Chapter 12 - Victoria’s Last Favor
Victoria admitted she had gone to the storage locker after Nathan threatened to send private family medical records to reporters.
She claimed she intended to retrieve the originals before he could exploit them.
The suitcase contained paper contracts, an encrypted drive, and a ledger handwritten by Nathan's late father.
The ledger showed years of private loans that had never been repaid.
It also showed that Nathan had been financing risky developments long before he targeted my firm.
Victoria had covered each failure, moving money among family trusts, businesses, and mortgages.
Her latest guarantee had placed the house at risk.
"I thought I was saving my boys," she told Mara.
"You were protecting one at the expense of everyone else," I said.
She accepted the rebuke without protest.
The encrypted drive proved more significant than the ledger.
Priya and the forensic team made a read-only image before attempting to analyze it.
The folders included templates for forged invoices, copied logos, and scanned signatures.
One document contained a list of people Nathan believed could be pressured to cooperate.
My name was at the top.
June's was beneath it.
Brooke's name appeared with the word UNCERTAIN beside it.
I wondered whether Brooke had finally become a liability to the man she'd helped.
Victoria said Nathan had called her just before she entered the locker.
"He told me Arthur would go to prison if I didn't remove the drive."
"That was a threat, not a fact," Mara said.
"And now we need you to tell investigators exactly what he asked you to do."
Victoria agreed.
She surrendered the keys, the drive, and her phone.
For a brief moment, I saw how much older she looked than the last time she had criticized my ability to have children.
Then she asked whether I thought Arthur and I could reconcile.
"No," I said.
She nodded and began to cry quietly.
I didn't stay to comfort her.
Back at the office, Priya discovered that one file on the drive was protected by a second password.
Its title was FINAL DISTRIBUTION.
We expected a ledger of stolen funds.
Instead, the recovered index referenced offshore accounts and a video recording made inside my office.
The recording date was the night Arthur had announced he wanted a divorce.
I had been alone in that office after he left.
Or I had believed I was alone.
Priya froze the playback before the image loaded.
"I need to warn you," she said.
"Someone installed a camera here without your consent."
I looked up toward the bookshelf, where a small decorative clock had stood for years.
May you like
Arthur had given it to me for our tenth anniversary.
