
“Inside this drive is everything.”
“The truth?”
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“And the reason your father died.”
Suddenly, the basement lights went out.
A struggle.
A shout.
A crash.
When the lights came back on…
May you like
Thomas was gone.
And the device was missing.
