Chapter 12
Victoria finally asked to speak directly to Dante.
Rebecca recommended against an unsupervised meeting.
Dante agreed.
They met in a conference room with attorneys several feet away.
Victoria looked very different from the woman at the engagement reception.
No gown.
No jewelry except small earrings.
No engagement ring.
She had returned it through counsel even though Dante had not requested it.
He placed it back on the table between them.
“I told your lawyer I don’t want this.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then sell it.”
Victoria looked away.
Dante waited.
Finally she said, “I did love you.”
He felt almost nothing hearing it.
That surprised him.
“Maybe.”
Her eyes filled.
“You think all of it was fake.”
“I think the beginning was arranged by Adrian and you knew that.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my wife had caught you.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Grace was investigating money you took.”
“Yes.”
“And you let my daughter trust you.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
That was the accusation she could not answer comfortably.
She eventually explained her motive.
Lane Cultural Events had been failing when Adrian approached her.
She had debt.
Employees.
A business she had built for nearly ten years.
At first, Adrian helped her win legitimate contracts.
Then he asked her to inflate one invoice.
Then another.
She told herself Moretti money was endless.
She told herself the Arts Fund still helped people.
She told herself she would stop after the company recovered.
Each excuse made the next one easier.
Then Grace discovered the pattern.
Victoria wanted to confess.
Adrian convinced her they could repay the money quietly.
They never did.
After Grace died, fear became opportunity.
Then opportunity became another lie.
Her motive made sense.
It did not make her innocent.
Dante stood.
Victoria looked up.
“What happens now?”
“The same thing that should have happened when Grace confronted you.”
“What?”
“You answer for what you did.”
Dante walked toward the door.
Victoria spoke again.
“I didn’t have anything to do with Grace’s accident.”
He stopped.
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“The investigators reconfirmed the case,” Dante said. “The other driver caused it.”
For the first time, Victoria began crying openly.
May you like
Whether from relief or shame, Dante did not know.
He left anyway.
