Chapter 5 - What Sylvia Had Been Hiding
Victor didn't move.
Neither did the stranger.
They studied each other across twenty feet and three decades of secrets.
"You sent the photograph," Victor said.
"Yes."
"You threatened Nora?"
"No."
"You followed her."
"I protected her."
Victor's eyes hardened.
"Name."
The man smiled faintly.
"Gabriel."
Nora looked between them.
Victor stepped forward.
"Prove it."
Gabriel reached slowly into his coat.
Adrian tensed.
Gabriel removed an envelope.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Gabriel Rinaldi.
Father: Dominic Rinaldi.
Victor's father.
Victor read it twice.
"This proves paperwork."
Gabriel nodded.
"Then ask Thomas."
Victor looked up.
"What does he have to do with you?"
"Everything."
Gabriel explained.
Meridian had begun as an investment partnership.
Dominic Rinaldi and several businessmen pooled capital.
Thomas wanted control.
Dominic discovered money disappearing.
When Dominic threatened to expose it, Thomas began removing evidence.
Gabriel, then a teenager, overheard too much.
Dominic sent him away under another surname.
Years later, the family was told Gabriel had died overseas.
"He hid you."
"He saved me."
"Then why come back now?"
Gabriel looked toward the twins.
"Because Thomas started watching Nora."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
"She found one of Dominic's old accounts while organizing documents for the twins' trust."
Nora nodded.
"I thought it was a bookkeeping error."
Gabriel continued.
"It wasn't."
The $240,000 surveillance payment had been Thomas trying to learn what Nora knew.
Victor stared at him.
"Why didn't you come directly to me?"
Gabriel's expression became almost sad.
"Would you have believed me?"
Victor had no answer.
His phone rang.
Sylvia.
He answered.
"Victor."
She sounded terrified.
"Someone's in my apartment."
Victor stood straighter.
"Leave."
"I'm already outside."
"Go somewhere public."
"There's something you need to know."
Victor closed his eyes.
"What?"
"I lied."
Everyone watched him.
"About April seventeenth?"
"About why Nora came to my office."
Victor looked at Nora.
Sylvia continued.
"She wasn't only asking about us."
"What else?"
"She asked whether Thomas had ever contacted me."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Had he?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Months ago."
"Why?"
Sylvia began crying quietly.
"He paid me."
Victor went still.
"For what?"
"To keep you away from home."
Silence.
Sylvia rushed onward.
"He knew you trusted me professionally. He knew you liked escaping into work when things became difficult."
Victor's face hardened.
"So he paid you to encourage it."
"At first."
Nora closed her eyes.
Victor looked at her.
"At first?"
Sylvia whispered, "Then I didn't need the money anymore."
Because she had developed feelings for him.
Victor understood.
His stomach turned.
"Why?"
"Thomas said Nora was dangerous."
"To whom?"
"He never said."
Gabriel answered from across the room.
"To him."
Victor looked at his brother.
Gabriel pointed toward the documents.
"Thomas needed your marriage broken."
"Why?"
"Because Nora found the trust."
Victor frowned.
"What trust?"
Gabriel pulled another document from the envelope.
Dominic Rinaldi had established a protected family trust before his death.
Its controlling beneficiaries were not Victor.
They were Victor's future children.
Leo and Mia.
Victor stared.
"Thomas has spent years using assets that legally belong to my children."
Gabriel nodded.
"And Nora discovered it."
Victor sat slowly.
The entire shape of his life changed.
His uncle had not merely stolen money.
He had manipulated Victor.
Fed his weaknesses.
Encouraged distance between husband and wife.
Used Sylvia.
Watched Nora.
Victor looked toward Nora.
But the ugliest truth remained.
Thomas had exploited cracks.
Victor had created them.
He couldn't blame another man for every night he chose not to come home.
Nora seemed to understand what he was thinking.
"Thomas manipulated you," she said.
Victor looked at her.
"But he didn't make your choices."
"No."
That answer came immediately.
Nora's eyes softened slightly.
Victor continued.
"I did."
Leo began crying.
Nora moved toward him.
Victor watched.
Then he asked:
"Can I?"
Nora hesitated.
Finally she handed Leo to him.
Victor held his son awkwardly.
Leo cried harder.
Victor looked helpless.
Nora almost smiled despite herself.
"Support his head."
Victor adjusted.
"Like this?"
"Closer."
He brought Leo against his chest.
The baby slowly quieted.
Victor stared down.
Something inside him cracked open.
Gabriel looked away, giving him privacy.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"Victor."
"What?"
"Thomas is here."
Everyone froze.
"Where?"
Adrian looked through the window.
Headlights appeared beyond the trees.
A black sedan stopped outside.
Thomas stepped out alone.
He carried no visible weapon.
Only a leather briefcase.
Victor handed Leo carefully back to Nora.
"Stay here."
Nora caught his wrist.
"No."
Victor looked at her.
"We do this differently now."
He understood.
Together, they walked toward the door.
Thomas reached the porch.
Victor opened it.
His uncle looked at Gabriel.
For the first time in Victor's memory, Thomas Rinaldi looked frightened.
Then Thomas raised the briefcase.
"I brought the original trust."
Gabriel's face changed.
Thomas looked at Victor.
"But before you read it, there's something Nora hasn't told you."
Victor slowly turned toward his wife.
May you like
Thomas smiled without warmth.
"Ask her who helped her disappear."
