Chapter 13
Valentina did not let Victor redirect the council.
“Who told you?”
He leaned back.
“You want the name?”
“Yes.”
“Give me my position back.”
Several men looked toward Valentina.
Victor smiled.
There it was again.
Control through information.
Valentina slowly closed the folder.
“No.”
His smile weakened.
“Then you don't get the name.”
“I don't need it today.”
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
That answer unsettled him.
Valentina turned toward the council.
The vote proceeded.
Victor was removed from every formal advisory role and barred from using Morello resources while outside investigations continued into the conservatory incident.
He did not shout.
He stood.
Buttoned his jacket.
Then looked at each man who voted against him.
Memory as threat.
Nobody missed it.
When he reached Valentina, he stopped.
His voice dropped.
“You think power is the chair.”
Valentina looked at him.
“No.”
“Good.”
His eyes were cold.
“Because you'll find out how many people still answer when I call.”
Then he left.
The threat was real.
Removing a man from office did not erase four decades of loyalty.
Within twenty-four hours, two contractors refused Morello work.
A logistics partner postponed negotiations.
Three retired associates visited Victor privately.
Power shifted again.
Valentina could not simply declare him irrelevant.
She had to prove the organization could function without him.
Then Celeste surprised everyone.
She volunteered information about Victor’s network.
Names.
Informal intermediaries.
Businesses that depended on his introductions.
Valentina studied her.
“Why help me?”
Celeste’s mouth tightened.
“You think this is redemption?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She took a slow breath.
“He used me.”
Valentina’s gaze hardened.
“That isn't enough.”
Celeste nodded.
“He used Owen too.”
Her voice broke slightly.
“That is.”
Valentina believed that part.
Not because Celeste had become good.
Because hatred sometimes made people truthful.
Then Celeste gave her one more name.
Someone who had visited Victor the night before Valentina formally announced the trust proposal.
Rebecca Sloan.
May you like
The CFO.
The woman who had been helping Valentina investigate him.
