Chapter 18 - Page Forty-One
Helena was waiting at Vale House.
Roman entered carrying Sophie.
He set her down beside Nora.
Then he looked at his mother.
“Where is the blanket?”
Helena’s face changed.
Arthur had told him.
Roman saw it.
“Where?”
Helena walked toward the fireplace.
She removed a small key from her necklace.
Behind a painting was a narrow compartment.
Inside rested a yellow baby blanket.
Roman could barely look at it.
He remembered holding Sophie in it.
Claire touched the fabric.
A seam near one corner had been resewn.
Roman opened it carefully.
A folded sheet of paper slid out.
Page forty-one.
Evelyn placed it on the table.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
At the bottom, one handwritten notation.
Roman read it.
PRIMARY SUCCESSOR: VICTOR SHAW.
SECONDARY SUCCESSOR: CATHERINE SHAW.
Claire stopped breathing.
Roman looked at her.
“You were the successor.”
“No.”
“Your name is here.”
“I never accepted.”
Helena spoke.
“She did.”
Claire turned.
“No.”
Helena continued.
“For six months.”
Roman’s expression became empty.
Claire started crying.
“I was trying to dismantle it.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Roman pointed at the page.
“You took control.”
“I used the position to move money away from Victor.”
“To hide witnesses.”
“To protect Sophie.”
Roman stared.
“How many people did you hurt?”
Claire did not answer.
“Claire.”
Her voice broke.
“One.”
Roman felt cold.
“Who?”
“A man who tried to kidnap Sophie.”
“What did you do?”
“I gave Victor his location.”
Roman looked away.
Victor killed him.
Claire had not pulled the trigger.
But she had sent a man to his death.
Roman understood Arthur more than he wanted to.
Protection could become justification.
Justification could become corruption.
He turned toward Sophie.
That cycle ended here.
Evelyn photographed page forty-one.
Then she made a call.
Federal agents arrived before dawn.
Helena did not run.
Claire did not run.
Daniel gave a statement.
Roman surrendered the ledger.
Vale House filled with investigators.
Computers were seized.
Files boxed.
Accounts frozen.
News vans gathered beyond the gates.
By morning, Vale Holdings stock was collapsing.
Roman stood at the window.
Daniel approached.
“You could still fight this.”
“No.”
“The board will remove you.”
“They should.”
“You didn’t create the Circle.”
“I benefited from a company built around it.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“What about Sophie?”
Roman looked toward the living room.
She was eating pancakes with Nora.
Normal.
For ten minutes she was simply a child.
“That’s the only part I care about now.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Roman answered.
Victor.
“You destroyed your own family.”
Roman looked at Sophie.
“No.”
“I stopped pretending it wasn’t already destroyed.”
Victor laughed.
“You think federal agents can protect her?”
“I think you should run.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what was in the dollhouse.”
Silence.
Roman continued.
“You missed something.”
Victor did not speak.
Roman smiled slightly.
“You were so focused on the compartment that you never checked the roof.”
Victor’s breathing changed.
Roman had found it that morning.
A tiny strip of film hidden beneath the dollhouse shingles.
Photographs.
Victor meeting judges.
Victor paying officers.
Victor beside Marianne after the farmhouse murder.
Enough evidence to tie him directly to multiple crimes.
“You’re finished.”
Victor’s voice became cold.
“So is Nora.”
Roman turned.
Nora’s chair was empty.
He ran.
Back door open.
Coffee spilled on the floor.
Sophie stood beside the table.
Frozen.
Roman grabbed her.
“Where’s Nora?”
Sophie pointed outside.
“A man came.”
“What man?”
“He wore a police jacket.”
Roman’s stomach dropped.
Evelyn shouted into her radio.
Federal agents flooded the yard.
Too late.
Victor had taken Nora again.
But this time he left a message.
Not a video.
A location.
Vale Tower.
The roof.
One hour.
Roman looked at Sophie.
“No.”
She understood.
“You’re not taking me.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“No.”
Sophie stared at him.
“Dad.”
Roman knelt.
“I lost eight years.”
“I am not gambling one second more.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“Nora came for me when nobody else did.”
“I know.”
“She stayed.”
“I know.”
“We can’t leave her.”
Roman held his daughter’s face gently.
“We won’t.”
“But you are not bait.”
He stood.
For the first time, he had something Victor never expected.
The truth.
And an entire federal task force listening.
Roman looked at Evelyn.
May you like
“Let’s finish this.”
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