Chapter 7 - THE SECRET VICTOR BELIEVED
I thought I had misunderstood her.
“What?”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Victor believed Ethan was his.”
I stood frozen in the visitation room.
“That’s impossible.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he believe that?”
“Because he wanted to.”
Mom explained everything.
Years before Dad died, Victor had become obsessed with her.
He disguised it as kindness.
Compliments.
Gifts.
Late-night messages.
Mom rejected him.
She told Dad.
Dad confronted Victor.
The brothers stopped speaking for months.
Eventually Victor apologized.
Everyone pretended it was over.
It wasn’t.
When Mom became pregnant with Ethan, Victor convinced himself there had been an affair.
There hadn’t.
“He wanted your father’s life,” Mom said.
“His company.”
“His family.”
“Everything.”
“And when Dad discovered the theft…”
“He was finally going to remove Victor from the company.”
Victor was about to lose everything.
Money.
Status.
Access to us.
Then Dad died.
I felt physically sick.
The financial motive was only half the story.
Victor hadn’t merely wanted Dad’s money.
He wanted Dad erased.
The FBI tested DNA.
Three days later, the results came back.
Daniel Hayes was Ethan’s biological father.
Victor’s fantasy collapsed.
But another discovery emerged from Victor’s financial records.
For six years, he had paid someone $12,000 every month.
The recipient was listed as M. Doyle.
Rachel traced the name.
Michael Doyle.
A former evidence technician.
He had worked on Mom’s case.
Doyle disappeared after the execution was halted.
Federal agents searched his apartment.
Inside they found photographs of the original evidence.
The robe.
The knife.
The drinking glass.
And a photograph nobody had ever seen.
A bloody shoeprint near Dad’s body.
Size eleven.
Mom wore a women’s size seven.
Victor wore a men’s size eleven.
The photograph had been removed from the official case file.
Mercer had signed the evidence log.
We finally had physical evidence pointing away from Mom.
Then agents found an audio recording on Doyle’s computer.
Mercer’s voice.
“Destroy the print photograph.”
Doyle asked:
“What about the glass?”
Mercer replied:
“Keep it until Reed says otherwise.”
Rachel smiled for the first time in days.
“We have them.”
But Victor’s attorney made an unexpected move.
Victor requested a meeting.
With me.
Alone.
Rachel refused.
I insisted.
We met through reinforced glass.
Victor looked exhausted.
But he still smiled when he saw me.
“My favorite niece.”
“Don’t call me that.”
His smile faded.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You murdered my father.”
“No.”
“You framed my mother.”
“No.”
“You threatened Ethan.”
“No.”
“Then why did you run?”
He leaned closer.
“Because I knew what Ethan remembering would unleash.”
“Meaning?”
Victor studied me.
“You think I’m the monster because that’s easier.”
“You planted the knife.”
“Yes.”
The admission stunned me.
He smiled at my reaction.
“But I didn’t kill Daniel.”
My pulse raced.
“Who did?”
Victor leaned closer to the glass.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Why was your father still alive when I left the house?”
I stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
“You planted the knife before Dad died?”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“I found Daniel bleeding.”
“He was alive.”
“Mercer told me Caroline had done it.”
“He said we needed to protect the company.”
“He told me to move the knife.”
My mind spun.
“You expect me to believe Mercer manipulated you?”
“I expect you to understand that your family was surrounded by liars.”
I stood.
Victor spoke again.
“Sophie.”
I stopped.
“There were four adults in that house that night.”
“Dad.”
“You.”
“Mercer.”
“Who was the fourth?”
May you like
Victor smiled.
“Ask Caroline.”
