Chapter 5 - The Hidden Partner"Uncle Marcus told you to do this?" I asked, stepping out from the shadows of the doorway, staring at my brother with a mixture of disgust and profound pity.
Ethan glared at me, his face twisted in desperate hatred. "Shut up, Claire! This is all your fault! If you hadn't been playing the good little nursemaid, sucking up to him every weekend, we wouldn't have had to resort to this! You think you're so smart, waiting for him to hand you the keys to the waterfront estate on a silver platter!"
"That’s enough!" Arthur roared, slamming his cane against the floor with enough force to rattle the teacups on the tray.
The sheer fury in the old man's voice silenced the room instantly. Arthur rose slowly from his chair, leaning heavily on the cane, but standing tall enough to tower over my father.
"For thirty years, I built this company from the ground up," Arthur said, his voice vibrating with suppressed rage. "I provided for this family. I paid off your debts, Richard, when your real estate investments crashed in 2015. I bought your first car, Ethan. I funded Linda’s boutique until it failed. And how do you repay me? By plotting my demise before my hospital sheets are even cold, conspiring with my estranged brother to carve up my estate like a carcass."
Richard straightened up, a desperate, ugly defiance creeping back into his posture. "And what were we supposed to do, Dad? Just sit back and watch you leave everything to charity? Or worse, leave it to her?" He pointed a venomous finger at me. "She’s not even a blood-carrying Bennett by name anymore—she’s a liability!"
"I am a Bennett through and through," I snapped back, stepping forward. "The only liability in this room is the greed rotting your souls."
Arthur raised a hand, cutting off any further argument. He walked slowly toward the French doors leading to the back patio, staring out into the dark, rain-swept river.
"You think Marcus is your savior, Ethan?" Arthur asked quietly, his back turned to them. "You think my brother cares about your future?"
Ethan blinked, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What do you mean?"
"Marcus didn't want my estate protected for the family," Arthur turned around, a chilling smile touching his lips. "He wanted my company’s controlling shares so he could sell them off to our largest corporate rival—the same rival that tried to ruin me ten years ago."
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My father went rigid. "That... that’s impossible. Marcus wouldn't—"
"Marcus has been bankrupt for two years," Arthur interrupted smoothly. "And the moment Ethan photographed those documents, he didn't just commit a felony against his grandfather—he signed an NDA with a corporate vulture."
