Chapter 5 - The Account Benjamin Hid
Benjamin spun around.
Genevieve stood inside my kitchen.
For one second, nobody spoke.
Then I saw the spare key in her hand.
My spare key.
"Where did you get that?"
She looked at it.
"Benjamin gave it to me years ago."
My son stared.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"I gave you a key to the old house."
Genevieve's expression flickered.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
She had copied my key.
"Give it to me."
"Evelyn—"
"The key."
She placed it on the table.
I picked it up.
"Now explain what you just said."
Genevieve folded her arms.
"I was upset."
"No."
"You're making this into something—"
"Stop."
My voice surprised all of us.
I had spent years letting Genevieve finish sentences.
Not anymore.
"You said I was never supposed to see Thomas's video."
She glanced at Serena.
"She's manipulating you."
"Then answer me."
"I knew Thomas had investigated us."
"Us?"
"The company."
Benjamin stepped forward.
"You forged Mom's signature?"
Genevieve's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Answer."
"Of course not."
"The document was backdated."
"I don't know anything about that."
Serena said quietly, "Then who does?"
Genevieve turned on her.
"You've waited six years for this."
"For what?"
"To make yourself important."
Serena didn't react.
That made Genevieve angrier.
I had seen that pattern before.
Genevieve needed emotional resistance.
Without it, she had nothing to push against.
I looked at Benjamin.
"What account did you hide?"
He frowned.
"I didn't."
"Thomas said there was something about your company."
"Mom, I swear."
Genevieve suddenly looked toward him.
That was enough.
Benjamin saw it.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Genevieve."
"Nothing."
He moved closer.
"What account?"
She picked up her handbag.
"I'm leaving."
Benjamin blocked her path.
"Not until you tell me."
I stood.
"Don't block her."
He looked at me.
"If she wants to leave, she leaves."
Genevieve almost smiled.
"But she doesn't take anything from this house."
The smile disappeared.
She put down her bag.
Serena retrieved the flash drive.
"The video may still be recoverable."
"How?"
"The file was copied. A system failure wouldn't necessarily erase the source."
Genevieve's face tightened again.
I noticed.
So did Benjamin.
"Why are you afraid of that video?" he asked.
"I'm not."
"You are."
"Your mother has turned you against me in twenty-four hours."
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"You did that."
She stared at him.
For the first time, I saw Genevieve without control.
Not evil.
Not monstrous.
Afraid.
And fear made her look unexpectedly ordinary.
"I was trying to protect us," she said.
Benjamin laughed once.
"From my mother?"
"From losing everything."
"What everything?"
"The life we built."
He pointed toward the stack of canceled payments.
"She built half of it."
Genevieve flinched.
Truth sometimes sounded cruel only because it arrived late.
Serena removed the drive.
"I can have the video examined."
I nodded.
Genevieve whispered, "You don't understand."
I turned toward her.
"Then help me."
She looked at Benjamin.
Then me.
"The business was failing."
"We know."
"Not when Thomas found it. Before that."
"Why?"
"Bad investments. Property delays. Debt."
"Benjamin didn't know?"
Her silence answered.
My son sat down.
"You hid it from me."
"I was trying to fix it."
"With Dad's money?"
"At first."
"Then Mom's?"
"I never took Evelyn's money."
"You used her payments to free up ours."
"That's not the same."
I looked at her.
"It feels remarkably similar from this side."
Genevieve closed her eyes.
Then she said something none of us expected.
"There was another investor."
Serena froze.
"Who?"
Genevieve shook her head.
"I can't."
Benjamin stood.
"Who?"
"He helped keep the company alive."
"Name."
"No."
"Genevieve."
Her eyes filled.
"He told me never to tell you."
My skin prickled.
This had stopped being about an invitation.
Maybe it never had been.
"Why?"
"Because he knew your father."
I looked toward Thomas's photograph.
Serena moved closer.
"Genevieve, who funded the company?"
She whispered the name.
"Wesley."
My brother.
For a moment, the room disappeared.
Wesley.
My younger brother.
The man who had sat beside me at Thomas's funeral.
The man who called every Sunday.
The man I had almost called the previous evening.
Benjamin stared at me.
"Uncle Wesley?"
Genevieve nodded.
"How much?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Why?"
"He said he was protecting the family."
I laughed.
That phrase again.
Protecting the family.
Apparently it was what people said immediately before lying to me.
My phone rang.
I looked down.
Wesley.
Nobody spoke.
I answered.
"Hello?"
My brother's voice sounded perfectly calm.
"Evie, don't believe Genevieve."
I stared at the others.
"How do you know what she just said?"
Silence.
Then Wesley whispered:
"Because I'm outside."
We all turned toward the window.
May you like
A black sedan was parked beyond the gate.
And the driver's door was opening.
