Chapter 8
The mistress's name was Victoria.
She was younger than Robert.
Beautiful.
Greedy.
And she was determined to get her hands on Lily's money.
"She says Robert promised her half of everything," the lawyer told me. "And she has letters. Handwritten letters from Robert, promising her the estate."
"Those letters mean nothing," I said. "The will is legal. Lily is the sole heir."
"It's not that simple," the lawyer said. "Victoria is claiming that Robert was suffering from dementia when he wrote the will. That she was the one who was truly caring for him. That he was manipulated by… outside forces."
"Outside forces?"
"She's implying that Cara somehow influenced him. That she found him when he was weak and confused and made him change his will in her daughter's favor."
"That's ridiculous," I said. "Cara was in hiding from him. She wanted nothing to do with him."
"Try telling that to a judge," the lawyer said. "Victoria has good attorneys. And she's very convincing. This could take years. And it could cost a fortune. In the meantime, the estate is frozen. Lily can't touch a penny."
I was furious.
This woman.
This mistress.
Who'd helped Robert destroy his family.
Who'd known he was married.
Who'd probably known what he'd done to his wife.
Now she wanted to steal from a nine-year-old girl.
I wouldn't let it happen.
I hired the best attorneys I could find.
I spent every penny I had.
I was going to fight for Lily.
For Cara.
For everything they deserved.
The months that followed were the hardest of my life.
Depositions.
Court dates.
Lawyers' fees.
Victoria was everywhere.
In the news.
In the papers.
Playing the victim.
Talking about how Robert had loved her.
How Cara had manipulated him.
How Lily was just a pawn in Cara's greedy scheme.
I wanted to scream.
To tell everyone the truth.
About Robert.
About the murder.
About Cara's suffering.
But my lawyers told me to stay quiet.
That the less I said, the better.
Lily noticed something was wrong.
"Daddy?" she asked one night. "Why is that lady on TV saying mean things about Mommy?"
I sat down beside her.
"Because she wants something that isn't hers," I said. "And she's lying to try to get it."
"Is Mommy a bad person?"
"No, baby," I said. "Your mommy was the best person who ever lived. And that lady is just… angry. And sad. And she doesn't know what she's talking about."
I held her.
And I promised myself I would protect her.
From all of this.
From Victoria.
From the lies.
From the pain.
One evening, Maya came to me with an idea.
"Victoria was there," she said. "The night Robert killed Elaine. She knows the truth. She was probably involved somehow. If we can prove that… she'll go to prison. And she'll lose any claim to the estate."
"How do we prove it?" I asked.
"We need evidence," she said. "Something that connects her to the murder. Something Robert might have kept. Blackmail material. Insurance."
I thought about the boxes of Robert's things.
The journals.
The letters.
We'd gone through them all.
But maybe we'd missed something.
That night, we went through everything again.
Every journal.
Every letter.
Every piece of paper.
And then I found it.
Tucked in the back of an old photo album.
A small envelope.
Sealed.
On the front, in Robert's handwriting:
*Insurance policy. To be opened only if Victoria crosses me.*
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
And a letter.
The photographs showed Victoria.
At the Bennett house.
The night Elaine died.
Helping Robert clean up.
Holding the bottle of poison.
Smiling.
The letter was Robert's handwriting.
*Victoria helped me do it. She knew what I was planning. She helped me get the poison. She helped me make it look like natural causes. If she ever tries to betray me, these photos will destroy her. We're in this together. Forever.*
I stared at the photographs.
Victoria had been there.
She'd helped murder Elaine Bennett.
And now she was trying to steal from Elaine's granddaughter.
I felt sick.
But I also felt hope.
This was it.
This was the evidence we needed.
I called my lawyer immediately.
The next day, we turned everything over to the police.
Victoria was arrested within hours.
She was charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
She tried to make a deal.
To testify against Robert's memory in exchange for immunity.
But it was too late.
The evidence was overwhelming.
The photos.
Robert's letter.
Her own letters to Robert, admitting she'd known about the poison.
She was going to prison for a very long time.
And her claim to the estate was gone.
The judge threw out her case immediately.
The estate was unfrozen.
The money was Lily's.
We'd won.
But as I sat in the courtroom, listening to the judge's ruling, I felt empty.
Robert Bennett was dead.
Victoria was going to prison.
Justice had been served.
But Cara was still gone.
And nothing could bring her back.
That night, I went to the cemetery.
I brought flowers.
Daisies.
Her favorite.
"We won," I said quietly. "Lily is safe. She has everything she'll ever need. Victoria is going to prison. Your mother's death has been avenged."
I paused.
"I just wish you were here to see it."
I stood there for a long time.
And then I felt something.
A light breeze.
Warm.
Gentle.
Like someone touching my face.
And for a moment, I could have sworn I heard her voice.
*Thank you.*
I smiled through my tears.
And then I turned to go.
But someone was standing behind me.
A woman.
Older.
With kind eyes.
May you like
And Cara's smile.
"Hello, Ethan," she said. "I'm Elaine. Cara's mother."
