Chapter 6
Victor tried to recover.
I watched him build a new mask in real time.
Hurt husband.
Betrayed spouse.
Innocent employee.
Man deceived by a powerful family.
“I loved your daughter,” he told my father.
The room went very still.
My father sat down slowly.
“Did you?”
Victor nodded.
“I didn’t know who she was.”
“That was the point.”
Victor turned to me.
“You tested me?”
“Yes.”
His voice rose.
“You married me to test me?”
“I married you because I wanted to believe you.”
That stopped him for a second.
Then anger returned.
“You let me look like a fool.”
“No. I let you act like yourself.”
He pointed at me.
“You sat there for years watching me work, knowing you could control everything.”
My voice stayed calm.
“I watched you steal.”
His face paled.
My father slid a folder across the table.
“Fake consulting contracts. Inflated vendor invoices. Shell companies. Misappropriated funds. Gifts to Kendra Vale. Bribes to city inspectors. Forged authorizations.”
Victor did not open it.
He stared at the folder like it might bite.
“I want my attorney.”
Russell said, “So do we.”
Victor looked at him.
Russell’s expression did not change.
“Your attorney’s name appears on three forged documents.”
Victor sat down.
Not by choice.
His legs simply failed the performance.
“I can explain.”
My father’s voice was quiet.
“You will explain to federal investigators.”
“Arthur—”
“Mr. Hartwell.”
Victor looked at me.
“Olivia. Tell him this is between us.”
I remembered the penthouse hallway.
The rain.
Kendra smiling behind him.
The slap.
The suitcase.
“No,” I said.
His eyes filled, but the tears looked wrong.
Too late.
Too useful.
“I made mistakes.”
“You committed crimes.”
“I was under pressure.”
“You humiliated me for sport.”
“You hid who you were.”
“And you showed who you were.”
He leaned forward.
“Do you know what people will say about you? That you trapped your own husband. That you played poor and ruined a man for failing some sick rich-girl test.”
The words hit.
Because some part of me feared exactly that.
My father saw the flicker in my face.
He stood.
“My daughter gave you seven years of chances you did not deserve. Do not mistake her restraint for guilt.”
Victor looked up at him.
My father’s voice dropped.
“You are leaving now. The next time we speak, counsel will be present.”
Victor stood slowly.
At the door, he turned back.
“Kendra is pregnant.”
The room froze.
May you like
Then he smiled.
“She says it’s mine.”
