Chapter 2 - The Billionaire Comes Home
Charles Bennett did not look at his daughter first.
He looked at Alice.
That frightened Vanessa more than anger would have.
Her father walked into the mansion without removing his coat. At sixty-one, Charles still carried the quiet authority that had built Bennett Development from a small construction company into an international real-estate empire.
“Are you hurt?” he asked Alice.
“No, sir.”
“Did she strike you?”
“No.”
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“Because she grabbed me!”
Charles finally looked at her.
“Why did she grab you?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“She attacked me.”
Alice remained silent.
Charles looked toward Thomas.
“Thomas?”
The butler swallowed.
“Miss Bennett raised her hand toward Alice.”
Charles closed his eyes for a second.
Vanessa stared at Thomas as though he had betrayed her.
“You work for us.”
Thomas answered quietly.
“I work for your father. But I won't lie for either of you.”
Charles looked back at Vanessa.
“Did you raise your hand to hit her?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“She disrespected me.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“She humiliated me.”
“Did you raise your hand?”
Vanessa’s silence answered him.
Charles removed his coat and handed it to Thomas.
Then he walked toward the sitting room.
“Everyone involved comes with me.”
Vanessa followed.
Alice stayed where she was.
Charles noticed.
“You too, Alice.”
“Mr. Bennett, I've already been fired.”
“No, you haven't.”
Vanessa scoffed.
“I fired her.”
“You don't employ her.”
“This is my home.”
“It is my home.”
The words landed harder than shouting.
Charles rarely contradicted Vanessa publicly.
For years, he had confused protecting his daughter with rescuing her from consequences.
Alice could see Vanessa struggling with the unfamiliar feeling of being overruled.
Inside the sitting room, Charles asked Mr. Hale to place several folders on the table.
Vanessa looked at them.
“What is this?”
“Complaints.”
“About what?”
“You.”
Vanessa laughed.
Nobody else did.
Charles opened the first folder.
“Twenty-seven employees have left this estate in three years.”
“So?”
“Eleven mentioned your behavior.”
“People complain when they're bad at their jobs.”
“Four said you threatened them.”
“They were dramatic.”
“Two said you threw objects at them.”
Vanessa looked away.
“One said you slapped her.”
“That never happened.”
Thomas spoke.
“It did.”
Vanessa spun around.
Charles stared at him.
“You knew?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
“Who?”
“Rachel Kim. Kitchen staff.”
Charles’s face tightened.
“Why wasn't I told?”
“You were told she resigned.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“I was afraid.”
Charles stared at the man who had served him for decades.
“Of my daughter?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa stood.
“This is ridiculous.”
Charles turned toward her.
“Sit down.”
“I am not going to sit here while servants invent stories about me.”
Alice flinched at the word servants.
Charles noticed.
“So they're all lying?”
“Yes.”
“Twenty-seven people?”
“I don't know why they left!”
“I do.”
Charles pulled another document from the folder.
Vanessa looked at it.
“What is that?”
“Exit interviews.”
“You investigated me?”
“I investigated why my household couldn't keep employees.”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“How long?”
“Three months.”
Alice suddenly understood the words on her badge.
MR. BENNETT KNOWS.
Charles had been investigating.
Vanessa looked at Alice.
“You were spying on me.”
“No.”
“You came here because of him.”
“I've worked here eleven months.”
“Then he asked you to report on me.”
Charles interrupted.
“I didn't.”
Vanessa ignored him.
“What did he promise you?”
Alice stared at her.
“Nothing.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“A promotion?”
“No.”
“Then why would you turn everyone against me?”
Alice’s calm finally cracked.
“Nobody needed me to do that.”
Vanessa went silent.
Alice continued.
“They were already afraid of you.”
“You don't know anything about me.”
“I know Maria cried in the laundry room after you called her stupid in front of six guests.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“I know Helen hid a fever because she thought you'd fire her. I know Anthony lost his job because he refused to drive dangerously. I know people check whether you're home before they decide which hallway to use.”
“Stop.”
“You asked.”
“I said stop.”
Alice did.
Charles looked devastated.
Not at Alice.
At himself.
“I gave you everything,” he whispered to Vanessa.
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“You gave me employees who hate me.”
“I gave you a life most people couldn't imagine.”
“And then you were never here.”
The room became still.
Charles stared at her.
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“There. That's the part nobody puts in your little investigation.”
“This isn't about me.”
“It was always about you.”
“Vanessa—”
“You bought houses instead of coming home. You sent assistants to birthdays. You apologized with jewelry.”
Charles’s face tightened.
Alice suddenly felt like an intruder.
She stood.
“I should leave.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Yes. You should.”
Charles raised a hand.
“No.”
He turned toward Alice.
“I owe you an apology.”
“You don't owe me—”
“I do. This happened in my home. Under my name.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Of course. Apologize to her.”
Charles ignored the sarcasm.
“Alice, your job is safe. Your wages for today will be paid. If you want to go home, Thomas will arrange transportation.”
Alice nodded.
“Thank you.”
Then Charles turned toward Vanessa.
“You're going to apologize.”
Vanessa laughed.
“No.”
“You nearly hit her.”
“And she grabbed me.”
“To stop you.”
“You always choose strangers over me.”
Charles stared at her.
“When have I ever made you face consequences?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Charles continued.
“You crashed a car at nineteen. I paid for the damage and made the story disappear. You insulted a professor at twenty-one. I called the dean. You destroyed a hotel room at twenty-four. I paid the bill.”
Vanessa’s eyes glistened.
“Because you're my father.”
“No. Because I was a coward.”
That stunned her.
Charles sat down.
“I thought protecting you meant removing every painful consequence. I was wrong.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
“You will no longer supervise household staff.”
“You can't be serious.”
“You will not fire anyone.”
“This is my house too.”
“You will not threaten anyone's employment.”
“Dad.”
“And if you ever strike an employee, threaten one, or retaliate against anyone who speaks about what happened today, you will move out.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You'd throw your own daughter out for a maid?”
Alice saw Charles’s expression change.
“That sentence is exactly why we're here.”
Vanessa looked around.
Nobody defended her.
She grabbed her handbag.
“Fine.”
She walked toward the door.
Charles called her name.
She kept going.
The door slammed.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Alice noticed the woman who had arrived with Mr. Hale.
She had been silent the entire time.
Charles introduced her.
“This is Rebecca Sloan. She specializes in workplace mediation.”
Alice almost laughed from disbelief.
“You were planning this?”
“Before today.”
Charles looked at the broken badge.
“I knew something was wrong. I didn't know how bad.”
Alice picked up the badge.
“Who wrote this?”
Charles examined it.
“Not me.”
Mr. Hale shook his head.
Rebecca did the same.
Thomas looked confused.
Nobody in the room claimed responsibility.
Alice suddenly felt uneasy.
That evening, Charles insisted she take the rest of the day off.
Alice returned to her small apartment across town and tried to convince herself the worst was over.
At 9:17 p.m., her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE EMBARRASSED HER.
Alice stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
MR. BENNETT KNOWS ONLY HALF OF IT.
Then a photograph appeared.
Alice stopped breathing.
It showed her standing inside the Bennett mansion that morning.
The picture had been taken before Vanessa arrived.
Someone had been watching her.
A final message appeared.
DON'T GO BACK TOMORROW.
Alice enlarged the photograph.
In the reflection of a mirror behind her, she could see the person holding the phone.
May you like
She recognized the face.
And it belonged to someone still inside the Bennett house.
