Chapter 3 — The Father I Never Knew Existed
For twenty-two years...
I believed Richard Bennett was my father.
The man who taught me how to ride a bike.
The man whose last name I carried.
The man whose approval I spent my entire life chasing.
But now...
Standing in front of five hundred people...
My mother had just destroyed everything I knew.
"Your real father is still alive."
The words kept repeating inside my head.
I looked at Richard.
My father.
Or the man I thought was my father.
He wasn't angry anymore.
He looked terrified.
"Claire, stop."
His voice cracked.
That was when I knew.
She wasn't lying.
My mother turned toward him.
"You wanted to destroy her?"
She laughed bitterly.
"Fine."
"Now everyone gets to know why."
I stepped away from the microphone.
"What are you talking about?"
My voice was barely above a whisper.
Claire looked at me.
For once...
She wasn't pretending.
She looked tired.
"You were born from a mistake we buried."
Richard immediately shouted.
"Don't listen to her."
I turned toward him.
"Why?"
"Because she's lying?"
I stepped closer.
"Then tell me."
The crowd watched.
Waiting.
"Tell me she's lying."
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
That silence hurt more than the slap.
Because I had spent my entire life believing I knew my family.
But I didn't.
Professor Hughes approached carefully.
"Emily..."
"Do you want to stop?"
I looked at the audience.
At my classmates.
At the people who had watched my family humiliate me.
Then I looked at the screen behind me.
The evidence was still there.
The truth had already started.
"No."
I whispered.
"I'm done hiding."
My mother reached into her purse.
She pulled out an old photograph.
My hands became cold.
Because I recognized the picture.
It was me.
As a baby.
But the man holding me...
Was not Richard Bennett.
"This is your real father."
She handed the photo toward me.
The crowd couldn't see it.
But I could.
A young man.
Dark hair.
Holding a newborn baby.
On the back of the photo...
A name.
"Daniel Cross."
I stared at it.
I had heard that name before.
Everyone had.
Daniel Cross.
The billionaire founder who disappeared twenty-two years ago after a massive corporate scandal.
A man newspapers called a genius.
A man who vanished.
A man everyone thought was dead.
My father saw the photo.
And his face turned completely white.
Because he knew exactly who Daniel Cross was.
And why I mattered.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
I opened it.
My blood went cold.
The message contained one sentence.
"Emily, if they showed you my photo, it means they finally failed."
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
"I've waited twenty-two years to tell you the truth."
May you like
Then the final message came.
"Your father is coming home."
