Chapter 6 - My Husband's Mistress Was the Daughter of the Man His Father DestroyedWhen Andrew told me that Brenda Collins had been born Sofia Torres, my first reaction wasn't anger.
It was disbelief.
I had spent three days uncovering one betrayal after another, but this revelation seemed almost impossible.
The little girl whose father died on Victor Bennett's construction site had grown up, changed her name, married Andrew Collins, and become my husband's secretary.
Then she had started sleeping with Mark.
Then she had helped move money out of my company.
Coincidence no longer seemed plausible.
"Andrew," I said carefully, "are you absolutely certain?"
"I have a certified copy of her birth certificate. Her mother's name is Elena Torres. Her father's name is Gabriel Torres."
"Does Brenda know you found it?"
"No."
"Where is she?"
"At her sister's apartment, as far as I know."
"She has a sister?"
He hesitated.
"Not a biological sister. A woman she calls her sister. They've been friends since childhood."
I wrote everything down.
"Andrew, don't confront her again."
He laughed bitterly.
"Believe me, I've learned that lesson."
"Are you safe?"
"I think so."
"Has she threatened you?"
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
He lowered his voice.
"Someone came to our apartment yesterday. A man in a dark suit. He said he represented one of Brenda's employers and wanted to collect company documents."
My pulse quickened.
"Did he give a name?"
"No. But I recognized him."
"Who?"
"Charles Whitcomb."
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
"Did you let him inside?"
"No."
"What did he do?"
"He said I should remember that keeping confidential materials could create legal problems."
I gripped my pen.
"Andrew, tell Rebecca everything. And please stay somewhere secure until we understand what he's doing."
He sighed.
"I've been staying with my brother."
"Good."
A pause.
Then he asked something unexpected.
"Laura, do you think Brenda ever loved me?"
The question caught me off guard.
For all the financial documents and hidden identities, Andrew was still a man whose wife had betrayed him.
And his pain was no less real because her secrets were complicated.
"I don't know," I answered softly.
He was quiet.
"Neither do I."
After we disconnected, I sat alone in Emily's guest room.
On the dresser sat a photograph of Sophie wearing a pink birthday crown.
I stared at her smiling face.
Gabriel Torres's daughter had once been that age.
A child who thought the world was safe because adults promised to protect her.
Then her father died.
What happened to her afterward?
Who raised her?
And why had she chosen to enter my husband's company under another name?
The next morning, I met Rebecca.
I told her everything Andrew discovered.
She listened carefully before opening a new file.
"We've also located Elena Torres."
I sat forward.
"She's alive?"
"Yes. She's sixty-eight and lives in Newark, Ohio."
"Can I speak with her?"
Rebecca considered the request.
"We can ask. But she may not want to revisit what happened."
"I understand."
Rebecca nodded.
"I'll contact her attorney, if she has one, and see whether she's willing."
Then Samuel joined us.
He had found another significant piece of information.
Several years before Brenda was hired by Crestview, Sofia Torres had worked in the accounting department of a small investment firm that later became a client of Hawthorne Capital.
Her work history connected her to Charles Whitcomb.
Not Mark.
Charles.
I stared at the timeline.
"She knew Charles before she knew my husband?"
"At least professionally," Samuel said.
"And then Charles introduced her to Mark?"
"We haven't confirmed that."
But the pattern was unmistakable.
Charles controlled the financing network.
Brenda handled sensitive administrative documents.
Mark approved transactions.
Ofelia supported the effort to remove me from financial decisions.
Each person had a role.
I looked at Rebecca.
"Could Brenda have been sent into Crestview deliberately?"
"That's something we should investigate."
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A message.
"Meet me alone. I can explain Sofia. Don't trust Charles."
I stared at the screen.
"Who is this?" I typed.
The response came immediately.
"You knew me once as Elena Torres."
I looked at Rebecca.
She frowned.
"How did she get your number?"
"I don't know."
Another message arrived.
"Tomorrow. St. Catherine's Church. Three in the afternoon. Bring Manuel's letter."
I showed Rebecca.
She studied it.
"We are not going to let you walk into an unknown meeting alone."
"I want to hear what she has to say."
"Then we'll arrange it safely."
We contacted Elena through a verified number obtained independently.
She confirmed the message was hers.
And she agreed to meet in a conference room at Rebecca's office instead.
The next afternoon, Elena Torres arrived wearing a simple gray coat.
She was small and thin, with silver hair pulled into a braid.
Her hands trembled as she held her purse.
But her eyes were sharp.
The moment she saw me, she began to cry.
"Laura Rodriguez."
I stood.
"Mrs. Torres."
She shook her head.
"Elena. Please."
We hugged awkwardly.
I barely remembered her from childhood.
I had seen her once at a memorial service following Gabriel's death.
Back then, she was a young widow holding a frightened little girl.
Now she was an older woman carrying nearly thirty years of grief.
She sat across from me.
"Your father was a good man," she said.
My eyes filled.
"Thank you."
"He helped us when nobody else would."
I placed Dad's letter on the table.
Elena touched the paper gently.
"Manuel always kept his promises."
"Can you tell me what happened?"
She took a long breath.
"Gabriel worked construction because he wanted our daughter to have a better life. He wasn't a careless man. He checked his equipment. He followed safety rules."
I nodded.
"Your father knew that."
Her voice shook.
"Gabriel complained about the scaffolding for three days. He told the supervisor the supports were wrong."
"What happened?"
"The supervisor said the project was behind schedule. Victor Bennett wanted it finished."
Elena stared at the table.
"Then Gabriel fell."
The room was silent.
"After the funeral, Victor sent a representative with paperwork. They offered money if I signed a release."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Manuel told me to wait."
She looked at me.
"Your father had photographs and inspection reports. He said they proved the site had been unsafe."
I swallowed.
"Then why wasn't there a trial?"
"Records disappeared. Witnesses changed their statements. One man suddenly moved away."
She wiped her cheek.
"Manuel tried to help us find an attorney. But Victor threatened to destroy his contracting business."
I thought about the cassette.
"And then?"
"Your father negotiated privately. Victor agreed to settle certain debts and provide support for Sofia's education."
"Did he pay?"
"Some of it."
"How much?"
"Enough to keep us from losing our home. Not enough to give Sofia the future Gabriel wanted."
I looked down.
"And my father's investment in Crestview?"
Elena hesitated.
"Victor owed Manuel money from an earlier land partnership. Manuel used part of what he recovered to help you start the company."
I closed my eyes.
So the money wasn't simply a gift.
It was connected to years of unfinished business.
"Did Mark know?"
Elena nodded.
"Victor told him."
I looked up sharply.
"Mark knew everything?"
"He knew his father owed your father money. He knew Gabriel died."
"Did he know about the threats?"
"I don't know."
Elena reached into her purse.
"I brought something."
She handed me a photograph.
A little girl stood beside a smiling man in a construction helmet.
Sofia and Gabriel.
On the back, someone had written:
"To my brave girl. The world is bigger than the people who frighten us."
I touched the photograph.
"How did Sofia become Brenda?"
Elena's face hardened.
"She changed her name when she was twenty-three."
"Why?"
"She said she wanted a new life."
"Did she?"
Elena looked away.
"No."
I waited.
"Sofia never forgave the Bennett family."
My heart sank.
"Did she plan to hurt Mark?"
"I think she planned to expose him."
"Then why help him?"
Elena's eyes filled again.
"That's what I don't understand."
She reached for a tissue.
"Five years ago, Sofia found old documents in a box I kept hidden. She began researching Victor's business deals and discovered that companies connected to him were still operating."
"Through Mark?"
"Yes."
"Did she contact Charles Whitcomb?"
Elena nodded.
"Charles approached her first. He claimed he had information about Gabriel's death."
My stomach tightened.
"What did he want?"
"He offered her a job. He said she could learn the truth from the inside."
Rebecca leaned forward.
"Did Sofia believe him?"
"At first."
"And later?"
Elena looked at me.
"Later, I think she became trapped."
"How?"
"Money. Secrets. Promises. I don't know everything."
She opened her purse again.
This time, she removed a folded letter.
"Sofia sent this to me six months ago."
I unfolded it.
The handwriting was hurried.
"Mom, if something happens to me, don't believe Charles. He knows what really happened at the construction site. He has the original records. I thought getting close to Mark would give me answers, but I've made a terrible mistake. I've become part of something I can't escape."
I read the words twice.
Then a third time.
"Why didn't you go to the police?" I asked.
Elena's face crumpled.
"I tried to convince her. She said Charles had evidence that could send her to prison."
I looked at Rebecca.
"What evidence?"
"We'll need to ask Sofia."
Elena shook her head.
"She doesn't trust anyone."
"Not even you?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Especially not me. She thinks I hid the truth to protect her."
I reached across the table.
"Elena, I'm sorry."
She shook her head.
"You didn't kill my husband."
"No. But the company my family built may have been used to continue the same wrongdoing."
Elena looked into my eyes.
"Then help me stop it."
"I will."
She gripped my hand.
"Promise me one more thing."
"What?"
"Don't let Sofia become another person the Bennett family buries."
I swallowed.
"I can't promise to protect her from the consequences of crimes she committed."
Elena closed her eyes.
"I know."
"But I promise to seek the truth."
She nodded.
"That's all I can ask."
After Elena left, Rebecca and I sat in silence.
Finally, she said, "This explains how Brenda entered the picture, but not why she stayed."
I looked at the letter.
"Charles had something on her."
"Possibly."
"And Mark believed he was controlling her."
"Perhaps."
I thought about the way Brenda had trembled at the hospital.
Her panic hadn't been entirely about adultery.
It had been about exposure.
That evening, Andrew called again.
"Laura, Brenda contacted me."
"What did she say?"
"She wants to meet."
"Where?"
"She wouldn't tell me until I agreed."
"Don't meet her alone."
"I told her that."
He hesitated.
"She started crying. She said she needs to give us something before Charles finds out."
I stood.
"What?"
"An external hard drive."
I looked toward the window.
Outside, rain swept across Emily's backyard.
"What is on it?"
Andrew took a shaky breath.
"She said it contains the original Crestview ledgers and recordings of meetings between Mark and Charles."
My heart pounded.
"Did she say where she kept it?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Andrew was silent for a moment.
Then he answered.
"Inside the lake house."
I stared at the wall.
My home.
The house I'd fled.
"Where inside?"
"In Ofelia's bedroom."
I closed my eyes.
Ofelia.
Of course.
The woman who pretended not to understand Crestview's finances.
The woman who organized my medication.
The woman who had threatened me in my own dining room.
Andrew continued.
"Brenda says Ofelia is the one who started the plan to remove you."
I barely breathed.
"Why?"
"Because Ofelia knows the original secret."
"What secret?"
"Brenda said the documents about Gabriel Torres aren't the only records hidden by the Bennett family."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"Andrew, what else?"
His voice dropped.
"She said Mark's father didn't die owning almost nothing, the way everyone believed."
I stared.
"What did he own?"
"An interest in property that should have belonged to your father."
A cold sensation moved through my chest.
My father's investment.
Our company.
The land transactions.
The twenty-eight years Mark spent making himself rich.
Andrew spoke again.
"Laura, Brenda says if you find the original ownership documents, you won't just discover what Mark stole."
May you like
I waited.
"You'll discover why he married you."
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