Chapter 3
Owen was taken to the hospital for observation.
Valentina went with him.
Victor expected her to stay and interrogate him.
She did the opposite.
That unsettled him more.
For six hours, Valentina did not call anyone about the family.
She sat beside Owen.
He slept with one fist wrapped around her sleeve.
At midnight, his eyes opened.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
His breathing quickened.
Valentina leaned closer.
“Owen.”
His gaze moved toward the hospital door.
“Uncle Victor can't come?”
“No.”
His fingers relaxed.
Valentina waited.
Then Owen whispered:
“He showed me the fish yesterday.”
Her body became still.
“When?”
“At the party place.”
“The conservatory?”
A small nod.
“What did he say?”
Owen rubbed his nose.
“Don't tell Celeste.”
Valentina felt something cold move through her.
“What weren't you supposed to tell Celeste?”
He frowned, trying to remember.
“Where I stand.”
Valentina did not press.
The following afternoon, Dr. Claire Bennett spoke with Owen privately.
His account remained simple.
Victor had brought him to the koi garden during setup the previous day.
He showed Owen the stone edge.
He pointed into the water.
Then he told Owen there was a place under the surface where grown-ups could stand.
Owen apparently asked whether he could stand there too.
Victor told him not to worry.
Valentina stared at Claire.
“He prepared him.”
“Possibly.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
Valentina hated the phrase.
She was beginning to need it.
Back at the conservatory, Nolan reconstructed the previous day.
Victor had indeed entered the koi garden with Owen.
Celeste arrived eight minutes later.
Then both adults left separately.
Valentina reviewed staff statements.
One gardener remembered Celeste asking:
“If someone fell there, how deep would it look?”
Another remembered Victor asking whether donor photographers could see the pond from the reception terrace.
Neither question had seemed important then.
Together they formed a shape.
But motive was still missing.
Valentina called an emergency meeting with the conservatory foundation’s CFO, Rebecca Sloan.
She wanted every pending board issue.
Every donor conflict.
Every decision Victor opposed.
Rebecca arrived carrying one thin folder.
“There’s only one issue big enough.”
Valentina opened it.
Four days after the reception, the board was scheduled to vote on Valentina’s proposal to place the conservatory into an independent public trust.
If approved, no Morello relative would control its contracts, donor accounts, or property appointments again.
Victor had fought the proposal for six months.
Celeste’s landscaping company held three contracts with the conservatory.
Together worth almost two million dollars.
Valentina looked up.
Rebecca’s face was tense.
“There’s something else.”
May you like
“What?”
“Victor asked me last week what would happen if you were removed as chair before the vote.”
