Chapter 6 - Victor Sterling Arrives
Victor Sterling arrived at 11:17 p.m.
He did not rush.
Men like Victor never rushed.
At sixty-six, he had spent four decades buying companies from desperate owners and calling it restructuring.
He entered the Beaumont ballroom as though the police officers, security guards, and frightened guests belonged to him.
Vanessa immediately crossed the room.
“Dad.”
Victor did not hug her.
He looked at Adrian.
“What have you done?”
Adrian almost smiled.
“I was going to ask your daughter the same thing.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward the folder.
Then toward Evelyn.
Then Clara.
He paused on Clara longer than necessary.
“So this is the maid.”
Clara straightened.
Adrian noticed.
“She has a name.”
Victor ignored him.
“My daughter says your employee assaulted her.”
“She stopped Vanessa from striking my mother.”
“According to whom?”
“Me.”
Victor turned.
Evelyn rolled forward.
Her voice was quiet.
“Hello, Victor.”
For the first time, the older man’s composure shifted.
Only for a moment.
“Evelyn.”
“You look disappointed to see me awake.”
Vanessa whispered.
“Mrs. Beaumont, please.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You stopped calling me Evelyn?”
Victor cut in.
“My daughter has spent months helping this family.”
Adrian held up the restructuring agreement.
“By attempting to take control of it?”
Victor barely glanced at the document.
“That is a legitimate financing proposal.”
“Then why was my mother pressured to sign it privately?”
“She wasn’t.”
Calvin Reed spoke from across the room.
“Yes, she was.”
Victor turned.
Calvin sat beside two detectives.
“You again.”
Calvin grinned.
“Nice to see you too.”
Vanessa looked sharply at her father.
Adrian caught it.
“You know him.”
Victor remained calm.
“I know many people.”
Calvin laughed.
“You knew me well enough to pay me in Boston.”
Vanessa’s face went pale.
Victor stared at him.
Calvin continued.
“Want me to tell them about the country house?”
The room seemed to stop breathing.
Evelyn gripped the arms of her wheelchair.
Adrian stepped forward.
“What country house?”
Victor’s voice was low.
“Calvin is an extortionist.”
Calvin shrugged.
“True.”
“But I’m still telling the truth.”
One detective leaned closer.
“Mr. Reed, continue.”
Calvin looked at Evelyn.
“I wasn’t inside the house the day she fell.”
Adrian’s expression tightened.
“But?”
“I was outside.”
“Doing what?”
“Waiting for Vanessa.”
Vanessa shouted.
“Shut up.”
Calvin smiled.
“See?”
Victor grabbed his daughter’s arm.
“That’s enough.”
She pulled away.
“No, Dad.”
Something passed between them.
Fear.
Blame.
Possibly betrayal.
Calvin continued.
“Vanessa came outside about ten minutes after the ambulance left.”
“She gave me an envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“Cash.”
“How much?”
“Twenty grand.”
“For what?”
Calvin looked at Adrian.
“To erase footage from the estate’s backup security server.”
Evelyn made a small sound.
Adrian stared at Vanessa.
“You deleted footage of my mother’s fall?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“He’s lying.”
Calvin turned toward Victor.
“Your turn.”
Victor said nothing.
Calvin laughed.
“Tell them who gave me the password.”
Adrian looked at Victor.
Victor’s expression remained unreadable.
But Vanessa suddenly stepped away from her father.
That movement told Adrian everything.
“You gave him access.”
Victor finally spoke.
“You have no proof.”
Adrian held his gaze.
“Maybe not yet.”
Then Clara remembered something.
The brass key.
The mysterious box.
The papers Vanessa had wanted.
She looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn was thinking the same thing.
Adrian saw the exchange.
“What?”
Clara leaned closer.
“The box at the country house.”
Victor Sterling’s eyes flicked toward her.
Fast.
But not fast enough.
Clara saw it.
Adrian did too.
Victor knew about the box.
May you like
And for the first time since entering the palace, Victor Sterling looked worried.
---
