Chapter 12
Anthony wanted the watch returned.
He did not want to pay Victor’s debt.
Those goals conflicted.
The lender’s attorneys confirmed the chronometer had been accepted as collateral through fraudulent representations that Victor controlled the asset.
Recovering it would require litigation.
Or money.
Marcia slammed her palm against the table.
“Pay him.”
Anthony looked at her.
“With what?”
“My reserve.”
Victor laughed softly.
Marcia turned.
“You find this amusing?”
“You're still solving everything the old way.”
Her breathing changed.
Anthony saw the irony.
So did she.
Marcia had spent years criticizing Anthony’s documented systems as weakness.
Now those systems were the only path that did not require another hidden payment.
Anthony called outside counsel.
Marcia looked furious.
“You'll let our grandfather’s watch disappear while lawyers argue?”
Anthony looked at her.
“No.”
“Then do something.”
“I am.”
“You're waiting.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes flashed.
Anthony stepped closer.
“Waiting is not the same thing as weakness.”
Marcia’s mouth closed.
Victor watched the exchange.
For years he had manipulated Marcia by convincing her urgency justified anything.
Anthony refused to play that role now.
Laurel stood apart from everyone.
Still hurt.
Still present.
Anthony looked toward her once.
She did not look back.
That hurt more than the missing watch.
The lender eventually agreed to hold the asset while ownership was litigated after being shown evidence of fraud.
Victor lost his leverage.
Not instantly.
Legally.
Slowly.
Then financial investigators found something unexpected.
Victor’s first withdrawal from Marcia’s reserve had not funded his failed investment.
It occurred six months earlier.
The recipient was a pediatric care foundation.
Marcia frowned.
Anthony looked at Victor.
“What was this?”
Victor’s hands tightened.
He did not answer.
Marcia’s expression changed.
She knew.
“Daniel’s daughter.”
Anthony remembered.
A deceased capo’s six-year-old daughter had required experimental surgery.
The family trust had delayed reimbursement because documentation was incomplete.
Victor paid immediately.
From Marcia’s hidden reserve.
The child lived.
Victor looked at Anthony.
“That was the first time.”
No arrogance now.
Only exhaustion.
“I asked your office.”
Anthony’s gaze hardened.
“My office never saw the request.”
“Exactly.”
Marcia looked toward Anthony.
Another failure.
Not malicious.
Real.
Victor continued.
“So I solved it.”
“And then kept taking.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor’s eyes became colder.
“Because once you've saved one child by breaking your rules, the rules start looking stupid.”
Anthony absorbed that.
A rational beginning.
An unforgivable end.
Then Marcia whispered:
“I told him to use whatever he needed.”
Anthony turned toward her.
Victor did too.
Marcia’s hands were trembling.
“I didn't tell him to steal watches.”
She looked at Anthony.
“But I did tell him I didn't care where the money came from.”
May you like
Silence.
The conspiracy had one more author than Marcia wanted to admit.
