Chapter 6 - The File Marked Leo and Mia
Victor looked at Nora.
She didn't deny it.
"Who?" he asked.
Nora's eyes moved toward Adrian.
Victor followed them.
Adrian went still.
Thomas smiled.
"There."
Victor stared at the man he trusted most.
"You helped her?"
Adrian nodded.
Victor absorbed the answer.
"Why?"
"Because she asked."
"Without telling me."
"Especially without telling you."
Victor's anger flashed.
Then he looked at Nora.
"Did you believe I would stop you?"
"Yes."
He wanted to say she was wrong.
But he couldn't.
The Victor who had entered the penthouse at 5:03 that morning would have sent people after her.
He would have found her.
He would have called it protection.
He might never have asked whether she wanted to return.
Victor looked at Adrian.
"You were right."
Thomas's smile vanished.
He had expected conflict.
Victor refused to give it to him.
"Come inside," Victor said.
They gathered around the dining table.
Thomas placed the briefcase down.
Inside lay the original trust documents.
Dominic's signature appeared at the bottom.
Victor read carefully.
The trust protected a portfolio of properties and investments for Dominic's descendants.
Thomas had been temporary trustee.
Temporary.
Not permanent.
His authority should have ended when Victor turned thirty.
It hadn't.
Thomas had forged amendments.
Gabriel placed copies beside the originals.
The differences were obvious.
Victor looked at his uncle.
"You stole from us."
Thomas's expression remained composed.
"I preserved what your father built."
"You stole it."
"I managed it."
"For yourself."
Thomas leaned forward.
"Your father was sentimental. Sentimental men destroy fortunes."
Victor almost laughed.
"My father hid his son from you."
Thomas's eyes shifted toward Gabriel.
"Gabriel was unstable."
"I was seventeen," Gabriel said.
"You were reckless."
"I discovered your theft."
Thomas ignored him.
Victor asked, "Why Nora?"
"Because she wouldn't stop digging."
"So you watched her."
"I needed to know what she knew."
"You paid Sylvia."
Thomas's eyes sharpened.
"Sylvia made her own decisions."
Victor felt the sting because it was true.
"So did I."
Nora looked at him.
Victor continued.
"You didn't make me neglect my family."
Thomas seemed surprised.
Victor had always defended himself.
Not anymore.
"But you used it."
Thomas said nothing.
"You thought if Nora left me, she'd stop investigating."
"She was disrupting everything."
"She was protecting my children."
Thomas's composure slipped.
"Those children would never have known the difference."
Victor stood.
"I would."
Thomas looked up.
For the first time, Victor understood power differently.
It wasn't making another man afraid.
It was refusing to become him.
"You're done."
Thomas laughed.
"You think it's that easy?"
Gabriel slid a recorder across the table.
Thomas stopped.
"You've been recording me?"
"Since you walked in."
Thomas's face changed.
Adrian said, "And copies of the financial records are already with attorneys."
Thomas looked around.
"You planned this."
Nora answered.
"We learned from you."
Thomas grabbed the briefcase.
Victor placed one hand over it.
"No."
Their eyes met.
Thomas slowly released it.
He walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he turned.
"Victor."
Victor waited.
"You think your father was a hero?"
Gabriel stiffened.
Thomas smiled.
"Open the blue file."
Then he left.
Silence followed.
Victor looked inside the briefcase.
Several folders.
One was blue.
Across its front were two handwritten names.
LEO + MIA.
Nora whispered, "That wasn't there before."
Victor opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Written by Dominic years ago.
Impossible.
Victor read the first line.
To the children my son may someday have.
His throat tightened.
He continued silently.
Dominic had anticipated Thomas's greed.
He had created safeguards.
He had also written something personal.
Victor read aloud:
"If you are reading this, your father may believe strength means never needing anyone."
Victor stopped.
Nora watched him.
He continued.
"I taught him that lie."
Victor's voice broke.
Dominic admitted he had spent his life prioritizing business over family.
He feared Victor would repeat him.
Victor sat down.
The letter ended:
"Money can protect a house. It cannot make people feel safe inside it."
Nobody spoke.
Victor folded the letter.
Nora quietly left the room.
He followed.
She stood near the nursery.
"I became him," Victor said.
Nora turned.
"No."
"I did."
"Then don't stay him."
Victor looked at her.
That was the first hope she had given him.
Small.
Fragile.
But real.
"What do I do?"
"Start by not asking me to come home."
Victor swallowed.
"Okay."
"Start by understanding I don't trust you."
"Okay."
"Start by realizing apologies don't erase months."
"Okay."
Nora stared at him.
"You keep saying okay."
"Because I'm listening."
Her eyes filled.
Victor didn't approach her.
He simply stood there.
Then Nora's phone vibrated.
She looked down.
Her face changed.
"What?"
She showed Victor.
A message from Sylvia.
I FOUND WHAT THOMAS LEFT IN MY APARTMENT.
Below it was a photograph.
A key.
A storage-unit number.
May you like
And three words written on an envelope:
FOR VICTOR'S WIFE.
