Chapter 17 - THE BENNETT BLOODLINE
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Claire looked at Jonathan.
Jonathan looked destroyed.
“Is this true?”
Gabriel answered.
“Yes.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“No.”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“You were always the obedient son.”
Claire turned toward him.
“Why did my grandfather create Eden?”
“To protect the family.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
Gabriel opened the folder.
Inside were documents dating back seventy years.
The Bennett family had built its wealth through shipping.
Then banking.
Then construction.
Then telecommunications.
But underneath those legitimate businesses was something else.
A private network.
A network designed to influence markets before governments could react.
To protect American assets during crises.
At first, it had been patriotic.
Then it became powerful.
Too powerful.
Claire read the records.
“My grandfather became corrupt.”
Gabriel nodded.
“He stopped protecting the country.”
“He started controlling it.”
“Yes.”
Claire looked at Nicholas.
“And Daniel Vale?”
“He was an employee.”
“Then how did he take control?”
“Your grandfather trusted him.”
Claire looked back at Gabriel.
“And you?”
“I tried to stop him.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved your grandmother.”
Claire frowned.
Gabriel's expression softened.
“She wanted Eden destroyed.”
Jonathan whispered:
“She was right.”
Gabriel nodded.
“She always was.”
Claire continued reading.
Then she found something.
A document signed by her grandfather.
It named two successors.
Jonathan Bennett.
And:
Gabriel Bennett.
“Why didn't I know about you?”
Gabriel looked at Jonathan.
“Because your father chose to erase me.”
Jonathan looked away.
“You betrayed us.”
“I refused to become Eden.”
“You abandoned the family.”
“I saved it.”
Claire interrupted.
“Enough.”
Both men stopped.
She turned the pages.
A final document appeared.
It was dated the day Claire was born.
The inheritance structure had been changed.
Instead of passing to Jonathan, the control would pass to Claire.
And if Claire had a daughter, control would transfer again.
Claire stared.
“Lily.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather believed women in the family were less likely to be corrupted by power.”
Claire almost laughed.
“He was wrong.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Perhaps.”
Then the farmhouse lights went out.
Nicholas immediately moved toward Claire.
A gunshot struck the wall.
Everyone dropped.
Gabriel pulled a hidden weapon.
Jonathan shouted:
“Back door!”
They moved.
Outside, vehicles surrounded the property.
Eden.
Claire held Lily.
Vincent ran beside her.
Eva followed.
Nicholas fired toward the attackers.
They reached the barn.
Then someone stepped from the shadows.
Daniel Vale.
He wasn't alone.
Beside him stood a woman.
Claire stopped.
The woman looked at her.
Claire recognized her face.
It was Sloane.
Claire's heart sank.
“Sloane?”
Sloane looked devastated.
“I'm sorry.”
Nicholas raised his weapon.
Claire stopped him.
“Don't.”
Vale smiled.
“You finally brought everyone together.”
Claire stared.
“What do you want?”
Vale looked at Lily.
“The inheritance.”
“You can't have it.”
“Actually, I can.”
He held up a document.
“Because your grandfather left a clause.”
Claire's face changed.
“What clause?”
“If the Bennett bloodline is unable to maintain control, Eden becomes the trustee.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You forged that.”
Vale smiled.
“Perhaps.”
Sloane stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Sloane turned toward Vale.
“You said you would release my brother.”
Vale's expression hardened.
“He's already dead.”
Sloane's face collapsed.
Claire looked at her.
“Sloane…”
Sloane pulled a small drive from her pocket.
“I stole this.”
Vale's men raised weapons.
Sloane threw the drive to Claire.
“Everything.”
Claire caught it.
Vale shouted:
“Kill them!”
Gunfire erupted.
Nicholas pushed Claire behind the barn wall.
Vincent shielded Lily.
Jonathan and Gabriel fired back.
Sloane ran.
Vale followed.
Claire watched her disappear into the darkness.
Then she looked at the drive.
“What is this?”
Nicholas shook his head.
“Whatever it is, Vale was willing to kill for it.”
Claire looked at the farmhouse.
Then at Lily.
She understood.
The drive was not about money.
It was about the original Eden records.
The truth that could destroy everyone.
May you like
She looked at Nicholas.
“Let's open it.”
