Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LOOK AWAY
The laughter continued for another twenty minutes.
I counted every face in the ballroom, every person who pretended not to hear Vanessa's insults, and every person who smiled because they believed my misfortune had made them more powerful.
I had spent thirty-four years building Bennett Global. My father had started the company with a single construction contract. I had turned it into an international investment empire.
Apparently, all it took to make people forget that was a wheelchair.
"Would you like me to take you upstairs, sir?" Clara whispered.
I looked at her.
"Not yet."
Her eyes moved briefly toward Vanessa, who was surrounded by guests near the champagne fountain.
"She's been drinking since she arrived," Clara said carefully.
"Does that concern you?"
Clara hesitated. "It concerns me that she keeps asking when you'll sign the documents."
My fingers tightened around the wheelchair armrest.
"What documents?"
"The ones Mr. Martin brought this afternoon. I heard him telling Mrs. Sterling that everything would be easier once you signed them."
My uncle.
Martin Bennett had been my father's younger brother and the company's vice chairman for nearly twenty years. After my father's death, he had helped me navigate the transition into leadership.
I had trusted him.
Apparently, that had been another mistake.
Before I could ask anything else, Vanessa approached with two glasses of champagne.
"Darling, you look exhausted."
She placed one glass on my lap.
"I think we should discuss our future."
"Our future?"
She smiled at the guests watching us.
"There's no reason to postpone the wedding indefinitely. We can still have a beautiful ceremony. You can remain seated, naturally. I'll make sure everything is arranged."
Her tone suggested she was discussing the placement of furniture.
"I thought you wanted a powerful husband."
Her smile disappeared.
"Don't start."
"Start what?"
"Making this difficult. Do you have any idea how much I've sacrificed for you?"
I looked at her diamond ring.
"You mean the three months you spent planning the wedding?"
"Exactly. And now everything is ruined."
Clara quietly stepped forward to retrieve the champagne glass.
Vanessa turned on her.
"Nobody asked you to touch that."
"I'm sorry, miss."
"Then remember your place."
Clara lowered her eyes.
Something inside me shifted.
"Her place is wherever she is needed," I said.
The room went silent.
Vanessa stared at me as though I had suddenly spoken a foreign language.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
She leaned closer.
"You should be careful, Ethan. You need people now. You cannot afford to make enemies."
I almost smiled.
She had no idea how dangerous that sentence was.
At 9:15, I asked Clara to help me upstairs. She pushed the wheelchair through the marble corridor and into my private study.
The moment the door closed, I reached beneath the blanket and stood.
Clara froze.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"Mr. Bennett?"
"Please close the curtains."
She obeyed slowly.
Then she stared at my legs.
"You're not injured?"
"No."
"Does anyone know?"
"My doctors. My lawyer. My security chief."
She swallowed.
"Why would you pretend?"
I looked through the glass wall toward the ballroom.
"Because someone tried to kill me."
Clara went pale.
The accident had happened eleven days earlier. My SUV had lost its brakes while traveling down a mountain road outside Greenwich. The vehicle had crashed through a guardrail and rolled down an embankment.
I had escaped with bruises and a concussion.
But the mechanic who examined the vehicle discovered that the brake lines had been deliberately cut.
My security chief, Marcus Reed, advised me to disappear temporarily while we investigated.
I chose something different.
I would let the people responsible believe I was helpless.
And I would watch what they did.
"Clara," I asked, "did you notice anything unusual before the accident?"
She looked toward the door.
"I don't know if I should say this."
"Tell me."
"Three nights before you crashed, I saw Miss Vanessa in your father's old office. She was arguing with your uncle."
"What were they arguing about?"
"She said you were taking too long to approve something. Then she said, 'If he won't sign while he's healthy, we'll make sure he signs when he has no choice.'"
My stomach tightened.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
She looked down.
"Your uncle said he could have me fired. He also said nobody would believe a maid over the Bennett family."
I studied her face.
"Did you see anything else?"
Clara reached into the pocket of her uniform and pulled out a small silver key.
"I found this under the desk after they left."
I recognized it immediately.
It belonged to my father's private archive.
An archive that had supposedly been sealed since his death.
Before I could take the key, my phone vibrated.
Marcus.
I answered.
"Ethan, we have a problem."
"What happened?"
"The security footage from the night of your accident has been accessed remotely."
"By whom?"
Marcus paused.
"Your fiancée."
Then he added something that made my blood run cold.
"She wasn't alone. Your uncle was with her, and they were watching the crash footage together."
A second later, Clara's phone began ringing.
She looked at the screen and turned white.
It was Vanessa.
May you like
And the message beneath her name contained only six words:
I KNOW WHAT YOU SAW. DON'T TALK.
