Chapter 6 - THE LAWYER'S BETRAYAL
We left the motel through the back entrance.
Margaret refused to come with us.
"I've spent eight years hiding," she said. "I'm not going to let Evelyn chase me again."
"You're coming with us."
"No."
She smiled sadly.
"Your father trusted me once. Now I need to finish what he started."
Diana understood.
She gave Margaret a secure number.
"If you change your mind, call."
Margaret nodded.
Then she turned to me.
"Your father loved you."
I swallowed.
"I know."
"No."
She touched my cheek.
"You don't understand."
"He built everything for you."
I left with tears in my eyes.
Two hours later, Diana received a message.
Margaret had disappeared.
Again.
But she had sent us the USB drive.
Back at Diana's office, we opened the files.
The records were overwhelming.
Shell corporations.
Offshore transfers.
Property purchases.
Political donations.
Fake consulting contracts.
And one name appeared again and again.
Richard Hale.
Nathan's attorney.
Diana stared at the screen.
"He's been moving money for Evelyn for twenty-five years."
I felt numb.
"Can we use this?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go to the police."
"We can't."
"Why?"
"Margaret was right."
Diana opened another file.
There was a list of law enforcement officials who had received money from the Cole family.
I recognized one name.
The detective assigned to my case.
The same detective who had supposedly found the medication in my bedroom.
I stared.
"They're everywhere."
Diana nodded.
"Which is why we stop trusting people."
I looked at her.
"Except you."
She smiled.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
For the first time in days, I felt a little less alone.
Then we found something unexpected.
A folder labeled SOFIA BENNETT — MEDICAL.
Inside were medical records dating back ten years.
Not mine.
Nathan's.
Diana opened the first document.
Nathan had been diagnosed with a neurological condition.
I frowned.
"He never told me."
"Keep reading."
The condition wasn't life-threatening.
But it could affect memory and judgment.
I stared.
"Why would they hide this?"
Diana found another document.
A doctor had written:
Patient is highly suggestible under prolonged stress.
I looked at the date.
Three years ago.
The same year Nathan began changing.
"Was Nathan manipulated?"
Diana paused.
"Maybe."
"By Evelyn?"
"Possibly."
I sat back.
The story was becoming more complicated.
Nathan was guilty.
He had cheated.
He had stolen money.
He had helped build the case against me.
But perhaps he wasn't the mastermind.
Then another file appeared.
Nathan had secretly recorded a conversation with Evelyn.
We played it.
Evelyn's voice filled the room.
"You don't need to love her."
Nathan answered:
"I do love her."
My chest tightened.
Evelyn laughed.
"Then you're weaker than I thought."
Nathan whispered:
"What happens when she turns thirty-five?"
"You won't have to wait."
Silence.
Then Nathan said:
"Mother, I won't kill her."
Evelyn replied:
"You won't have to."
I stopped the recording.
Diana stared at me.
"What does that mean?"
I didn't know.
But I knew we had to find out.
Then another recording began automatically.
Nathan's voice.
"Iris will make sure Sofia looks unstable."
Evelyn answered:
"And Charles will handle the trust."
Nathan asked:
"What if Sofia finds out about Dad?"
Evelyn went silent.
Then said:
"She must never learn who her real father was."
I froze.
My father was Michael Bennett.
I had always known that.
Unless...
Diana looked at me.
"Who was Nathan talking about?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
The recording continued.
Evelyn whispered:
"Michael was never Sofia's biological father."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Diana looked at me.
Then the recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
My father had raised me.
Loved me.
Protected me.
But perhaps the man I called Dad wasn't my biological father.
And if Evelyn knew the truth...
Then the trust wasn't the only secret my family had been hiding.
My phone rang.
Margaret.
I answered.
Her voice was terrified.
"Sofia, listen to me."
"What happened?"
"I found the birth records."
My breath caught.
"Whose?"
"Yours."
She paused.
"Your biological father was a Cole."
I couldn't speak.
Margaret whispered:
May you like
"His name was Daniel Cole."
And Daniel Cole was Evelyn's firstborn son.
