Chapter 16 - The Old House Phone
The answer came forty minutes later.
The intercom system backed up calls through an independent telecommunications provider.
Victor almost did not believe it.
“How far back?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Six months.”
Victor felt his pulse quicken.
They obtained the records through Victor’s account authorization.
Thousands of short audio files appeared.
Most were meaningless.
Lily humming.
Maria speaking to Ethan.
Victor calling upstairs.
Then Marcus found a file from June 17.
The same date from Lily’s torn notebook page.
Serena’s voice came first.
“Stop crying.”
Ethan continued.
Then the intercom connected to an outside number.
Adrian answered.
Victor stopped breathing.
Serena spoke.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
Adrian responded.
“You only need one more incident.”
“What if he gets hurt?”
“He’s a toddler.”
“People believe toddlers fall.”
Victor closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Serena whispered.
“And then the trust activates?”
“If Victor looks negligent enough.”
The exact sentence from the damaged nursery recording.
Now Adrian’s voice was perfectly clear.
Then came something even worse.
Serena asked.
“And after you get the shares?”
Adrian laughed.
“Victor loses the company.”
“What about Ethan?”
“He becomes irrelevant.”
Victor’s face went still.
Marcus continued searching.
Another recording appeared from three weeks later.
Adrian was speaking to Margaret.
Margaret said.
“The merger vote is our window.”
Adrian answered.
“Once I control the trust, Victor has no majority.”
Then Margaret asked a chilling question.
“And Serena?”
Adrian’s response came instantly.
“She knows too much.”
Victor looked at Serena.
She had insisted on being present.
Her face became white.
“They were going to blame me.”
Victor did not answer.
Serena covered her mouth.
Everything she had done had been cruel.
Manipulative.
Unforgivable.
But she finally understood that Adrian had always planned to sacrifice her when the scheme was finished.
Naomi entered the room.
Victor handed her the recording.
“Can we use this?”
She listened.
Then looked directly at him.
“This changes everything.”
Victor stared toward the city lights outside.
May you like
For the first time since coming home early, he was no longer reacting.
He was ready to attack.
