Chapter 7
I met Malcolm at an old restaurant he chose.
Neutral ground.
Rafe nearby.
Bruno stayed home.
Too old for another confrontation.
Malcolm arrived with a bandage on his calf.
I almost smiled.
He did not.
“You found the file?”
“Yes.”
His eyes sharpened.
“And?”
“Your father helped people.”
Relief.
Then I continued.
“He also abused access.”
Relief vanished.
I gave him copies.
Not originals.
Thomas’s secret protections.
My father’s notes.
Catherine’s commentary.
Malcolm read.
His face changed slowly.
The story he had built his adult life around became more complicated line by line.
He whispered:
“My father told me Sterling discarded him because he refused to betray people.”
“Partly.”
“He never told me about surveillance.”
“No.”
“Or the money.”
“No.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then:
“What do you want?”
“Truth.”
He looked at me.
“You already have it.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“Why marry Vanessa?”
He went still.
Finally.
Their marriage began real.
Private because her family disapproved.
Then collapsed after two years.
They separated emotionally.
Never formally.
Malcolm refused divorce because he still loved her.
Vanessa stopped caring because the marriage existed only on paper and memory.
Then she met me.
Malcolm saw opportunity.
“If she became Sterling…”
His voice trailed.
“You could enter my world through her.”
“Yes.”
At least honest.
“Did Vanessa know that?”
“No.”
Good.
That mattered.
Then:
“Did you tell her Catherine had the list?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed her scared enough to help.”
There.
He manipulated his wife through inherited grievance.
Same disease.
Control through fear.
I stood.
“You’re done using either woman’s history to enter my family.”
He looked at me.
“What about Thomas?”
“His truth stays.”
That surprised him.
May you like
I would not erase the father because I despised the son.
Important.
