Chapter 9
Thomas entered the Vescari estate like he still expected Claire to run toward him.
She didn’t.
That hurt him.
Good.
He looked at her gala dress.
Then the Bennett bodyguards.
Then Julian.
Finally the envelope.
“Claire.”
She said nothing.
Thomas smiled softly.
“You’ve been through enough tonight.”
Still Uncle.
Still control through tenderness.
“Come home.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Which one?”
He frowned.
“My home?”
“The one where you taught me Vescari killed Andrew?”
Thomas’s expression tightened.
Victoria smiled from the side.
Thomas looked at her.
“Still alive?”
Victoria laughed.
“Disappointed?”
Claire cut in.
“My mother.”
Thomas looked back.
There it was.
A pause too long.
“What about her?”
Claire held up the photograph.
His face went pale.
No denial.
That told her enough.
“She was investigating you.”
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Thomas sighed.
“Elizabeth became obsessed.”
Same word.
Unstable.
Obsessed.
Emotional.
The language of people who need truth to sound irrational.
Claire said:
“With what?”
“The black-water network.”
“Real?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Did you control it?”
Thomas did not answer.
Claire looked at Julian.
Then Gabriel.
Then Victoria.
Finally back at Thomas.
“My mother wanted it shut down.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Thomas’s voice hardened.
“Because your mother never understood power.”
Claire almost smiled.
Of course.
He continued.
“She thought removing leverage made people safer.”
“It makes people vulnerable.”
“You can stop wars when you control both stories.”
Claire stared.
“By creating them?”
“If necessary.”
There it was.
Thomas believed it.
That made him worse.
He continued.
“You think peace happens because men become good?”
“No.”
“It happens because someone can hurt both sides.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“And Mom?”
Thomas’s expression softened.
“She got sick.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Did you make her sick?”
For the first time, Thomas looked offended.
Real.
“No.”
Claire watched.
She believed that part.
Not because she trusted him.
Because the reaction was different.
“Did you stop her treatment?”
His face changed.
There.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
Thomas said:
“She refused certain doctors.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Silence.
“Did you interfere?”
He looked away.
Claire’s voice became lethal.
“Thomas.”
He finally answered.
“I delayed one specialist.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Claire did not move.
“Why?”
“Because she was threatening to hand everything to the authorities.”
“No police,” Victoria muttered almost dismissively.
Claire ignored her.
Thomas continued.
“I needed time.”
“How much?”
“Days.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Claire’s face went empty.
Six days during aggressive cancer.
Maybe it changed nothing.
Maybe everything.
The uncertainty itself was unbearable.
Thomas stepped closer.
“I did not kill your mother.”
Claire said:
“You chose the network over giving her every chance.”
Silence.
He could not deny it.
Then Julian spoke.
“And Andrew?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Same choice?”
Thomas’s expression hardened.
Andrew’s death was different.
Claire saw.
“Tell me.”
Thomas said nothing.
Gabriel laughed.
“Go on.”
Everyone looked at him.
He smiled.
“Tell her who gave the final order.”
Thomas’s face tightened.
Gabriel looked at Claire.
“It wasn’t your uncle.”
Claire froze.
May you like
Gabriel’s eyes shifted toward Victoria.
And Victoria stopped breathing.
