Chapter 9 - THE GARAGE CONFRONTATION
Victoria stepped out of the car wearing the same clothes from dinner.
No coat now.
No smile.
No performance.
Richard got out of another vehicle behind her.
“What are you doing here?” Thomas demanded.
Victoria looked at the VHS tape.
“I came to stop a mistake.”
Maya laughed once.
Sharp and bitter.
“You’ve made about twenty tonight.”
Victoria ignored her.
“Thomas, that tape is twenty-six years old.”
“And?”
“It proves nothing.”
“You seem worried for something that proves nothing.”
Richard walked into the garage.
“Victoria, tell me the truth.”
She turned.
“I have.”
“No. You’ve given me pieces. Carefully chosen pieces.”
“I was young.”
Richard stared.
“That’s not a denial.”
Victoria’s shoulders dropped.
For the first time, she looked tired.
“I took medication.”
Maya’s mother covered her mouth.
Richard closed his eyes.
Victoria continued.
“I had migraines. The doctor wouldn’t renew my prescription early.”
“So you stole pills?” Ethan said.
“Yes.”
“And blamed a nurse?”
Victoria’s jaw tightened.
“She was already under investigation.”
Thomas slammed a hand onto the workbench.
“That woman had three kids!”
Victoria turned on him.
“I was twenty-seven years old! I panicked!”
“You let her lose her nursing license.”
“I didn’t know it would go that far.”
“You lied during the investigation.”
“I was scared.”
Maya stepped forward.
“And twenty-six years later, you were still scared enough to attack me?”
Victoria’s eyes met hers.
Something ugly returned.
“You were going to turn Ethan against me.”
Maya stared.
“What?”
“Ever since he met you, he changed.”
“He grew up.”
“He stopped listening to me.”
“He started making his own decisions.”
“You made him ashamed of his family.”
Ethan laughed in disbelief.
“No, Mom. You did that tonight.”
Victoria turned to him.
“I did everything for you.”
“You tried to drug the woman I love.”
“I never approved that.”
“Daniel recorded you.”
Her face changed.
Maya saw it.
“Have you listened to the recordings?” Victoria asked.
“Not yet.”
“Then you don’t know what he has.”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
“Let’s find out.”
He opened Daniel’s message.
Three audio files.
Victoria lunged.
Ethan stepped back.
“Don’t.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Victoria’s breathing became shallow.
“There are things on those recordings that have nothing to do with Maya.”
Richard frowned.
“What things?”
Victoria looked at her husband.
For the first time, she seemed afraid of him.
Not physically.
Afraid of what he would learn.
Richard’s voice dropped.
“Victoria. What things?”
She whispered, “Please.”
Richard reached for Ethan’s phone.
“Play it.”
Ethan tapped the first recording.
Daniel’s voice crackled through the garage.
Then Victoria’s.
Clear.
Calm.
Cold.
“If Maya won’t give us a scandal,” the recording said, “we’ll manufacture one.”
Maya’s stomach twisted.
Then Daniel asked, “How far do you want this to go?”
Victoria’s recorded answer came instantly.
“Far enough that Ethan never speaks to her again.”
Nobody moved.
The recording continued.
May you like
And then Victoria said one sentence that made Richard turn completely white.
“If Ethan finds out what happened to his real mother, I lose everything.”
