Chapter 7 - Victor’s Version of the Truth
Victor Sloane walked toward the SUV without a weapon in his hands.
That made him more frightening.
He was sixty-two, silver-haired, perfectly dressed, with the calm smile of a man who had spent decades making other people panic for him.
Rook opened his door.
Victor raised one finger.
“You shoot me, the Palisade list goes public.”
Rook stopped.
Victor smiled.
“Good. We can still communicate.”
I got out before anyone could stop me.
“Elena,” Marcus warned.
I ignored him.
Victor looked almost proud.
“Celeste’s daughter.”
“You wrote my prenup.”
“I wrote a lot of things.”
“You built a trap around my marriage.”
“No.”
He glanced at Marcus.
“Your mother did.”
Eleanor stepped out.
“Liar.”
Victor laughed.
“You brought Marcus to me at sixteen.”
“You said you could protect him.”
“I did.”
“You took Owen.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“Owen left.”
Marcus stared.
“What?”
“Your brother was tired of being the son nobody saved first.”
Eleanor whispered, “No.”
Victor looked at Marcus.
“Your mother chose you.”
“Stop.”
“When I offered her one son back, she asked for you.”
Eleanor screamed, “That is not what happened!”
Victor did not even look at her.
He looked at me.
“You want the truth about Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“No, you want a version that lets you keep loving her.”
My jaw tightened.
He took out a flash drive.
“Your mother helped build Halcyon.”
Rook moved.
Victor smiled.
“Ask him.”
I looked at Rook.
He said nothing.
That silence was becoming its own language.
Victor held out the drive.
“Halcyon began as private asset recovery. Quiet settlements. Witness relocation. Leverage against men who believed laws did not apply to them.”
“Then you turned it into blackmail.”
“We improved the business model.”
“And my mother?”
“She improved it first.”
Rook finally spoke.
“Celeste left when Sloane began targeting families.”
Victor shrugged.
“She left after she built the machine.”
I took the drive.
Marcus said, “Don’t plug that into anything.”
Victor smiled at him.
“Still trying to protect her. Cute.”
I looked at Victor.
“What do you want?”
“The Palisade master key.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Where?”
He looked at Marcus.
“Ask your husband why Celeste chose him.”
Marcus’s face changed.
Victor noticed.
So did I.
“You know,” I said.
Marcus looked sick.
“I know what she asked me to do before our wedding.”
“What?”
He stared at me.
“She made me memorize a sentence.”
My pulse quickened.
“What sentence?”
Marcus swallowed.
“When Elena finally stops trusting me, tell her to check the vows.”
Victor walked slowly along the hood of the SUV, keeping enough distance that Rook could not simply grab him.
“You know what Celeste’s real talent was?” he asked me. “She could convince a person that coercion was a favor.”
Rook said, “You learned well.”
Victor smiled. “I had an excellent teacher.”
I hated that he wanted me to defend my mother. I refused to give him the argument.
“You’re trying to make me choose between your story and hers.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
That surprised him.
“I’m going to verify both.”
For the first time, his smile looked slightly forced. Marcus noticed too.
Victor preferred people trapped inside two options: trust Celeste or trust him, protect Marcus or reject him, save the archive or destroy it. I was starting to understand the machine before I understood every piece.
Its power came from narrowing choices.
Victor glanced toward Eleanor. “Your daughter-in-law is less obedient than advertised.”
Eleanor answered before I could. “That was always your mistake with her.”
I looked at Eleanor. She looked almost embarrassed by the compliment. It was the first thing she had said about me all night that did not feel like a weapon.
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