Chapter 17 - Victoria's Bargain
Victoria did not receive immunity.
Prosecutors offered nothing beyond consideration for substantial cooperation.
She talked anyway.
For seven hours.
Nathan learned the contents through Ruiz and his lawyers only after investigators approved disclosure.
Victoria admitted receiving Westbridge money.
At first, she said, it paid debts from her mother's illness.
Then it paid for an apartment.
Clothes.
Travel.
Status.
She told herself she deserved compensation because the Mercer Foundation underpaid her.
Julian knew.
He used the payments to force her into approving fake vendors.
Laura discovered them.
Victoria panicked.
Then, six days before Laura died, she confessed.
Not to Nathan.
To Laura.
Why?
Because Laura offered her a way out.
Turn over records.
Cooperate with counsel.
Return stolen money.
Accept consequences.
Victoria agreed.
Then Julian learned she had talked.
He threatened to expose everything before she could control the story.
He also threatened her brother, whose failing construction business had received illicit loans.
Victoria became trapped between confession and destruction.
On the night Laura died, Julian told Victoria that Laura had the second ledger.
He ordered Victoria to bring Laura to a private meeting.
Victoria put crushed zolpidem into Laura's coffee.
Her explanation was chilling in its simplicity.
"I wanted her confused."
Not dead.
Confused.
Unreliable.
Discreditable.
Julian intended to retrieve the ledger and convince Nathan that Laura's accusations came from emotional instability during their marital problems.
But Laura noticed something was wrong.
She left.
Julian followed in his SUV.
Victoria followed separately.
On the river road, Julian's SUV struck Laura's rear quarter panel.
Once.
Laura corrected.
Then again.
Her car spun.
Victoria stopped.
She ran to the wreck.
Laura was conscious.
Bleeding.
The driver's door was jammed.
Victoria reached through the passenger side.
That was how her bracelet broke.
Nathan sat in Ruiz's office listening to the summary.
His hands were numb.
"What did Laura say?"
Ruiz hesitated.
"According to Victoria?"
"Yes."
"She said, 'Emily knows.'"
Nathan closed his eyes.
"Then?"
"Julian arrived."
Laura had the ledger in a document case.
Julian took it.
Or believed he did.
It contained only partial copies.
He searched Laura's car.
Victoria took Laura's phone.
Why?
Panic.
Evidence.
She still had it.
"Where?" Nathan asked.
"Her lawyer is arranging surrender."
Nathan stood.
"And the eleven minutes?"
Ruiz looked at him.
"Julian told her not to call."
Nathan's voice became hollow.
"Laura was alive."
"Yes."
"And Victoria waited."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She says she was afraid."
Nathan laughed once.
It sounded terrible.
Ruiz continued.
"Eventually she called 911 anonymously."
"Then left."
"Yes."
"She came home."
"Yes."
"Emily saw her."
"Yes."
Nathan pressed his palms against his eyes.
Victoria later learned Laura had hidden another copy somewhere.
The night before the funeral, she remembered Laura saying something about Emily knowing.
At first, Victoria believed Laura meant Emily knew about the separation.
Years passed.
Then Julian received notice of a compliance audit tied to Westbridge.
He pressured Victoria to find any surviving records.
Victoria searched Laura's belongings.
The lake house.
Emily's room.
She questioned Emily.
Emily remembered the key.
Victoria became desperate.
And cruel.
Ruiz said, "She claims the first time she struck Emily was six months ago."
Nathan looked at her.
"Does it matter?"
"No."
"She says she loved me?"
Ruiz's face shifted.
"She said that, too."
Nathan looked away.
Victoria claimed she had envied Laura before she ever desired Nathan.
Laura had money without appearing to care about it.
Children.
A home.
Authority.
People listened when Laura spoke.
Victoria said marrying Nathan after Laura's death began as comfort.
Then dependence.
Then desire.
Then calculation.
Then, somehow, something she called love.
Nathan felt nothing.
Perhaps that was the most frightening part.
He had imagined confronting Victoria and feeling rage.
Instead, he felt exhausted.
Ruiz handed him a copy of one final statement Victoria made.
I kept telling myself the next lie would be the last one. Then eventually my whole life required everyone else to stay silent.
Nathan read it twice.
He thought of Emily.
The pantry.
The cord.
The cameras.
The key.
Victoria had not become dangerous in one dramatic moment.
She had become dangerous through hundreds of smaller permissions.
Then Ruiz's phone rang.
She listened.
"Understood."
She ended the call.
"What?"
"Victoria surrendered Laura's phone."
Nathan stood.
"And?"
"The data is damaged."
"Of course."
"But the memory card is intact."
Nathan stared.
May you like
Ruiz continued.
"There's a voice recording made inside Laura's car twelve minutes before the crash."
