Chapter 2 - The Son He Abandoned
Arthur did not sleep that night.
He sat alone in his study while rain struck the tall windows of his mansion.
On the desk lay the photograph.
He had enlarged it.
There was Daniel.
Seventeen years old.
Handsome.
Angry.
Alive.
Arthur remembered that day with painful clarity.
Daniel had been accused of stealing millions from Bennett Holdings.
The evidence had seemed overwhelming.
Bank transfers.
Signed documents.
Security footage.
Witness statements.
Daniel had insisted he was innocent.
Arthur hadn't believed him.
He had told himself that a father could not protect a guilty son.
So he had testified.
Daniel had been convicted.
At the time, Arthur believed he was defending the family.
Now, thirty-six years later, he looked at the photograph and wondered whether he had destroyed it instead.
His assistant, Margaret, entered quietly.
"Mr. Bennett?"
"Find Daniel Bennett."
Margaret froze.
"Daniel?"
"My son."
She had worked for Arthur for twenty-four years.
She had never heard him call Daniel that way.
"I thought you believed he was—"
"I don't care what I believed."
Arthur looked up.
"Find him."
Margaret nodded.
"And find everything."
The next morning, Arthur went to the foster agency.
Ethan and Lily were sitting in a small room.
Lily was eating cereal.
Arthur noticed she kept one hand over the bowl as if someone might take it away.
His chest tightened.
"Can I sit here?"
She nodded.
Arthur sat.
Ethan watched him carefully.
Arthur placed a small paper bag on the table.
Inside were pastries from the bakery.
Lily's eyes brightened.
"For me?"
"For both of you."
She smiled.
It was the first time Arthur had seen her smile.
Ethan remained suspicious.
"Why are you helping us?"
Arthur answered honestly.
"Because I should have helped your father."
The boy looked confused.
"You knew him?"
Arthur nodded.
"He was my son."
Silence.
"Then why did you let him go to prison?"
Arthur looked down.
"Because I believed the wrong people."
Ethan's face changed.
"Mom always said that."
Arthur leaned forward.
"Tell me about your mother."
"Her name was Sarah."
"When did she die?"
"Two years ago."
"Was she married to Daniel?"
Ethan nodded.
"She waited for him."
"Did she visit him?"
"Every month."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"Why didn't I know?"
Ethan looked at him.
"Because Dad told Mom never to contact you."
Arthur's heart sank.
"Why?"
"Because he said Grandpa hated him."
Arthur closed his eyes.
That was what his son had believed.
For thirty-six years.
Margaret arrived that afternoon carrying a thick file.
"Mr. Bennett."
Arthur opened it.
Daniel had been incarcerated at Westbridge Correctional Facility.
He had been transferred twice.
He had maintained his innocence for thirty-six years.
No parole.
No confession.
No apology.
At the bottom of the file was a handwritten note.
"Defendant continues to maintain that financial evidence was fabricated."
Arthur stared at the sentence.
"Who was the prosecutor?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Judge Samuel Crowe."
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
Crowe.
He remembered him.
A respected prosecutor at the time.
Later appointed to the state appeals court.
Now retired.
Arthur turned another page.
There it was.
The original financial audit.
Arthur's blood went cold.
One of the accounts used to implicate Daniel had been opened three weeks before the alleged theft.
But Daniel had not had authorization to access it.
Someone else had.
Arthur stood abruptly.
"Who?"
Margaret pointed to the document.
"An executive named Thomas Vale."
Arthur stared.
Thomas Vale had been Bennett Holdings' chief financial officer.
And he had died six years after Daniel's conviction.
Arthur remembered one thing about him.
Thomas had been the person who told Arthur that Daniel was guilty.
The person who had brought him the evidence.
The person who had said:
"Your son betrayed you."
Arthur slowly sat back down.
For thirty-six years, he had hated his son.
Now he wondered whether his son had been betrayed by the man Arthur trusted most.
That evening, Arthur returned to the foster home.
Ethan was sitting by the window.
"Grandpa?"
Arthur stopped.
It was the first time the boy had called him that.
"Yes?"
"Are you really going to help Dad?"
Arthur swallowed.
"I am."
Ethan studied him.
"Even if everyone thinks he's guilty?"
May you like
Arthur looked directly into the boy's eyes.
"Especially then."
