Chapter 12 - Thomas Bennett Finally Came Out
Thomas Bennett was seventy-eight years old.
He lived under another name in a small town outside Montpelier, Vermont.
Two days later, Clara boarded a flight from Reagan National with Ethan
and Rebecca.
Ethan came only because Thomas asked for him.
Daniel met them at Burlington International Airport.
Clara recognized him before he raised his hand.
Not because they looked identical.
Because he tilted his head exactly the way Anna had when she listened.
For several seconds, neither twin moved.
Then Daniel smiled nervously.
“So this is weird.”
Clara laughed and cried at the same time.
“Extremely.”
Their first hug was awkward.
Then it wasn’t.
Thomas lived in a modest white farmhouse surrounded by snow.
When Clara entered, the old man stood from the kitchen table.
His eyes filled instantly.
“Annie.”
Clara stopped.
“My name is Clara.”
“I know.”
His voice broke.
“You look like your mother when she was angry.”
“Then you’re about to see a lot of her.”
Thomas nodded.
“I deserve that.”
He explained that he discovered Raymond Mercer using Vance Foundation
redevelopment projects to route money through shell contractors.
Charles had signed several approvals without understanding the
structure.
When Thomas threatened exposure, Raymond warned him that Anna and the
twins could be harmed.
Thomas panicked.
Charles helped hide Daniel after receiving a threat specifically
mentioning “the Bennett boy.”
“Why Daniel?” Clara asked.
“Because of the trust.”
The Bennett trust was designed so that if Thomas died, ownership passed
equally to Anna’s children.
But an old partnership agreement contained a dangerous clause.
If there were no verified male descendant, certain development rights
reverted to Vance Holdings.
Clara stared at him.
“So Raymond needed Daniel gone.”
“Legally invisible,” Thomas said. “Not dead.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“And Clara?”
“You were still an heir to the land, but not the development rights.”
The forged deed suddenly made sense.
Someone needed Clara’s land title and Daniel’s absence.
Together, the twins controlled both pieces.
Ethan looked sick.
“My family benefited from this.”
“Yes,” Thomas said.
“Did my father know?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“Too late to call himself innocent.”
Thomas said Charles spent years quietly restoring money to the
foundation and trying to locate Daniel.
Raymond discovered it.
Then Charles became ill.
“Raymond convinced everyone I was dead,” Thomas said. “I let him.”
Clara’s anger returned.
“You let my mother believe her father disappeared and her son died.”
Thomas looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come back after Raymond supposedly died?”
“Because I knew he wasn’t dead.”
Thomas retrieved a folder.
Inside were photographs taken across eight years.
Raymond in Montreal.
Raymond in Lisbon.
Raymond outside a bank in Delaware.
The newest photograph was six weeks old.
Washington, D.C.
Raymond stood beside someone.
Vanessa Cole.
The woman Julian had brought to the gala.
Clara stared at Thomas.
“Who is she?”
Thomas answered softly.
“Raymond’s daughter.”
Daniel frowned.
“Julian’s sister?”
“No.”
May you like
Thomas looked at Ethan.
“Charles Vance’s daughter.”
