Chapter 7 - The Secret Benita Had Buried
Jason stared at Benita.
Of all the people in the room, hers was the face he least expected to see filled with guilt.
Victor watched with obvious satisfaction.
“Go ahead,” he said. “Tell him.”
Jason ignored Victor.
“Benita?”
She looked at Jason.
“I knew Victor before you did.”
Lucas frowned.
“What?”
Benita swallowed.
“Not personally.”
Victor smiled.
“Careful.”
Jason’s voice became firm.
“Let her speak.”
Benita explained.
Years earlier, before she became close to Jason, she had worked for an accounting consultancy.
One client was a company connected to Victor.
“I saw irregular transfers.”
Jason stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know they were connected to you then.”
“When did you realize?”
“After Stephanie disappeared.”
Jason’s face tightened.
Benita’s eyes filled with tears.
“I recognized one company name.”
“Why stay silent?”
“Because the files from my old job were gone. I had no proof.”
Victor laughed.
“You had more than that.”
Benita turned toward him.
Victor continued.
“You copied records.”
Jason looked at her.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“I gave them to Stephanie.”
Silence.
Jason understood.
“You helped her too.”
Benita nodded.
Victor’s smile vanished.
That wasn’t the reaction he expected.
Jason noticed.
“So this isn’t your secret,” Jason said.
Victor stared at him.
Jason continued.
“You thought I would turn against her.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
Jason looked at Benita.
“Were you involved in stealing from me?”
“No.”
“Did you help Victor?”
“No.”
“Did you help Stephanie expose him?”
“Yes.”
Jason nodded.
“Then we’ll discuss what you should have told me later.”
Victor stared in disbelief.
“That’s it?”
Jason looked at him.
“You’ve spent too long around dishonest people.”
“What does that mean?”
“You think every secret is betrayal.”
Jason rolled closer.
“Sometimes people hide things because they’re afraid.”
He glanced at Lucas.
“And sometimes fear makes people weak.”
Lucas lowered his eyes.
Jason looked back at Victor.
“But fear doesn’t make you their owner.”
The conference-room doors opened.
Rachel entered with investigators.
Victor’s face changed.
Jason watched quietly.
The man who had manipulated his family for years finally realized the room no longer belonged to him.
Authorities took control of the scene.
Victor did not shout.
He simply looked at Jason.
“This isn’t finished.”
Jason answered:
“For you, it is.”
But Jason knew his own story was far from finished.
Evelyn was alive.
Stephanie’s evidence was secure.
Victor’s network was exposed.
Yet the family still had to face the consequences.
And Lucas had to answer the question Jason had avoided all day.
What exactly had happened to Stephanie?
That evening, they returned to the mansion.
Evelyn arrived shortly afterward.
Lucas saw her first.
He froze.
Evelyn walked toward him.
Lucas began crying.
“Auntie.”
She stopped several feet away.
“I loved you like my own son.”
Lucas lowered his head.
“I know.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“If you knew, you would have come to me.”
Lucas couldn’t answer.
Evelyn looked at Jason.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I should have told you sooner.”
Jason shook his head.
“We can spend the rest of our lives deciding who should have spoken sooner.”
He looked around the room.
“I want the truth now.”
Everyone sat.
Emmanuel was brought in.
Jason looked at him.
“Tell me about Stephanie’s final night.”
Emmanuel took a long breath.
“Stephanie called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she was meeting Lucas.”
Jason looked toward his brother.
Lucas nodded.
“She wanted me to confess.”
“Did you meet?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Lucas’s eyes filled with tears.
“I begged her not to tell you.”
Jason said nothing.
“She said she loved you too much to keep lying.”
Lucas wiped his face.
“I panicked.”
“And called Victor.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that?”
Lucas struggled to speak.
“Victor told me to leave.”
Jason’s jaw tightened.
“You left Stephanie with him?”
Lucas nodded.
Jason closed his eyes.
“Did you ever see her again?”
“No.”
Emmanuel suddenly spoke.
“But I did.”
Everyone turned.
Jason stared at him.
“What?”
Emmanuel’s voice trembled.
“I saw Stephanie the next morning.”
Lucas stood.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Emmanuel looked at Jason.
“She was alive.”
Jason felt the air leave his lungs.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“At a private house outside the city.”
Jason gripped his wheelchair.
“Why have you never said this?”
“Because she made me promise.”
Jason stared at him.
“Promise what?”
Emmanuel’s eyes filled with tears.
“That I would let everyone believe she was gone.”
Jason could barely speak.
“Why?”
“She knew Victor would keep hunting her if he thought she could testify.”
Jason felt dizzy.
“But if she was alive…”
Emmanuel nodded.
“She escaped.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
Jason’s heart pounded.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Jason stared at him.
Emmanuel reached into his pocket and removed a sealed envelope.
“She gave me this.”
Jason’s name was written across the front.
Stephanie’s handwriting.
Jason’s hands trembled as he opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
WHEN VICTOR FALLS, I’LL COME HOME.
Jason stared at the words.
Victor had fallen.
Then the mansion doorbell rang.
Nobody moved.
Once.
Twice.
Jason looked toward Jaden.
Jaden checked the security monitor.
His face changed.
“Jason.”
“What?”
Jaden slowly looked at him.
“You need to see this yourself.”
Jason rolled toward the monitor.
A woman stood outside the mansion gates.
Older than Jason remembered.
Thinner.
Her hair different.
But Jason recognized her instantly.
Stephanie.
Alive.
May you like
And waiting to come home.
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