Chapter 5 - VICTORIA’S FIRST LIE
Nathan drove straight to Victoria’s apartment.
Grace insisted on going with him.
Richard objected.
Nathan ignored him.
Victoria opened the door wearing a silk robe.
She looked from Nathan to Grace.
“So you found the safe.”
Nathan held up the agreement.
“You signed this.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You were twenty-four.”
Still nothing.
“You knew Grace was pregnant.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“Yes.”
Grace stepped forward.
“You helped threaten my family.”
Victoria looked almost bored.
“My mother handled that.”
Grace slapped her.
The sound echoed through the apartment.
Nathan didn’t stop her.
Victoria slowly turned her face back.
“You feel better?”
Grace’s eyes burned.
“No.”
“Then do it again.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Enough.”
He threw the document onto the table.
“Why?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Because I was raised to understand something you never did.”
“What?”
“Families like ours don’t survive on love.”
Nathan laughed coldly.
“You tried to beat a four-year-old child.”
Victoria’s composure cracked.
“I was trying to scare Grace.”
“With a hockey stick?”
“I lost control.”
“You raised it twice.”
Victoria looked away.
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“If I had arrived ten seconds later, what would have happened?”
She didn’t answer.
Grace did.
“She would have killed me.”
Victoria snapped.
“Stop acting innocent.”
Grace stared at her.
“I spent five years sleeping with a chair under my door because your family taught me what fear felt like.”
Victoria’s eyes flickered.
For the first time, shame appeared.
Then it vanished.
“You want the truth?”
She looked at Nathan.
“My mother told me Lily could take forty-one percent of the family voting trust.”
Nathan frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will when you read the rest of your father’s papers.”
Grace whispered, “Forty-one percent?”
Victoria nodded.
“Charles changed the inheritance structure before he died.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Not until last year.”
“And that’s why you rushed the wedding.”
“Yes.”
Nathan felt sick.
Victoria continued.
“If we married before your first biological child was legally recognized, the Ashford voting block merged with yours.”
“And if Lily was recognized?”
“The trust changed.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
“To her?”
Victoria smiled bitterly.
“To Lily.”
Nathan’s pulse quickened.
“The whole company?”
“Controlling shares when she turns twenty-five.”
Grace shook her head.
“I don’t want any of it.”
Victoria laughed.
“It doesn’t matter what you want.”
Nathan moved toward the door.
Victoria called after him.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Nathan turned.
“My mistake was almost marrying you.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“You think the police case disappears because you found a letter?”
“I think it disappears when I prove your mother fabricated it.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
Nathan noticed.
“What?”
Victoria stepped closer.
“My mother didn’t create the kidnapping evidence.”
Nathan stared.
“Then who did?”
Victoria swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Grace whispered, “You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
For the first time that night, Victoria looked genuinely afraid.
“My mother started this five years ago.”
She glanced toward the windows.
“But someone else took control after Charles died.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I only know what they call him.”
Nathan waited.
“The Trustee.”
May you like
Then every light in Victoria’s apartment went out.
A second later, a gunshot shattered the window.
