Chapter 19 - The Call Before the Crash
Victor followed Serena into an empty conference room.
Adrian shouted from the hallway.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Victor closed the door.
Serena opened the file from her flash drive.
It contained an old transcript.
A phone call.
Grace had received it seventeen minutes before she left home on the night she died.
Victor stared at the number.
Blackwood Holdings executive switchboard.
“Who called her?”
“I don’t know.”
Serena scrolled.
“The internal extension was removed.”
Victor read the transcript.
Only part of the conversation survived.
A male voice had told Grace that Victor was in trouble.
Grace asked where.
The caller gave her an address.
Grace left immediately.
She never arrived.
Her car crashed during heavy rain.
The death had been ruled accidental.
Victor’s hands trembled.
“You knew about this?”
“No.”
“I found it in my mother’s files after you came home early.”
Victor looked at Serena.
“Why would Margaret have it?”
Serena’s voice cracked.
“That’s what scares me.”
The door opened.
Naomi entered with Marcus.
Police had taken Adrian and Margaret for questioning.
Serena would also be questioned and likely face serious charges connected to Ethan, the false evidence, and the financial scheme.
She did not ask Victor to protect her.
That surprised him.
As officers approached, Serena looked at him one last time.
“Ask Adrian who ordered the call.”
Victor said nothing.
“And ask yourself why your father buried the investigation.”
Then she left.
That evening, Victor returned to the mansion.
Lily sat beside Ethan’s crib reading softly.
Maria was downstairs with Mateo.
For the first time in weeks, the house felt quiet.
Victor watched his son sleeping.
He finally understood what mattered.
The company could be rebuilt.
His reputation could be repaired.
Money could be recovered.
But Ethan had needed someone to see what was happening.
Lily had seen it.
Maria had seen it.
Victor had almost arrived too late.
He touched the crib railing.
“I’m sorry, buddy.”
Ethan slept peacefully.
Marcus appeared at the nursery door.
“We found something in Charles Blackwood’s old safe.”
Victor turned.
Marcus held a sealed envelope.
Grace’s handwriting was on the front.
May you like
To Victor.
Only open if Ethan is in danger.
