Chapter 10
Victoria denied it.
Immediately.
“Gabriel is lying.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You always say that after I become inconvenient.”
She turned toward him.
“You were the one who handled Andrew.”
“Yes.”
“Then own it.”
“I handled him.”
Gabriel smiled.
“You ended him.”
Claire stared at Victoria.
“What happened?”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“Andrew came back.”
Julian looked sharply at her.
“After what?”
“The crash?”
“No.”
Victoria looked at Claire.
“Years later.”
Everything shifted again.
Andrew survived the crash.
Worked in secret.
Then eventually confronted them again.
“Where?”
“The lake warehouse.”
Gabriel answered.
“Eight months before his death.”
Claire frowned.
Andrew died eighteen months ago.
So this was ten months earlier.
“What did he want?”
Victoria laughed.
“Same thing as his mother.”
“To destroy the network.”
Claire said:
“Good.”
Victoria rolled her eyes.
“Naive.”
Then:
“He threatened to tell you.”
Claire’s expression changed.
Andrew had finally decided.
Victoria continued.
“Thomas wanted more time.”
“Gabriel wanted to scare him.”
“And you?”
Silence.
Victoria looked toward Julian.
That was strange.
Claire noticed.
“You wanted what?”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“He had Julian.”
Julian stared.
“What does that mean?”
She turned on him.
“You were finally manageable.”
Silence.
“You worked through Gabriel.”
“Stayed in the estate.”
“Stopped questioning every decision.”
Then crueler:
“You accepted reality.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
Victoria continued.
“Andrew came back and suddenly you were talking about independent security.”
“Your own car.”
“Your own crews.”
“Travel.”
Claire understood.
Andrew’s return threatened Victoria’s control over Julian.
So she had two reasons.
Protect the network.
Keep Julian dependent.
Claire said:
“You ordered Andrew killed.”
Victoria stared.
Then smiled.
“I ordered him stopped.”
Same language.
Same shrinking of consequence.
“What happened?”
Gabriel answered.
“We took him to the lake warehouse.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
Victoria said:
“He wouldn’t give up the copies.”
Claire held up the envelope.
“He gave one to Julian.”
Victoria looked at him.
Hatred.
Julian realized.
“You knew.”
Victoria laughed.
“Not where.”
Claire continued.
“So you killed Andrew.”
Victoria’s face tightened.
Then she delivered the line meant to wound.
“He killed himself.”
Claire stared.
Victoria smiled.
“He chose loyalty over survival.”
“If he had handed over the evidence, he’d be alive.”
There it was.
Blame the victim.
Claire stepped closer.
Victoria continued.
“Same as your mother.”
“Same as you, eventually.”
Julian moved between them.
Victoria laughed.
“Still protecting Bennetts.”
Then to him:
“Look at yourself.”
“You lost your legs for Andrew.”
“Spent seven years hiding his envelope.”
“And what did he give you?”
Silence.
“A sister who lied her way into your office.”
Claire flinched.
Julian did not.
He looked at Victoria.
“He gave me one person who finally saw what you were doing.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
That mattered.
Then Thomas said quietly:
“There was no body at the warehouse.”
Everyone turned.
Claire stared.
“What?”
Thomas looked toward Gabriel.
“Andrew left alive.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
Victoria snapped:
“Thomas.”
Too late.
Claire stepped forward.
“My brother left alive?”
Thomas nodded.
“Barely.”
“Then where did he die?”
No one answered.
Claire looked from one face to another.
Victoria’s story had just broken.
Andrew had survived the night she claimed ended him.
May you like
Which meant his actual death happened later.
And whoever caused it had still not been named.
