Chapter 11 - THE SENTENCE HE COULD NOT TAKE BACK
Victor grabbed Serena’s phone.
She held on.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“Elena is using you.”
Serena laughed through tears.
“You were using me.”
“Stop.”
“You told me she was unstable.”
“She was.”
“You told me she threatened suicide.”
“She did.”
Elena shouted:
“No, I didn’t.”
Victor turned.
“You said you couldn’t live like this anymore.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“See?”
Victor looked at the guests.
“She rewrites everything.”
Serena stared at him.
“What did you mean when you called me that night?”
Victor froze.
Elena stopped breathing.
Serena continued.
“You said, ‘It’s done.’”
Victor’s face went still.
“You said the marriage was done.”
“You knew she went to the cliff.”
“I knew you were meeting.”
“You knew before the police called.”
Victor stepped toward her.
“Serena.”
She backed away.
“You knew.”
His voice dropped.
“Give me the phone.”
“No.”
Victor looked around.
Guests.
Board members.
Owen.
Elena.
Everything closing.
Then he whispered, almost to himself:
“She should have stayed dead.”
Silence.
Serena’s phone was recording.
She looked down at the screen.
Victor saw.
His face emptied.
Elena felt no triumph.
Only cold.
Victor immediately recovered.
“That is not an admission.”
Owen answered:
“No.”
Victor looked surprised.
Owen continued.
“It is not.”
That honesty made everyone listen.
Owen stepped forward.
“But it becomes relevant when combined with the beneficiary memo, vehicle logs, your changing statements, and the fact that you knew the child survived before anyone publicly disclosed it.”
Victor stared.
Then the front doors opened.
Two detectives entered.
Victor looked at Elena.
“You planned this.”
She answered:
“Yes.”
His eyes widened.
Elena continued.
“I planned to make sure you couldn’t control the room before I told the truth.”
Then Mara stepped through the doorway carrying a baby.
May you like
Grace.
Victor’s face collapsed.
