Single Dad Stopped to Help a Struggling Old Man… Then He Met the Daughter Who Changed His Life
Chapter 4
Sophia wanted Daniel gone.
Not because she disliked him.
Because she believed keeping him near her father was dangerous.
“You need to go home,” she told him.
Daniel stared.
“My father left something for me.”
“And someone knows.”
“Exactly.”
“So leave.”
“Your father trusted me.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Sophia crossed her arms.
“My family has enemies.”
“So does mine.”
“You could get hurt.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“I stopped on the side of the road for a stranger.”
“What does that prove?”
“That I don’t leave people because things get complicated.”
Sophia looked at him.
For a moment, she had no answer.
Arthur watched from the doorway.
He smiled.
“You’re both stubborn.”
Neither responded.
Arthur sat.
“Daniel needs to know everything.”
Sophia turned.
“Dad.”
“I’m tired of keeping secrets.”
She frowned.
“What secrets?”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“Your father didn’t disappear.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He was murdered.”
The room went silent.
Daniel gripped the back of a chair.
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
“My father died twenty years ago.”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“He died because he discovered who was stealing from us.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked toward Sophia.
She understood.
“My father?”
“Not exactly.”
Arthur’s voice softened.
“Your father was involved.”
Sophia stared.
“With the theft?”
“With the cover-up.”
Daniel felt betrayed by a man who had been dead for years.
“Why?”
“Because someone threatened Sophia.”
Sophia stepped backward.
“What?”
Arthur continued.
“Your father had evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“That my closest business partner was running a criminal network.”
Sophia whispered,
“Who?”
Arthur looked at her.
“Charles Bennett.”
Sophia’s face went white.
“Uncle Charles?”
“My brother.”
Daniel stared.
“But he’s been gone for years.”
“Exactly.”
Arthur explained.
Charles had used shell companies to steal from the company.
When Daniel’s father discovered it, Charles threatened Sophia.
Daniel’s father agreed to stay silent.
Then he planned to expose Charles anyway.
He never got the chance.
Someone killed him.
“And you?”
Daniel asked.
“I raised Sophia while pretending everything was normal.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles promised that if I spoke, she’d die.”
Daniel looked at Sophia.
She looked devastated.
“I never knew.”
Arthur nodded.
“I wanted you to have a childhood.”
Daniel sat down.
“What does the account have to do with this?”
Arthur pointed to the key.
“Your father hid the evidence there.”
“Where?”
“In a trust.”
“Who controls it?”
Arthur smiled sadly.
“You.”
Daniel looked at Sophia.
“Then why did nobody tell me?”
“Because the trust can only be accessed when you and a member of my family sign together.”
Sophia froze.
“You mean me.”
Arthur nodded.
Daniel stared at the key.
The road had brought him to this house for a reason.
But there was still something he didn’t understand.
“Why did you ask me to stay?”
Arthur smiled.
“Because I need you to protect my daughter.”
Sophia immediately objected.
“No.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Listen.”
He turned to Daniel.
“You are the only person Charles never planned for.”
A sudden sound came from outside.
A car engine.
Sophia looked through the window.
A black sedan.
Again.
It had followed them.
Arthur stood.
“We have to leave.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Where?”
Arthur picked up the key.
“To the bank.”
Then the lights inside the house went out.
Someone had cut the power.
