Chapter 4 - My Father’s Death Was Not an Accident
The truth about my father changed the shape of everything.
For years, I had believed the story.
A wet road.
A truck crossing the line.
A tragic accident.
One night.
One phone call.
One funeral.
I was twenty-three.
Derek was the man who held me afterward.
At least, I thought he was.
Now Dominic was telling me my father had been killed.
Because he knew too much.
I met Dominic in a private conference room the next morning.
He placed an old file on the table.
Inside were photographs.
Financial records.
Police documents.
My father's handwriting.
I recognized it instantly.
“He was investigating the Bellmont Development Group,” Dominic said.
“Derek's company?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the papers.
“Why?”
“Because money was disappearing from several projects.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
I swallowed.
“And my father found it.”
“He found enough to become a problem.”
My hands trembled.
“Who ordered his death?”
“We never proved it.”
“But you suspected Derek.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“Why would Derek marry me if he knew my father was investigating his family?”
“Because by the time you married him, Derek needed access to the inheritance your father left you.”
The room went silent.
I stared at Dominic.
“My marriage was planned.”
“I don't know whether Derek planned the entire marriage.”
“But he targeted me.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
The flowers.
The dinners.
The proposal.
The honeymoon.
The promises.
All of it looked different now.
“What about the baby?”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Derek wants control because your daughter is now the largest legal obstacle between him and your assets.”
“My daughter?”
“If you divorce him and prove fraud, he could lose everything.”
“And if he gets custody?”
“He gains access to the assets through the child.”
I closed my eyes.
It was horrifyingly logical.
For months, I had thought Vanessa was the reason.
She wasn't.
She was part of the plan.
A replacement wife.
A future mother.
A convenient person willing to play along.
The real prize had always been control.
My father had discovered it.
Then he died.
I had unknowingly walked into the same trap.
That afternoon, Natalie uncovered a document buried in one of Derek's holding companies.
It was a proposed guardianship agreement.
My name was absent.
The child's name was already written.
Emma Elise Bennett.
I froze.
“How did he know her name?”
Natalie looked at me.
“You told him.”
“I never chose a name.”
“Then someone else did.”
We checked the file metadata.
Created six months earlier.
By Vanessa.
My hands became cold.
Vanessa had already prepared for the birth.
Already planned the paperwork.
Already imagined herself raising my child.
That night, she came to my house.
I opened the door.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I need to talk.”
“No.”
“Please.”
I stared at her.
She looked different without the gala makeup.
Tired.
Almost frightened.
“What do you want?”
“I didn't know about your father.”
My heart skipped.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“I didn't know Derek married you because of your inheritance.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She took a breath.
“But I didn't.”
“Then why stay with him?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because he told me you were leaving.”
I stared.
“He said you had agreed to divorce after the baby was born.”
I almost laughed.
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
She looked down.
“I wanted to.”
There it was.
Not an excuse.
A confession.
“I loved him.”
I felt no jealousy.
Only pity.
“He doesn't love you.”
She nodded.
“I know now.”
She pulled a USB drive from her purse.
“I brought this.”
“What is it?”
“Proof.”
I took it.
“What kind?”
“Messages between Derek and me.”
“Why give them to me?”
“Because I'm pregnant too.”
The world stopped.
I stared at her.
“What?”
She cried.
“I found out two weeks ago.”
My chest tightened.
“Derek knows?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me we'd deal with it after you gave birth.”
I understood.
Vanessa wasn't just an affair partner.
She was another victim.
Derek had two women carrying his children.
Two future custody battles.
Two ways to control his inheritance.
Two lives he could manipulate.
I stepped aside.
“Come in.”
For the next hour, Vanessa told me everything.
Derek had promised her a house.
A marriage.
A future.
He had told her I was unstable.
He had told her my pregnancy was complicated.
He had told her my father's inheritance belonged partly to him.
She had believed him.
Until the gala.
Until she saw how he treated me.
She finally realized what he was.
A man who needed victims.
Not wives.
I copied the USB immediately.
Then Dominic arrived.
He saw Vanessa.
His expression hardened.
She stood.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“You're late.”
She looked confused.
“For what?”
“To telling the truth.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was scared.”
Dominic nodded.
“I know.”
He didn't accuse her.
He simply sat down.
“Then let's make sure you're never scared of him again.”
The next morning, Derek was served with new evidence.
He responded by disappearing.
His company announced an emergency restructuring.
His bank accounts were emptied.
Several properties were transferred.
Then Natalie called me.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Derek has filed an emergency motion for custody before the baby is born.”
I stared.
“He can't.”
“He's trying.”
“Why?”
“Because he claims you have become mentally unstable and are being manipulated by Dominic.”
I laughed in disbelief.
Then my phone buzzed.
A video message.
Derek.
He sat behind a desk.
His face was calm.
“Khloe, you should have listened to me.”
I watched.
“You think Dominic will save you.”
He smiled.
“He won't.”
My blood ran cold.
“Because Dominic knows something you don't.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“He was the one who helped your father discover my family.”
Then Derek whispered:
“And he was the one who handed your father to the people who killed him.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
Dominic was standing behind me.
He saw my face.
“What did he tell you?”
I turned.
“Did you betray my father?”
Dominic didn't answer.
May you like
And for the first time since I met him—
I was afraid of him.
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