Chapter 4 — The Voice of a Dead Man
The tape began with static.
Then David Bennett's voice.
Weak.
Tired.
Terrified.
“If this recording is ever heard, Diane has failed.”
I looked at Michael.
He stared at the recorder.
His father's voice continued.
“The Bennett family has lied about Matthew.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Matthew was not my son.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
David continued.
“He was my wife's son.”
Diane.
Not David.
Michael's breathing changed.
Then came the sentence that destroyed everything.
“Matthew was born to another man.”
I stopped the tape.
Michael stared at me.
“Who?”
I pressed play.
David answered the question from thirty-seven years ago.
“His biological father was a man named Daniel Morris.”
Nora's earlier words came back.
Elena Morris.
Daniel Morris.
Matthew's daughter.
A family outside the Bennett bloodline.
David continued.
“Diane wanted the Morris inheritance.”
I froze.
The Morris family had owned a pharmaceutical company worth hundreds of millions.
David admitted Diane had arranged the transfer of Matthew into the Bennett family.
But Matthew discovered the truth.
He threatened to expose her.
Then he died.
Officially, a car accident.
Unofficially?
David said Diane had sabotaged the vehicle.
Michael stood.
“She killed my brother.”
I looked at him.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“I thought Matthew was a childhood story.”
David's recording continued.
“Matthew had a daughter.”
A pause.
“Diane searched for her.”
Then:
“I found her first.”
Michael whispered:
“Where?”
The recording answered.
“I hid her.”
I looked at Nora.
She was crying.
David had protected the child.
But Diane never stopped searching.
And eventually, she found a way to use Lily.
Because Lily carried something the missing girl also carried.
The Morris bloodline.
I looked at Michael.
“That's why Diane said Lily wasn't a Bennett.”
He nodded slowly.
“Lily is a Morris.”
Then the recording reached its final sentence.
“The missing child is still alive.”
The tape stopped.
Silence.
Michael stared at me.
“Emma.”
I looked at him.
“We have to find her.”
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
Detective Bennett.
Her voice was urgent.
“Emma, leave Nora's house immediately.”
“Why?”
“We found Diane's financial records.”
“And?”
“There are payments.”
“To whom?”
The detective paused.
“To someone named Emma Bennett.”
My blood froze.
“That's me.”
“No.”
May you like
Her voice dropped.
“The payments started twelve months before Lily was born.”
