Chapter 7
The question was not whether Robert planned to kill me.
The question was whether he needed to.
Adrian answered that better than anyone.
“With the temporary authorization active, he only needs you unavailable.”
I looked at Robert.
He smiled.
“Travel happens.”
“So do accidents.”
Vivian looked horrified.
That mattered.
She turned toward him.
“You said nobody would get hurt.”
Robert shrugged.
“I said nobody needed to.”
Different sentence.
Worse meaning.
Vivian stepped away from him.
I watched carefully.
She had come into this believing she was using me.
Now she understood Robert had been using her too.
“What were you promised?” I asked.
She said nothing.
Robert laughed.
I waited.
Finally:
“A settlement.”
“How much?”
She looked ashamed.
“Enough.”
“Not an answer.”
“Five million.”
Claire inhaled sharply.
I felt nothing.
Money at least made sense.
“What else?”
Vivian’s mouth tightened.
“A house. Protection. A clean exit.”
There.
She was supposed to leave once the signature was secured.
Not remain wife.
Not become queen.
She was disposable by design.
Robert had recruited someone willing to betray me because he expected to remove her before she could understand the full plan.
I looked at Vivian.
“You thought you were marrying me for access.”
She lowered her eyes.
“You were being rented.”
That hurt her.
Good.
But not enough.
Claire stepped forward.
“She still hurt me.”
I turned.
“Yes.”
Important.
Vivian being used did not erase what she did.
She had threatened Claire.
Mocked Ethan.
Used fear to keep them quiet.
A victim in one direction can still become an abuser in another.
I looked at Robert.
“How many men know?”
He smiled again.
“Enough.”
That was his last mistake.
Because men who say enough usually mean fewer than they hope and more than they can safely name.
May you like
I stood.
“Then we ask them.”
