Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Betrayed Her Son
Margaret took them to a house outside the city.
The place was surrounded by pine trees and darkness.
Inside, Clare found her mother sitting at a kitchen table.
Alive.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
“Mom.”
Her mother stood so quickly the chair fell behind her.
“Clare.”
They embraced.
Clare cried.
Her mother did too.
Gabriel remained near the doorway.
Margaret stood beside him.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Clare stepped back.
“Why did you let them take me?”
Her mother closed her eyes.
“I thought I could protect you.”
“You let me marry Derek.”
“I didn't know what he was planning.”
“That's not true.”
Her mother looked at Margaret.
Margaret nodded.
“I knew.”
Clare stared at her.
“What?”
Margaret swallowed.
“I knew Derek wanted your inheritance.”
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
“Because Derek was being controlled.”
“By whom?”
She looked at Gabriel.
“Your uncle.”
Clare went still.
“I don't have an uncle.”
“You did.”
Her mother sat down.
“Your father's younger brother, Edward Bennett.”
Clare shook her head.
“Edward died before I was born.”
“No.”
Her mother spoke softly.
“He disappeared.”
Margaret continued.
“Edward was involved with the D’Amico network.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“That's impossible.”
Margaret looked at him.
“Your family thought the D’Amicos ended with Anthony.”
“They didn't.”
“No.”
She opened a file.
Edward Bennett had survived.
And for twenty years, he had been using different identities.
He had helped orchestrate the deaths of anyone who knew about the old harbor agreement.
Clare looked at Derek's photographs again.
The mysterious man beside him.
Now she recognized him.
Not Simon Whitmore.
Edward Bennett.
Her own uncle.
“The man in the photograph…”
Margaret nodded.
“Your uncle.”
Clare felt dizzy.
“Why did he want the property?”
“Because he had debts.”
“How much?”
“Enough to destroy every company he touched.”
Her mother looked at Clare.
“He believed your father's assets could rebuild his empire.”
“And Derek?”
“Edward approached him.”
“Why?”
“Derek was ambitious.”
“He wanted money.”
“He wanted power.”
Clare stared.
“And you, Mom?”
Her mother looked broken.
“I discovered what they were doing six months ago.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was being watched.”
She took out a photograph.
Clare and Derek.
Taken before their engagement.
A man was standing in the background.
Edward.
Clare's stomach turned.
“I was followed.”
Her mother nodded.
“And when I tried to contact you, Derek intercepted the message.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Why didn't you contact my family?”
“Because I was afraid Gabriel would kill them.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“I don't kill innocent people.”
“I didn't know that.”
“Then you should have asked.”
Margaret lowered her head.
“My son was willing to do anything for the money.”
“And you?”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“I was willing to sacrifice myself to stop him.”
Clare looked at her.
“Then why the wedding contract?”
Margaret answered:
“Because that wasn't Derek's contract.”
She handed Gabriel a copy.
“It was mine.”
Clare stared.
“What?”
Margaret said:
“I created it.”
“Why?”
“To expose him.”
She explained.
The contract Derek had placed before Clare contained deliberately illegal clauses.
Any lawyer would recognize them.
Margaret had inserted them months earlier.
Her goal was to force Derek to reveal his intention in front of witnesses.
She had expected Clare to refuse.
She never expected him to strike her.
Clare's eyes burned.
“You used my wedding as a trap.”
“Yes.”
“I was terrified.”
“I know.”
“You could have warned me.”
“I tried.”
Derek had intercepted every message.
Clare stared at her.
Margaret continued.
“I needed Gabriel to witness the transfer attempt.”
“Why?”
“Because the Moretti family had the only surviving copy of the original contract.”
Gabriel looked down.
His mother’s signature.
Clare's father's signature.
Two family seals.
And one clause at the bottom.
If either heir is threatened, the Moretti family shall act as guardian until the threat is eliminated.
Clare looked at Gabriel.
“So you're legally bound to protect me.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you came.”
“Partly.”
“And the rest?”
He met her eyes.
“Your father asked me to.”
Clare's heart skipped.
Before she could speak, gunfire erupted outside.
Windows shattered.
Margaret pushed her daughter down.
Gabriel drew his weapon.
The house exploded into chaos.
Men surrounded the property.
Gabriel's security team returned fire.
Clare crawled toward her mother.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked through the window.
“They found us.”
“How?”
Her mother pointed at Derek's wedding ring.
Clare pulled it off.
The tracking device.
Gabriel smashed it beneath his shoe.
Then he looked at Margaret.
“Everyone out.”
They escaped through a tunnel beneath the house.
The passage led into the forest.
Behind them, the house burned.
Clare watched the flames.
Her wedding dress still stained with dirt.
Her mother's hand in hers.
Gabriel beside them.
She realized her entire life had become a battlefield overnight.
And Derek had only been the first enemy.
The second was family.
The third was the man who had been dead for twenty years.
Edward Bennett.
They reached a safe house before dawn.
Margaret was silent.
Clare finally asked:
“How do we find Edward?”
Margaret looked at Gabriel.
“There is only one person he trusts.”
“Who?”
“Derek.”
Clare felt her stomach tighten.
“You mean he's still with Derek?”
Margaret nodded.
“And tomorrow morning…”
She stopped.
“What?”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“He is going to the one place he believes nobody will look.”
May you like
“Where?”
“Your father's grave.”
