Chapter 7 - THE FATHER WHO WAS NEVER MISSING.
Thomas Bennett appeared on the screen wearing a county detention uniform.
He had not fled.
Victoria’s attorneys arranged his arrest under a sealed corporate-theft complaint and kept the case out of public records.
For six months, Lucy had been told her father abandoned her.
The family continued charging rent to his empty staff cottage while blocking every letter he sent.
Lucy began crying.
“Why didn’t he call me?”
Thomas pressed one hand against the courtroom glass.
“I tried every day.”
Victoria showed no remorse.
“He stole confidential property.”
Thomas answered, “I copied proof that you stole workers’ lives.”
The judge revealed that the evidence against Thomas consisted entirely of Ashford affidavits and a digital access log.
That log had been altered.
The original showed Victoria’s security chief entering the server room under Thomas’s badge.
Daniel demanded Thomas’s release.
The judge said the sealed complaint would be dismissed once the original pension files were authenticated.
Celeste held them up.
Victoria’s control finally cracked.
She ordered the guards to remove everyone.
Neither moved.
One guard said his mother’s pension was also missing.
The second removed his Ashford pin.
Then Thomas gave Daniel one final warning.
“The woman who drugged you was not Celeste.”
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Lucy looked toward the silver dress.
A second woman stood in the hidden passage wearing the same gown.
