Chapter 4: The Manager Who Knew Too Much
I read the sentence three times.
Then a fourth.
*Don’t trust Daniel Brooks.*
The words looked different every time.
The first time, they felt like a warning.
The second time, they felt like a threat.
The third time, they felt impossible.
Because Daniel was the person who had just welcomed me into Bellavelle.
He was the person who had treated me with respect when everyone else treated me like I didn’t belong.
He was the person who had stood beside me when Victoria tried to humiliate me.
And now, hidden inside my father’s ring box, was a message telling me he was the person I should fear.
I slowly folded the paper.
Daniel noticed.
“What did it say?””
I looked up.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
“I’m not sure yet.””
It was the first lie I had told him.
But I needed time.
Time to understand.
Time to watch.
Time to decide whether the man standing in front of me was an ally or someone who had spent years pretending to be one.
Daniel looked at the ring.
“Claire, if there is something wrong, you need to tell me.””
I studied his expression.
There was concern there.
Or at least something that looked like concern.
“My father left this ring for a reason.””
Daniel nodded.
“I believe that.””
“You knew him.””
His expression changed slightly.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
A tiny pause.
A hesitation.
“Yes.””
The answer came too quickly.
I noticed.
“How?””
Daniel looked toward the private office.
“Not here.””
That was the second thing I noticed.
He didn’t deny it.
He didn’t ask how I knew.
He simply accepted the fact that my father and he had some kind of connection.
That meant he was hiding something.
I slipped the note into my bag.
“Then let’s talk.””
Daniel nodded.
“We should.””
As we walked toward the private office, the boutique employees moved aside.
But the customers didn’t.
They watched me.
The same people who had quietly smiled when Victoria mocked me now looked at me differently.
Some looked impressed.
Some looked curious.
Some looked uncomfortable.
I didn’t blame them.
People loved success stories.
They just didn’t always like the moment before the success was revealed.
The moment when they realized they had judged someone unfairly.
Behind me, I heard Victoria whisper.
“Claire.””
I stopped.
She stood several feet away.
The confidence was gone.
The sharp smile was gone.
She looked younger somehow.
Less untouchable.
“What?””
She hesitated.
That surprised me.
Victoria Hale had never struggled to find words.
“I need to talk to you.””
I almost laughed.
“Now?””
She glanced at Daniel.
Then at Ethan.
“Privately.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
Her lips pressed together.
“Because I think my father is in danger.””
That caught my attention.
“What?””
She stepped closer.
“My father has been acting strange for months.””
Ethan looked at her.
“Victoria, you never told me that.””
“Because I didn’t think it mattered.””
She looked back at me.
“But after that phone call…”
She lowered her voice.
“I think he knows something.””
I stared at her.
“You expect me to believe you?””
“No.””
The answer surprised me.
She looked down.
“I wouldn’t believe me either.””
For the first time, Victoria sounded honest.
Not kind.
Not friendly.
Just honest.
“I know what I did today was cruel.””
I raised an eyebrow.
“That’s one way to describe it.””
She looked away.
“I was wrong about you.””
I waited.
An apology from Victoria Hale should have felt satisfying.
It didn’t.
Because there was something bigger happening.
Something that involved my father.
My family.
And a secret that had been buried for ten years.
“I’ll talk to you later.””
Her eyes met mine.
“Claire—”
“Later.””
She nodded slowly.
Then I followed Daniel into the office.
The door closed.
Immediately, the noise of the boutique disappeared.
The private office was elegant but simple.
A large wooden desk.
Shelves filled with jewelry books.
A wall displaying Bellavelle’s history.
Photographs of founders.
Awards.
Collections.
Achievements.
I walked toward the wall.
And then I saw it.
A photograph from fifteen years ago.
A group of designers standing outside the original Bellavelle workshop.
My eyes stopped on one person.
My father.
Thomas Bennett.
Standing beside him was a younger Daniel Brooks.
I turned.
“You said you knew him.””
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“Yes.””
“You worked with him.””
He nodded.
“For a short time.””
“How short?””
His silence answered before his words did.
“Longer than I told people.””
I crossed my arms.
“How long?””
Daniel sighed.
“Eight years.””
The room became quiet.
“Eight years?””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me?””
“I didn’t know you were his daughter.””
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.””
“Why?””
“Because when Bellavelle hired me, you saw my name.””
Daniel looked down.
“I did.””
“And you never connected it?””
He didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“Daniel.””
He finally looked at me.
“I knew.””
The honesty shocked me more than a lie would have.
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
My heart tightened.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?””
Daniel walked toward the window.
For the first time, he looked tired.
Not like a businessman.
Like someone carrying something heavy.
“Because your father asked me not to.””
I froze.
“My father?””
“He contacted me six months ago.””
“Six months?””
“Yes.””
“And you never said anything?””
Daniel turned around.
“He told me he wasn’t ready.””
“Ready for what?””
“To come back.””
I shook my head.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It didn’t to me either.””
Daniel looked at the ring.
“But your father was always careful.””
“Careful?””
“He spent ten years trying to prove what happened.””
I felt a chill.
“What happened?””
Daniel walked back to the desk.
Then opened a drawer.
Inside was a folder.
Old.
Worn.
He placed it in front of me.
“This.””
I opened it.
Inside were copies of documents.
Contracts.
Design sketches.
Emails.
My eyes moved quickly.
Then stopped.
A signature.
My father’s.
And another.
A name I recognized.
Richard Hale.
Victoria’s father.
My hands tightened around the papers.
“He stole from my father.””
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why does everyone think Bellavelle belongs to the Hale family?””
“Because they made sure everyone believed that.””
I looked through the documents.
There were dates.
Meetings.
Transfers.
Evidence.
Enough to suggest something had happened.
But not enough to explain everything.
“Why didn’t you expose them?””
Daniel looked away.
“Because I was afraid.””
I didn’t expect that answer.
“Of them?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
His jaw tightened.
“Because I saw what happened to your father.””
The room felt colder.
“What happened?””
Daniel didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said,
“The night Thomas disappeared, I was there.””
I stopped moving.
“You were there?””
“Yes.””
“And you let him leave?””
His face changed.
Pain.
Regret.
“I tried to stop him.””
“What do you mean?””
Daniel sat down.
“Your father discovered Richard Hale had been using stolen designs for years.””
I listened carefully.
“He planned to reveal everything.””
“Then why didn’t he?””
“Because someone betrayed him.””
My chest tightened.
“My mother.””
Daniel looked at me.
“I don’t know the full truth about your mother.””
“But my father said—”
“I know what he said.””
Daniel’s voice became softer.
“But your father also spent ten years believing things he couldn’t prove.””
I stared at him.
“What are you saying?””
“I’m saying there may be another side.””
The answer frustrated me.
“Everyone keeps saying there’s another side.””
Daniel looked at the documents.
“Because there is.””
I turned away.
The truth was becoming a maze.
Every person gave me a different piece.
Every answer created another question.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
One picture.
My blood ran cold.
It was a photograph of me entering Bellavelle that afternoon.
Taken from across the street.
Someone had been watching.
Below the image was a message.
*You should have walked away when you had the chance.*
Another message appeared immediately.
*Ask Daniel why he really stayed at Bellavelle.*
I looked up.
Daniel was watching me.
“What happened?””
I locked my phone.
“Nothing.””
Another lie.
But this time, I wasn’t lying because I needed time.
I was lying because I wasn’t sure who I could trust.
Then the office door suddenly opened.
Victoria stood there.
Her face was pale.
“Claire.””
Everyone turned.
She looked directly at me.
“My father just confessed something.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
She swallowed.
“He said the reason your father disappeared…”
She looked at Daniel.
Then back at me.
“…was because Daniel Brooks helped him disappear.””
The room went silent.
May you like
And for the first time since I entered Bellavelle…
I wondered if the person who welcomed me back into the world was the same person who had taken my father away from it.
