Chapter 17 - Daniel Finally Speaks
Richard's secret was not what Victor wanted us to think.
Eight years earlier, the company had paid fifty thousand dollars to make a safety lawsuit disappear. A warehouse employee had been injured because management ignored a repair order.
Richard authorized an off-the-books settlement.
"I was ashamed," he said. "Victor helped structure the payment. That's how he learned I could be pressured."
Ortiz's expression was hard. "You may still have legal exposure."
"I understand."
Richard didn't ask for sympathy.
That made him different from Evelyn.
Victor's plan had been simple: collect everybody's worst secret, then build a system where each person was too scared to expose the next.
Except me.
I had entered the family without one of his files attached to my name.
So he created one.
A fake company. A fake money trail. A fake story about theft.
It almost worked because Daniel did the one thing Victor counted on.
He stayed quiet.
Two days later, Daniel gave a formal statement to prosecutors. Not just about Victor. About Evelyn. About the five hundred dollars. About watching the assault and failing to intervene.
His attorney warned him it could hurt his reputation and career.
Daniel said, "Good. Maybe consequences should hurt."
I heard about it from Ortiz.
That night, Daniel came to my apartment with one box.
"Your things from the house," he said. "I didn't go through them."
I took the box.
He stood in the hallway.
"I started therapy."
"Okay."
"I'm not telling you to earn points."
"Then don't."
He nodded.
A long silence.
"I loved you," I said. "I need you to know that's why this hurts so much."
His eyes filled.
"I still love you."
"Love didn't make you move."
He looked down.
"I know."
Then he did something I didn't expect.
He handed me divorce papers he had already signed.
"You shouldn't have to fight me for your freedom too."
My throat closed.
I hated him a little less in that moment.
Not enough to change my mind.
Before he left, he said, "There's one more thing. Victor kept calling me because he wanted me to join him. Not because he thought I already had."
"Join him how?"
"He offered me money to leave Dad's company and blame the fraud on Eric. I refused."
"Do you have proof?"
Daniel nodded.
"I recorded the last call."
My eyes widened.
He gave me a flash drive.
"I learned something from you."
The next morning, Ortiz listened to the call.
Victor's voice clearly offered Daniel a deal.
Then, at the very end, Victor said something none of us understood.
"If Claire ever finds the blue file, burn it before she reads page seven."
Ortiz paused the audio.
"What blue file?"
I already knew.
I had seen one in the box Daniel brought to my apartment.
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