Chapter 5
Vincent refused to tell Isabella about Daniel’s threat.
I told him that was a mistake.
“She deserves to know.”
“She just survived one public humiliation.”
“She also told you she hates being treated like she’s helpless.”
He stared at me.
I stared back.
“You do this often?” he asked.
“What?”
“Tell billionaires they’re wrong.”
“You’re the first billionaire I know.”
“Comforting.”
Eventually, he told her.
Isabella became furious.
Not frightened.
Furious.
“Daniel wants to destroy me?”
Vincent sat across from her in the hospital family room.
“He says he has information.”
“What information?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Isabella’s face hardened.
“Then he can say it to me.”
“No.”
“Vincent.”
“No.”
I cleared my throat.
Both of them looked at me.
“This is where I slowly walk away.”
Isabella pointed at the chair.
“Sit.”
I sat.
Apparently billionaires inherited their ability to command rooms from their mothers.
Daniel agreed to meet at a private restaurant after closing.
Vincent’s security team insisted on monitoring from outside.
Daniel had asked him to come alone.
Vincent went anyway.
I had no reason to be involved.
So naturally, I ended up involved.
It happened because Isabella refused to stay home.
She asked me to accompany her while security followed Vincent.
“Your son is going to be furious.”
“He has survived.”
We waited in a vehicle across the street.
Twenty minutes later, Daniel arrived.
I recognized him from photographs.
He resembled Vincent around the eyes, but where Vincent carried tension quietly, Daniel seemed to wear anger like a second jacket.
He entered the restaurant.
Ten minutes passed.
Then fifteen.
Isabella stared through the window.
“I hate this.”
“You could’ve stayed home.”
“So could you.”
Fair point.
Then a second vehicle arrived.
Victoria Langford stepped out.
My stomach dropped.
“She’s here.”
Isabella looked.
Her expression changed.
Victoria entered the restaurant.
Security immediately moved closer.
“What does this mean?” I asked.
“It means Daniel lied.”
Isabella opened the door.
I grabbed her sleeve.
“You cannot go in there.”
“Watch me.”
“Your son will blame me.”
“He already likes you. You’ll survive.”
My face became hot.
“That is not—”
She was already moving.
I followed because someone had to keep the seventy-eight-year-old woman in a wheelchair from storming into a family conspiracy alone.
Security met us at the entrance.
Isabella ignored them.
Inside, voices came from a private dining room.
Daniel was shouting.
“You think you can just cut me out?”
Vincent answered.
“You built a project around bribery and intimidation.”
“That’s Victoria’s business.”
Victoria snapped, “Don’t you dare.”
Then Isabella rolled through the door.
Everyone froze.
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Mother.”
“You’re welcome.”
Daniel stood.
For one second, anger disappeared from his face.
He looked like a little boy caught doing something wrong.
“Mom.”
“Don’t.”
Her voice cracked like a whip.
“You threatened me to frighten your brother?”
Daniel looked away.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“This is family business.”
Isabella looked at her.
“You tried to slap me.”
Victoria’s face tightened.
“You humiliated me.”
“No.”
I heard Vincent’s words from the gala in Isabella’s voice.
“You humiliated yourself.”
Victoria saw me behind Isabella.
Her eyes became venomous.
“You.”
“Me.”
“What is she doing here?”
Isabella smiled.
“Protecting me from difficult women.”
I almost laughed.
Daniel slammed a folder onto the table.
“Enough.”
Inside were bank statements.
Emails.
Contracts.
He looked at Vincent.
“You want proof? There.”
Vincent opened the file.
His expression changed.
“What is this?”
“Victoria has been moving money through shell companies.”
Victoria went pale.
“Daniel.”
“You said you wanted the truth.”
“You promised me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You promised me the project was clean.”
She stared at him.
Something between them broke.
Vincent kept reading.
“What’s Greenwell Advisory?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Ask her.”
Victoria grabbed her purse.
Security blocked the door.
“Move.”
Vincent looked up.
“Nobody is stopping you from leaving.”
The guard stepped aside.
She paused.
Vincent continued.
“But copies of these documents are already with my attorneys.”
That was a bluff.
I could tell from Daniel’s reaction.
Victoria couldn’t.
She turned toward Daniel.
“You idiot.”
Then she left.
The room stayed silent.
Isabella looked at her younger son.
“Why did you threaten me?”
Daniel sat down.
He suddenly looked exhausted.
“I wasn’t going to release anything.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because Vincent doesn’t listen unless he thinks something is on fire.”
“That isn’t an excuse.”
“No.”
He looked at his brother.
“I wanted him to come without lawyers.”
Vincent stared at the documents.
“You were working with her.”
“I thought it was legitimate.”
“You knew she was pressuring Mom.”
“I knew she was talking to her.”
“She tried to hit her.”
“I didn’t know that would happen.”
Vincent stood.
“You always don’t know.”
Daniel flinched.
“That’s easy for you.”
“What is?”
“Being the good son.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Here it was.
The real wound.
Not land.
Not money.
Their father.
Daniel’s voice shook.
“Dad gave you everything that mattered.”
Vincent said nothing.
“He trusted you. He put you in charge. He told everyone you were the responsible one.”
“You got half the estate.”
“I didn’t want half the money!”
Daniel hit the table.
“I wanted him to believe in me.”
Isabella began crying.
Both brothers went silent.
She looked at Daniel.
“Your father loved you.”
“He didn’t respect me.”
“That may be true.”
Daniel looked stunned.
She continued.
“And he was wrong for making you feel that way.”
Vincent stared at his mother.
She turned toward him.
“And you were wrong for spending ten years acting like Daniel’s anger made him an enemy instead of your brother.”
Vincent looked down.
Daniel’s eyes filled.
For once, nobody had a sharp answer.
Then Vincent’s phone rang.
His attorney.
He listened.
His expression became darker with every second.
“What?”
We all looked at him.
He ended the call.
“Victoria filed an emergency petition.”
“For what?” Daniel asked.
Vincent looked at Isabella.
“To declare Mother mentally incompetent.”
The silence that followed felt violent.
Isabella’s face went white.
“She did what?”
“She’s claiming your stroke left you unable to manage your affairs.”
“That woman has no standing.”
Daniel stood slowly.
“She might.”
Everyone looked at him.
His face filled with guilt.
“I signed something.”
Vincent stared.
“What did you sign?”
Daniel swallowed.
“A statement saying Mom seemed confused during several meetings.”
Isabella looked at her son.
The pain on her face was worse than anger.
“Daniel.”
He started crying.
“I didn’t know what Victoria planned to do with it.”
Vincent stepped toward him.
“You gave her ammunition against our mother?”
“I was trying to get the project approved!”
Isabella turned her wheelchair away.
Daniel reached for her.
“Mom.”
“Don’t touch me.”
His hand fell.
My heart broke for her.
Vincent looked ready to destroy his brother.
But before he could speak, Isabella turned around.
Her voice trembled.
“I will fight Victoria myself.”
“Mother—”
“No.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“For months, all of you have been making decisions around me.”
She looked at Daniel.
“You used me.”
Then Vincent.
“You protected me without asking what I wanted.”
Then me.
“You treated me like a person.”
My throat tightened.
She lifted her chin.
“So tomorrow, I am going to court.”
Vincent shook his head.
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
“Yes, I do.”
She looked toward the door Victoria had exited through.
“Not because I am weak.”
May you like
Her voice steadied.
“Because she chose the wrong old woman to underestimate.”
