Chapter 4 - THE ACCUSATION AGAINST MY FATHER
For twenty-seven years, Nico believed Daniel Bennett had helped destroy his family.
And for three years, Nico had been sleeping beside Daniel Bennett's daughter.
Me.
I stood in the hotel room gripping the phone.
“Nico, do you know who Daniel Bennett was?”
He hesitated.
“A financial investigator.”
“What else?”
Silence.
Then I whispered:
“He was my father.”
Nico stopped breathing.
For several seconds, I heard nothing.
Then he said, “Hannah?”
“My father was Daniel Bennett.”
His breathing changed.
“That's impossible.”
“Apparently not.”
I looked toward Evelyn.
She watched me carefully.
Nico spoke again.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
I laughed bitterly.
“Because you never asked about him.”
Silence.
For three years, Nico had known my favorite wine.
My clothing size.
The exact way I liked my coffee.
But he had never asked about the father I'd lost.
I had accepted that.
Told myself he wasn't sentimental.
Now it felt different.
Nico's voice broke.
“My father told me Daniel took my mother.”
I swallowed.
“And my mother left evidence saying your father was involved in her disappearance.”
He didn't answer.
For one terrible moment, I wondered whether he'd known all along.
Then he whispered:
“We need to find the truth.”
I closed my eyes.
“No. I need to find the truth.”
“Hannah—”
“You don't get to make this about us.”
He went silent.
I continued.
“I heard what you said last night. I believed you. I left. That decision still stands.”
His voice trembled.
“I understand.”
I ended the call.
Then I sat beside Evelyn.
“My father was accused of taking Lucia Moretti.”
She nodded slowly.
“Your mother always feared that accusation would surface.”
“Was it true?”
“I don't believe so.”
“Then what happened?”
Evelyn opened another folder.
It contained an old police report.
Lucia Moretti.
Missing person.
Last seen entering a private medical facility outside Albany.
Accompanied by Daniel Bennett.
I stared at the photograph.
My father standing beside a dark-haired woman.
Lucia.
Nico's mother.
She looked frightened.
Her hand rested protectively over her stomach.
I leaned closer.
“She was pregnant.”
Evelyn nodded.
My heart tightened.
“With Nico's sibling?”
“Possibly.”
I stared at the date.
Twenty-seven years ago.
Nico was thirty-five now.
His mother disappeared when he was eight.
The timing fit.
Then Evelyn showed me one final document.
A hospital admission record.
Patient: Lucia Moretti.
Condition: Pregnancy complications.
Authorized visitor: Daniel Bennett.
But beneath that was another name.
Emergency contact.
Salvatore Moretti.
And beside his signature appeared a handwritten instruction.
Do not discharge patient without my authorization.
My hands shook.
May you like
Then Evelyn said:
“Hannah, your father wasn't taking Lucia away. He was trying to help her escape.”
