Chapter 6: The Night Victor Seemed to Win
Police Chief Owen held out his hand.
“Give me the documents, Mr.
Belandi.”
Adrien kept the envelope against his chest.
“Have you read the order you came to enforce?”
“I don’t discuss legal matters in a boiler room.”
Victor nodded toward the children.
“Take them upstairs.”
Lila screamed and wrapped both arms around Adrien.
Noah and Sophie did the same.
“You are frightening them,” Adrien said.
“No,” Victor replied.
“Marina frightened them.
I’m correcting the damage she caused.”
Rose stepped forward.
“You delayed that ambulance.”
Victor’s smile hardened.
“A de@d woman hiding under a false name should be careful with accusations.”
“I heard Marina calling for help.”
“And yet you did nothing.
Shall we discuss that in court?”
Rose recoiled.
Evelyn moved beside her.
“You will not turn her guilt into your innocence.”
Chief Owen reached for the envelope.
Margaret struck his wrist away with her cane.
“You served Clara Belandi for fifteen years,” he warned.
“Do not make this worse.”
“I served Clara,” Margaret said.
“You served Victor.”
Two officers entered the passage.
Conrad lifted his empty hands.
“Chief, the ballroom is full of witnesses.
If you drag three crying children through it, everyone will record you.”
Owen glanced at Victor.
Victor spoke softly.
“Use the freight elevator.”
Adrien looked down at Marina’s phone.
“You want the documents?
Release Rose and withdraw the order.”
“Give me the phone as well.”
“You are negotiating for evidence that you claim means nothing.”
“I am protecting family privacy.”
“Marina was my family.”
Victor stepped close.
“Marina planned to take your children and leave the country.
I stopped her from destroying you.”
“You forced her to lie.”
“I gave her a choice.”
“That is not a choice.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“Hand me everything, or your children spend tonight with strangers.”
Sophie began to shake.
Adrien looked at each child, then held out the envelope.
“Adrien, no,” Evelyn said.
“The children come first.”
Victor took the documents.
Chief Owen removed Marina’s phone from Adrien’s hand.
“Escort the children upstairs,” Owen ordered.
Victor opened the envelope, tore the original trust in half and dropped it into the boiler furnace.
Orange light swallowed Clara’s signature.
“You promised,” Adrien said.
“I promised to consider your request.”
Owen nodded to the officers.
They pulled Adrien’s hands behind his back while Victor took Lila by the shoulder.
“Don’t touch her,” Adrien shouted.
The lights flashed on.
A projector at the end of the passage lit the brick wall.
Victor’s face appeared ten feet high, his words from Marina’s recording filling the corridor.
“If you refuse, I will make sure he loses the children while he is grieving you.”
Conrad held up a tablet.
“The ballroom projector uses the same hotel network.”
Above them, hundreds of voices erupted.
Victor released Lila.
“Turn that off.”
“I can’t,” Conrad said.
“It is playing on every screen in the Grand Aurelia.”
Chief Owen grabbed the tablet, but Margaret raised a second phone.
“And streaming beyond it.”
Victor lunged toward her.
Rose stepped between them.
“You will not silence another woman in this hotel.”
Victor pointed at Owen.
“Take all of them into custody.”
Owen’s radio crackled.
“Chief, state investigators just entered the ballroom.
They’re asking why an emergency child order bears a judge’s signature when the judge is overseas.”
Owen stared at Victor.
“You said the order was valid.”
“It will be valid by morning.”
“You forged it?”
Victor moved toward the service door.
Adrien blocked him.
“You are not leaving.”
“My son, you still don’t understand how much of your life I built.”
“And you don’t understand how much of it you just confessed to.”
Victor pulled a key card from his pocket and pressed it into Adrien’s hand.
“Rose is not the only person who knows what happened to Marina,” he whispered.
“Ask Evelyn why her signature is on the ambulance delay report.”
Adrien turned toward Evelyn.
Her face had lost all color.
May you like
Victor used the moment to shove through the service door, pulling Rose after him.
“Follow us,” he called, locking the door, “and she tells the world what Evelyn did.”
