Chapter 8 - Uncle Victor’s Smile
Victor Moretti walked into the ruined hospital as if entering a private club.
No fear.
No hurry.
Two men followed him.
Vincent’s security team raised weapons.
Victor smiled.
“You’re pointing guns at a seventy-one-year-old man.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You arranged Michael’s death.”
Victor’s expression remained calm.
“Michael is standing right there.”
“You arranged the plane crash.”
“I arranged many things.”
Grace pulled Lily behind her.
Victor noticed.
His smile changed.
“So that’s the child.”
Michael moved between them.
“You don’t look at her.”
Victor sighed.
“You disappeared for seven years and suddenly discovered fatherhood?”
Michael clenched his fists.
Adrian held him back.
Victor looked pleased.
“This emotional reunion is touching, but we have practical matters.”
“Where is Damian?” Adrian asked.
Victor chuckled.
“Damian has become unpredictable.”
“So you came to clean up his mess.”
“I came to stop him.”
“Noble.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“You were always too sarcastic when frightened.”
“I’m not frightened.”
“You should be.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Mr. Moretti, your men are outnumbered.”
Victor glanced at him.
“Are they?”
Vincent’s radio suddenly went silent.
He checked it.
No signal.
Then two members of Adrian’s security team slowly lowered their weapons.
Adrian stared.
Victor smiled.
“Loyalty is expensive.”
Vincent turned toward the guards.
“You sons of—”
A gunshot echoed.
One traitorous guard dropped.
Michael had fired.
Chaos erupted.
Grace pulled Lily behind a concrete column.
Adrian grabbed Victor.
Vincent tackled another armed man.
Shots shattered windows.
Within seconds, Victor’s remaining guards withdrew toward the stairs.
Victor remained in Adrian’s grip.
“You’ve made a mistake,” Adrian said.
Victor was still smiling.
“No. You have.”
He looked toward Michael.
“You think finding him solved the mystery?”
Adrian tightened his hold.
Victor whispered, “Ask him who put the drug in your glass.”
Adrian looked at Michael.
Michael’s face changed.
Victor laughed.
“Oh, Adrian. You still don’t understand your family.”
Adrian released Victor and turned.
“Michael?”
Michael said nothing.
Grace stared.
“Tell him.”
Michael lowered his weapon.
“I didn’t poison you.”
“That isn’t what he asked.”
Victor adjusted his jacket.
Michael looked at Adrian.
“I switched the glass.”
Silence.
Adrian could hear Lily breathing behind Grace.
“You?”
Michael nodded.
“The scratched glass was already on the table.”
Adrian remembered Lily standing on the chair.
“This one is yours.”
Michael continued.
“I saw Elias replace it.”
“You were inside my house?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“During the security blackout.”
“You created the eleven-minute gap?”
“No. Elias did.”
“But you entered during it.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I tried.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You watched someone place a poisoned glass beside my plate and your solution was what?”
“I switched the glasses back.”
“The poisoned glass was still there.”
“I needed evidence.”
Adrian stared at him.
Michael explained quickly.
“I knew they were planning something but couldn’t prove who was involved. If I removed the glass entirely, they’d know someone had discovered the plan.”
“So you risked Lily finding it?”
“I didn’t know she was in the dining room.”
Grace spoke sharply.
“She could have touched it.”
“I know.”
“Could she have been poisoned?”
“The drug was residue, not liquid.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
Michael looked ashamed.
Victor clapped slowly.
“Beautiful. One night together and the family is already destroying itself.”
Adrian turned back.
“Why are you here?”
“To offer a deal.”
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I don’t need to.”
Victor looked toward Lily.
“She signs away Michael’s inheritance when she turns eighteen.”
“She’s eight.”
“Her legal guardian can place the assets into a controlled settlement.”
Grace stared at him.
“You want me to give you her future?”
“I want stability.”
Adrian laughed coldly.
“You murdered people for stability.”
Victor’s face hardened for the first time.
“You know nothing about what I protected.”
“Then explain.”
Victor looked at Michael.
“Your brother discovered the family trust was bankrupt.”
Michael shook his head.
“Lie.”
“Was.”
Victor continued.
“Your grandfather made reckless investments. By the time your father inherited control, the estate was weeks from collapse.”
Adrian asked, “So you stole money?”
“I moved money.”
“To your accounts.”
“To investments that saved the company.”
Michael stepped forward.
“And then kept moving it.”
Victor ignored him.
“I kept thousands of people employed.”
“You forged trust documents.”
“I prevented children from controlling an empire.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“A child you tried to kill.”
Victor’s eyes flickered.
“I never ordered Lily killed.”
Michael laughed bitterly.
“Damian did?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“You can believe me or not. But Damian is now acting alone.”
“What does he want?”
“The original trust agreement.”
“It was stolen from my safe.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
“The folder stolen from your safe was a copy.”
Samuel, standing behind them, suddenly looked uncomfortable.
Adrian noticed.
“Where’s the original?”
Victor looked directly at Samuel.
“There.”
Every eye turned.
Samuel Reed backed away.
“No.”
Victor smiled.
“Tell them, Samuel.”
Samuel shook his head.
Michael raised his gun.
“Where is it?”
Samuel finally whispered, “I hid it.”
“Where?”
“In the one place Victor couldn’t legally enter.”
Adrian understood.
“A bank vault.”
Samuel nodded.
“Under whose name?”
Samuel looked at Lily.
“Hers.”
Grace gasped.
“When Michael disappeared, he instructed me to establish a custodial box if his child was ever located.”
Michael stared.
“You did that?”
Samuel nodded.
“I may have lied about many things. I didn’t betray everything.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“Where is the key?”
Samuel smiled for the first time.
“I destroyed it.”
Victor laughed.
“No, you didn’t.”
Samuel’s smile disappeared.
Victor looked toward Lily.
“Someone has it.”
Lily blinked.
“Me?”
Grace checked her pockets.
Nothing.
Then Lily reached beneath her pink dress and pulled out the silver necklace that had appeared on her pillow earlier.
Michael’s necklace.
Adrian examined the pendant again.
There was a tiny key hidden behind the memory capsule.
Victor smiled.
“There it is.”
Michael immediately moved Lily behind him.
Victor reached slowly into his coat.
Vincent raised his weapon.
“Don’t.”
Victor stopped.
“It’s only a phone.”
It rang before he removed it.
He answered on speaker.
Damian’s voice filled the corridor.
“Uncle Victor.”
Victor went pale.
Adrian noticed.
Damian laughed.
“You finally found them.”
Victor’s confidence vanished.
“What do you want?”
“The girl.”
“No.”
Everyone stared at Victor.
Damian continued.
“Then perhaps I should tell Adrian who actually ordered the second attempt on Michael.”
Victor disconnected.
Too late.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Second attempt?”
Michael looked confused too.
Victor backed away.
Adrian grabbed his arm.
“The plane crash failed. What happened three months later?”
Victor said nothing.
Adrian’s voice became colder.
“Who found Michael at Hawthorne?”
Victor looked past him.
At Samuel.
And suddenly Adrian understood why his attorney looked terrified.
Samuel whispered, “Victor…”
Michael aimed his gun.
“You?”
Samuel began crying.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Grace stepped backward.
Michael’s voice broke.
“You came to Hawthorne.”
“Yes.”
“You brought them to me.”
“I thought they were only going to take the documents.”
Michael lunged.
Adrian stopped him.
Samuel collapsed against the wall.
“They told me if I didn’t cooperate, they’d kill Adrian too.”
Michael screamed, “So you sold me instead?”
Samuel sobbed.
“I thought you were dead afterward.”
Victor watched silently.
Adrian turned to his uncle.
“What happened?”
Victor sighed.
“Michael escaped.”
“Then who sent Samuel the blood and ring?”
Victor smiled.
“That wasn’t me.”
Everyone became still.
Damian’s voice came unexpectedly from the hospital loudspeaker.
“I did.”
The building lights shut off.
A door slammed.
May you like
Then Damian’s voice echoed through every corridor.
“And this time, nobody escapes.”
