Chapter 4: The Family They Pretended To Be
I drove home without remembering the journey.
The streets blurred.
Traffic lights changed.
People walked past.
But my mind stayed on one sentence.
He was planning to transfer ownership of my company.
My father.
The man who taught me to shake hands.
The man who told me family was everything.
He was trying to take everything from me.
When I arrived home, Clara was sitting on the couch folding tiny baby clothes.
She looked up immediately.
“You found out more.””
I sat beside her.
“Yes.””
She waited.
I told her everything.
The documents.
The money.
My father.
Vanessa.
When I finished, Clara was quiet.
Then she placed a tiny blue shirt on the table.
“I’m sorry.””
I shook my head.
“Stop saying that.””
“I just…”
She looked down.
“I knew something was wrong.””
My eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?””
She hesitated.
“Before the dinner, Vanessa called me.””
“What?””
“She told me I should be grateful.””
My hands tightened.
“What exactly did she say?””
Clara swallowed.
“She said you only cared about me because I was carrying your child.””
The room became silent.
I felt anger rising.
But Clara touched my arm.
“Don’t.””
“Don’t defend her.””
“I’m not.””
She looked at me.
“I’m reminding you who you are.””
That was why I loved her.
She didn’t make me cruel.
She reminded me not to become them.
The next morning, my attorney filed the necessary reports.
Not publicly.
Not yet.
I wanted the truth first.
Every piece.
Every lie.
Every person involved.
Then my phone rang.
Vanessa.
I stared at the screen.
Clara looked at me.
“Answer.””
I did.
“Arthur.””
Her voice was different.
Not arrogant.
Not confident.
Scared.
“What do you want?””
“You canceled the trip.””
“Yes.””
“You can’t do that.””
“I already did.””
She breathed heavily.
“You don’t understand what you’ve done.””
I almost laughed.
“No, Vanessa. I understand perfectly.””
She became quiet.
Then whispered:
“Dad said he handled everything.””
I froze.
“What does that mean?””
“Arthur…”
Her voice cracked.
“You need to fix this before people find out.””
I stood up.
“Before people find out what?””
She didn’t answer.
“Vanessa.””
A few seconds passed.
Then she said something that changed everything.
“He wasn’t trying to steal your company.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Then what was he trying to do?””
Her answer came out barely above a whisper.
“He was trying to hide what happened to your real father.””
The line went dead.
I stood there frozen.
Because my entire life, I thought I knew my family.
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But Vanessa had just opened a door I never knew existed.
And behind it was a secret my parents had buried for thirty years.
