Chapter 9 - Victoria’s Confession
Victoria wasn’t missing.
She was hiding.
Arthur discovered that three hours later when an unknown number texted him an address.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FATHER.
Daniel told him not to go.
Ruiz told him absolutely not to go.
Arthur went.
The address led to an abandoned Catholic school on the east side.
Victoria waited inside the old chapel.
She sat in the first pew.
No makeup.
No expensive coat.
No arrogance.
Arthur stopped twenty feet away.
“Did you kill my father?”
Victoria looked up.
There it was.
The answer in her eyes.
Arthur’s knees almost gave out.
“No.”
“Grant says you did.”
“I caused his death.”
“That sounds like a rich person’s version of yes.”
Victoria began crying.
Arthur hated that part of him still reacted to her tears.
He hated that six years of loving someone didn’t disappear just because the truth became ugly.
“What happened?”
Victoria took a breath.
“Your father found evidence against mine.”
“I know.”
“Charles told me Samuel was blackmailing him.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“Yes.”
“You followed my father.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“To a parking garage.”
Arthur’s heart pounded.
Victoria looked at the floor.
“I confronted him.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him to give me the files.”
“And?”
“He laughed.”
Arthur could picture it.
Samuel Cole had laughed whenever angry people tried to intimidate him.
“He told me I was a spoiled child doing a criminal’s errands.”
Arthur almost smiled.
Then remembered how the story ended.
Victoria continued.
“I grabbed his briefcase.”
“He resisted?”
“Yes.”
“And you shot him?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“He pushed me away.”
She closed her eyes.
“I called my father.”
Arthur felt sick.
“You called Charles.”
“I told him where Samuel was.”
“And Grant came.”
“No.”
Victoria looked at him.
“My father came himself.”
Arthur went still.
“Charles shot him?”
Victoria nodded.
The chapel became silent.
Arthur turned away.
His father’s final moments had been reduced to a lie.
A police report.
A closed case.
A family funeral.
All because Charles Vale wanted to protect stolen money.
Victoria whispered, “I tried to stop him.”
Arthur turned.
“After calling him?”
“I didn’t know he would kill Samuel.”
“You knew what your father was.”
“Not then.”
“Don’t.”
Arthur’s voice sharpened.
“Do not make yourself the victim.”
Victoria flinched.
“You helped him cover it up.”
“Yes.”
“You married me knowing what happened.”
Her face crumpled.
“Yes.”
That hurt more than Arthur expected.
“Why?”
“I didn’t know who you were when we met.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
“I didn’t.”
“When did you find out?”
“Three months after our first date.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Because I loved you.”
Arthur stared.
“No.”
“I did.”
“You don’t get to use that word.”
“I know what I did.”
“You watched me grieve my father.”
“I know.”
“You watched me visit his grave.”
“I know.”
“You stood beside me every year.”
“I know!”
Her voice broke.
“I hated myself every single time.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because my father had evidence tying me to the cover-up. Because I was afraid of prison. Because I was weak.”
Finally.
No excuses.
Just truth.
Victoria reached into her bag.
Arthur tensed.
She pulled out a folded page.
“My father sent this to me last year.”
Arthur read it.
It was a copy of an old handwritten statement.
Victoria had signed it.
Samuel Cole threatened me physically. My father acted in defense of me.
Arthur looked up.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“That statement protected him.”
“Yes.”
“And destroyed any chance my family had of learning the truth.”
“Yes.”
Arthur folded the page.
“Why are you telling me now?”
Victoria wiped her face.
“Because Charles ordered me to kill Maya and Noah.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“What?”
“He told me to put something in their food.”
Arthur felt nausea rise.
“That’s why you were trying to throw them out.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told me.”
“I thought if I made you hate them, you’d send them away.”
“So you slapped them.”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“I lost control.”
“You assaulted children because you were trying to save them?”
“I know how insane that sounds.”
“It sounds criminal.”
“It was.”
Arthur stared at her for a long time.
“What does Charles want now?”
“The ledger.”
“He doesn’t have it.”
“He knows.”
“How?”
“Grant.”
“Grant is in custody.”
“My father doesn’t need Grant.”
Victoria lowered her voice.
“He has someone inside the police department.”
Arthur went cold.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because there’s something bigger than the ledger.”
“What?”
“My father has been paying judges, police officers, doctors, and corporate executives for years.”
Arthur already suspected that.
Victoria shook her head.
“No. You don’t understand.”
She pulled out her phone.
“There are recordings.”
“Of what?”
“My father discussing Edmund’s death.”
Arthur stared.
“Elena’s death.”
She swallowed.
“And your father’s.”
Arthur reached for the phone.
Victoria pulled it back.
“They’re hidden online. If anything happens to me, they release automatically.”
Arthur frowned.
“Why didn’t you release them already?”
“Because one recording includes me.”
Arthur’s jaw hardened.
“I helped destroy evidence after Samuel died.”
There it was.
The final truth.
Victoria stood.
“I’m going to turn myself in.”
Arthur blinked.
“What?”
“I already contacted Ruiz.”
“You left protective custody.”
“Because I needed to get this first.”
She handed him a small notebook.
Arthur opened it.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
At the bottom of one page was a name he recognized.
Lieutenant Carla Ruiz.
Arthur stared at Victoria.
May you like
She whispered,
“I told you he has someone inside the police department.”
