Chapter 13 - The Last Bargain.
Victoria stared at Julian's message until the screen dimmed.
Please meet me once.
Alone.
I can prove my father planned all of it.
Nathaniel read the message over her shoulder and immediately said, "No."
Victoria looked at him.
He caught himself.
For a moment, the old instinct to decide for her had returned.
Then he exhaled.
"I think it is dangerous."
"That is different from no."
"I'm learning."
Rebecca almost smiled.
Victoria typed back one sentence.
You choose the place, but I choose the conditions.
Julian replied with an address on the river.
It belonged to a private members' club where he and Victoria had once celebrated their engagement.
The symbolism was deliberate.
So was Victoria's response.
No private rooms.
Main dining room.
6:00 P.M.
My phone stays with me.
Julian answered.
Fine.
Rebecca arranged surveillance without hiding it from Victoria.
Two investigators sat at separate tables.
A detective waited outside with a warrant team on standby, though there was not yet enough to arrest Julian merely for requesting a meeting.
Victoria wore a charcoal coat over a simple black dress.
No sapphire ring.
No diamond earrings.
Nothing from Julian remained on her body.
She arrived at 5:57 P.M.
Julian was already seated near the windows.
The Chicago River below reflected winter lights in broken streaks.
He stood when she approached.
Victoria remained standing.
"Sit down," he said softly.
"Don't tell me what to do."
His face tightened.
Then he nodded.
"You're right."
Victoria sat.
Julian looked exhausted.
His usual precision was gone.
Dark stubble marked his jaw.
His hair looked as if he had pushed both hands through it repeatedly.
For a dangerous second, Victoria remembered loving him.
She hated that memory could still work faster than judgment.
Julian noticed the mark on her cheek.
His eyes dropped.
"I'm sorry."
Victoria said nothing.
"I know that doesn't fix anything."
"No."
"I know."
A server approached.
Victoria ordered sparkling water.
Julian ordered nothing.
When they were alone again, Victoria placed her phone on the table between them.
"This conversation is being recorded."
Julian stared at the phone.
"Of course it is."
"If that changes what you planned to say, leave now."
He looked toward the river.
"It doesn't."
Victoria waited.
Julian began with a confession that was not the confession she expected.
"I knew who you were before we met."
The words still hurt despite Evelyn's recording.
"How long before?"
"Years."
"Since my mother was alive?"
Julian looked at her.
"Yes."
Victoria held herself still.
"Did your father send you to meet me at the hospital fundraiser?"
"Yes."
There was no hesitation now.
"Why?"
"To get close to you."
Victoria's fingers curled beneath the table.
"And the proposal in Paris?"
Julian looked down.
"That wasn't part of the original plan."
"Original."
The word tasted poisonous.
Julian closed his eyes.
"I was supposed to become someone you trusted."
"I was supposed to learn how much control you actually had over the foundation and what your father had told you about Conrad."
"Then I was supposed to keep you from reopening the old investigation."
Victoria's voice remained quiet.
"Did you love me?"
Julian looked at her for a long time.
"Yes."
"That answer means nothing from you now."
"I know."
"Did you love me when you forged my signature?"
Julian flinched.
"I didn't forge it personally."
Victoria laughed once.
"There you are."
"What?"
"The man who thinks guilt disappears if someone else holds the pen."
Julian's jaw tightened.
He looked angry for the first time.
Victoria saw it and did not shrink.
He forced the anger down.
"Kessler built the documents."
"My father approved the strategy."
"I gave them access to signature samples."
"I gave Elena instructions."
"I told myself no one was actually stealing anything because the assets would still support the same charities."
"And when I was in the hospital?"
Julian looked away.
"What happened to me?"
"I don't know exactly."
Victoria leaned forward.
"Try harder."
Julian swallowed.
"Kessler arranged the private dining room."
"He said he needed your phone for two hours."
"I thought they were going to copy credentials while you were in a meeting."
"Then you fainted."
"And you still gave them my phone."
Julian's silence answered.
Victoria felt nausea rise.
"Did they put something in my food?"
"I asked Kessler."
"He said no."
"Do you believe him?"
Julian looked at her.
"No."
The server returned with Victoria's water.
Neither spoke until he left.
Julian placed a small brass key on the table.
"This opens a safe-deposit box under a holding company at Lakeshore Private Bank."
Victoria did not touch it.
"What's inside?"
"Copies of Kessler's files."
"Why do you have them?"
"Insurance."
"Against your father?"
"Against everyone."
Victoria almost admired the honesty.
Julian continued.
"Elena copied part of the same archive."
"That's why my father wants her found."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know now."
"You chased her under Lower Wacker."
Julian looked genuinely confused.
"No."
"She said the car was yours."
"I wasn't there."
"Your phone issued the deletion command at the gala."
"Elaine had my phone."
Victoria remembered Camille's recording.
Conrad handing the phone to Elaine.
Elaine returning it to Julian.
Julian continued.
"My father needed the deletion to trace back to me if anything went wrong."
"He has been building a version of this where I become the reckless son who acted alone."
Victoria studied his face.
"Why should I believe you?"
"You shouldn't."
The answer surprised her.
"Believe the files."
"Believe dates and payments and recordings."
"Don't believe me."
Victoria looked at the brass key.
"What do you want in exchange?"
Julian's eyes lifted.
There it was.
The bargain.
"I want your father to stop pushing for conspiracy charges against me."
Victoria leaned back.
"So this is not a confession."
"It's cooperation."
"In exchange for protection."
"In exchange for the truth."
"The truth is not yours to sell."
Julian's composure cracked.
"Victoria, my father will bury this."
"He has judges, donors, politicians, attorneys, people in your own boardroom."
"You don't understand how far this goes."
Victoria felt a strange calm.
"That's what you told me on the balcony."
Julian frowned.
"What?"
"You said if I made that call, everything would change."
She looked at him.
"You were right."
Julian's eyes softened.
"We could still end this without destroying each other."
Victoria almost pitied him.
Even now, after everything, his imagination could not produce a future where she simply walked away.
There had to be a negotiated relationship.
A controlled ending.
A mutual agreement.
"There is no each other anymore."
Julian looked down.
Victoria reached for the brass key.
"If the box contains evidence, my lawyer will retrieve it under lawful process."
"You get no promise from me."
Julian's face hardened again.
"Then I can't give you the account name."
Victoria placed the key back on the table.
"Keep it."
He stared at her.
"You're walking away from the evidence?"
"I'm walking away from your price."
Julian pushed back from the table.
"You have no idea what Kessler did to your mother."
Victoria froze.
The room seemed to disappear.
"What did you say?"
Julian realized he had gone too far.
Victoria leaned forward.
"What did Kessler do?"
Julian looked toward the windows.
"I found a file after we got engaged."
"It was old."
"My father had kept it outside the company system."
"What was in it?"
Julian rubbed both hands over his face.
"A payment to a mechanic."
Victoria could hear her heartbeat.
"For what?"
"To damage a tire on your mother's car."
The world became very quiet.
"Why?"
"Kessler wanted to scare her."
"He wanted her to think someone could reach her anywhere."
Victoria could barely speak.
"She crashed because of that tire."
Julian looked at her.
"The police report said the tire failed before the collision."
Victoria remembered rain against the funeral home windows.
She remembered people saying accident as if repetition could make it merciful.
"Did Conrad order it?"
Julian shook his head.
"The file doesn't prove that."
"It proves Kessler paid the mechanic."
"And it proves my father paid Kessler a large off-book bonus three days after the crash."
Victoria stood.
Her chair scraped against the floor.
Julian reached for the key.
Victoria took it before he could.
"Account name."
He looked at her.
"You said no promises."
"There are still no promises."
"Account name."
Julian smiled faintly, almost sadly.
"Violet North Holdings."
Rebecca's investigator at a nearby table quietly stood and left.
Victoria placed the key in her coat pocket.
"Is that everything?"
Julian's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen and went pale.
Victoria saw the caller name.
Dad.
Julian declined the call.
A text appeared immediately.
YOU WERE TOLD NOT TO MEET HER.
Victoria read it from across the table.
Julian locked the screen too late.
"He knows you're here."
Julian stood.
"You need to leave."
Victoria remained still.
"Why?"
Another message appeared.
KESSLER HAS ELENA.
BRING THE KEY OR SHE DOESN'T WALK OUT.
Julian stared at the phone.
Victoria's anger became ice.
"Where?"
Julian looked at her.
"My father's old river warehouse."
Victoria took out her phone.
"I'm calling the detective."
Julian grabbed her wrist.
The movement happened before either of them thought.
Victoria looked down at his hand.
Julian released her instantly.
His face collapsed with recognition.
Two days earlier, that grip had been the beginning of everything.
Now it looked pathetic.
Victoria called the detective.
"I have a location for Elena Mercer."
She gave the address.
Julian stared at the table.
"My father will know I told you."
May you like
Victoria put on her coat.
"Then for once, Julian, live with the consequences of telling the truth."
