Chapter 12
Nathan Vale arrived before midnight.
Not because I invited him politely.
Because Carter men told him Dominic Carter wanted him in the mansion.
That was enough.
He walked into the library expecting negotiation.
Then he saw Victoria under guard.
His face changed.
Small.
Fast.
But I saw it.
“Dominic.”
“Nathan.”
He looked toward Caleb.
Then the open Hale box.
Then me.
Too many calculations.
Not enough time.
I placed the funeral list on the table.
“Nice placement.”
His jaw tightened.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Then you won’t mind reading your name.”
He did not touch it.
I smiled faintly.
“Thought so.”
Victoria spoke.
“He didn’t know.”
Nathan looked at her sharply.
Another mistake.
I leaned back.
“You two should coordinate better.”
Silence.
Nathan finally sighed.
“Victoria said your health had become unpredictable.”
I almost laughed.
“She was working on that.”
His face changed.
Good.
“What did she promise you?”
“Nothing.”
Caleb barked out a laugh.
Nathan looked at him.
I waited.
Men confess more when silence becomes uncomfortable.
Nathan finally spoke.
“She said if anything happened to you before the wedding, the organization would fracture.”
“And?”
“She wanted support.”
“For what?”
“To keep the Hales close.”
Victoria scoffed.
“You make it sound pathetic.”
Nathan turned toward her.
“You told me Dominic’s captains would need a familiar face beside you.”
There it was.
She had been building the image already.
Grieving fiancée.
Trusted associate.
Nathan beside her.
Caleb behind her.
My funeral as a political stage.
I looked at Nathan.
“You expected her to become Mrs. Carter after I died?”
He hesitated.
Then:
“She said the public announcement would already have happened.”
I stared at Victoria.
We had discussed moving the wedding forward.
She wanted an announcement at the foundation gala.
I had delayed it.
She hated that.
Now I knew why.
She did not need the marriage completed.
She needed enough public certainty that grief could become authority.
May you like
My death was not the end of her plan.
It was opening night.
