Chapter 8 - Wes
They reached the estate through the north gate.
Nobody spoke during the drive.
Mara sat beside Adeline with blood soaking the sleeve of her jacket where glass had cut her.
Nico stared out the window.
At the house, he dismissed half the staff.
Not fired.
Removed from the building.
Only people he personally chose remained.
Edna.
Marco Ruiz.
Adeline.
Mara.
And Victor, because Nico wanted him close.
Camille arrived twenty minutes later.
She entered angry.
Then saw Mara.
The anger vanished.
“You.”
Mara smiled without warmth.
“Me.”
Camille looked at Nico.
“You have no idea who she is.”
“She was my nurse.”
“She tried to poison you.”
Mara laughed.
Victor entered from the side hall.
He stopped dead.
Nico watched him.
Victor recovered.
“Mara.”
“Victor.”
The room tightened.
Nico said, “Sit.”
Nobody argued.
Adeline connected the memory card to an offline laptop.
The first audio file began.
Victor’s voice.
Clear.
“If the brakes fail where we planned, he won’t reach the bridge.”
Nico’s hand froze on the armrest.
Then Camille answered.
“I said scare him.”
“You said stop him.”
“Not kill him.”
Victor’s voice sharpened.
“He’s meeting Russo. If that meeting happens, the port deal dies.”
Camille whispered something too low to catch.
Then:
“What happens if he survives?”
Victor answered.
“We adapt.”
The recording ended.
Nico stared at Camille.
She had gone white.
“You knew.”
“I knew Victor wanted the meeting stopped.”
“You knew about the brakes.”
“I thought they were going to disable the car before you left.”
“You heard the word fail.”
“I didn’t know what he meant.”
Mara said, “You knew enough to keep quiet after the crash.”
Camille swung toward her.
“You vanished.”
“Because someone tried to run me off the road.”
Victor leaned back.
“This is edited.”
Adeline looked at him.
“You were ready for that sentence.”
His mouth tightened.
Nico rolled closer to Camille.
“Why?”
She looked at him.
For the first time since Adeline had known her, there was no performance left.
“My father owed him.”
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
Camille kept going.
“Seven million. Bad construction bonds. Victor covered it.”
Nico looked at his uncle.
Victor said nothing.
Camille’s voice cracked.
“He said if I helped keep you from that meeting, he would clear the debt.”
“And after I crashed?”
“He told me you would recover.”
Nico looked down at his legs.
Camille whispered, “Then he said recovery wasn’t useful anymore.”
Victor stood.
Marco Ruiz drew his weapon.
“Sit down.”
Victor sat.
Mara placed another folder on the table.
“Your original scans.”
Adeline opened them.
Sarah Keene’s notes.
Motor response.
Sensation preserved.
Recovery potential.
Nico did not look at Camille now.
He looked at Victor.
Victor said, “Even if the medication was altered, none of this proves I ordered it.”
Adeline answered.
“You entered the cabinet at 2:13 wearing gloves.”
Victor’s gaze snapped to her.
Nico noticed.
Mara noticed.
Camille did too.
Victor turned toward Nico.
“You are letting employees build a fantasy around you because you cannot accept what happened.”
Nico’s fingers tightened.
“Say it again.”
Victor leaned forward.
“You cannot accept that you may never walk.”
The room went still.
Nico said, “And you cannot accept that I might.”
Victor smiled.
“Then stand up.”
Adeline moved immediately.
“No.”
Victor spread his hands.
“Why not?”
“Because rehabilitation is not a circus.”
Camille looked at Victor.
Something shifted in her face.
Fear.
She said, “What happens after the wedding?”
Victor ignored her.
Camille stood.
“What happens after the wedding?”
Nico turned.
Camille looked at him.
“You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
She pressed one hand to her mouth.
Victor said, “Camille.”
She backed away from him.
“The hearing.”
Nico stared.
“What hearing?”
May you like
Camille whispered:
“The incapacity hearing.”
