Chapter 5
Victor Bennett had been missing for nine years.
Not dead.
Missing.
The family stopped asking publicly after the third year.
Privately, I never did.
Ryan knew that.
Everyone did.
“What does Victor have to do with this?”
Margaret looked toward the kitchen door.
Fear.
Not of Victor.
Of Ryan.
I moved between them.
“Mom.”
She swallowed.
“Ryan said Victor had contacted him.”
I looked at my husband.
He laughed.
“That old woman believes anything.”
Margaret shook her head.
“You showed me the message.”
My breathing slowed.
“What message?”
Ryan said nothing.
Vivian stepped in.
“Claire, your mother is confused.”
Margaret’s head snapped up.
Vivian smiled.
“You forget things.”
There.
A new cruelty.
Not pain.
Reality.
They had been teaching Margaret not to trust her own memory.
I looked at her.
“Do you remember the message?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
She closed her eyes.
“Tell Margaret the house can still change hands.”
Ryan’s face hardened.
“And?”
I asked.
“There was a second line.”
“What?”
“If Claire does not return, use the seal.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Ryan.
“You expected me not to return.”
“No.”
“You told my son I wasn’t coming back.”
“He misunderstood.”
“You searched for an old seal.”
“For history.”
“You emptied the house.”
“For privacy.”
“You tortured my mother.”
“She was stubborn.”
Every answer renamed the same thing.
I stepped closer.
“Where is Victor?”
Ryan’s eyes changed.
That told me he knew something.
“Where?”
Vivian laughed.
“Always Victor.”
I looked at her.
She smiled.
“Your family worships missing men.”
Margaret whispered:
“Vivian said they didn’t need Victor.”
I turned.
“What?”
My mother’s voice shook.
“She said they only needed people to believe he was back.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
There.
The real plan.
Not Victor.
His name.
His legend.
Old Bennett men remembered him as my father’s brother.
Brutal.
Traditional.
Male.
Everything some men wished I were not.
I stared at Ryan.
“You planned to use Victor’s name against me.”
He smiled.
Finally.
“You were away for twelve days.”
“So?”
“Long enough for questions to start.”
“What questions?”
Vivian answered with contempt:
“Whether the Bennett organization still needs a woman at the top.”
And there it was.
May you like
The house abuse had been only rehearsal.
They were preparing a coup.
