Chapter 12 - UNCLE VICTOR'S CONFESSION
Victor called ten minutes later.
No distorted voice.
No games.
“Hello, Dante.”
Dante looked at the photograph.
“You have the child.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you never listen until something hurts.”
Dante’s voice was cold.
“You have one opportunity to return her alive.”
Victor sighed.
“You sound exactly like Alejandro.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Dante looked around the Bellweather facility.
Then at Elena.
Victor continued.
“Ask your sister why she really disappeared.”
Dante’s gaze shifted to Elena.
She went pale.
Victor laughed softly.
“That’s right.”
The call ended.
Dante stared at Elena.
“Explain.”
She lowered her gun.
“I found the transfers.”
“We know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You know about money going to Voss.”
“What else?”
“The experiments.”
Henrique had suspected.
Now Dante needed the truth.
“What experiments?”
Elena looked toward his leg.
“Induced disability.”
Silence.
“They were testing whether controlled inflammation, nerve suppression, and mechanical manipulation could create long-term functional impairment that looked medically natural.”
Dante felt sick.
“On whom?”
“Patients.”
“Volunteers?”
Elena looked away.
“No.”
Isabela whispered.
“Children?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Some.”
That was why Bellweather closed.
Dante’s anger sharpened into something colder.
“Who funded it?”
“Victor’s companies.”
“Then why is he accusing you?”
“Because Victor didn’t design it.”
“Who did?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“Dr. Henrique.”
Everyone turned.
Henrique froze.
“That is absurd.”
Elena lifted her gun.
“You supervised the protocols.”
Henrique’s face changed.
Bruno drew his weapon.
Henrique raised his hands.
“I worked at Voss.”
Dante stared.
“You never told me.”
“I was a junior consultant.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Elena shouted.
“You signed the trial review.”
“I signed rehabilitation studies.”
“People were harmed.”
“I didn’t know.”
Dante watched Henrique.
He believed part of it.
Not all.
“Why were you assigned to me after the accident?”
Henrique hesitated too long.
Dante’s expression went dead.
“Who recommended you?”
“Rosa.”
Everyone looked at Rosa.
She wasn’t there.
Of course.
She had remained at the mansion.
Dante pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Bruno checked his.
Jammed.
A trap again.
Elena moved toward the door.
“We need to leave.”
Dante stopped her.
“Victor has Sofia.”
“I know.”
“Do you know where he would take her?”
“No.”
Elias groaned from the floor.
“Yes.”
They turned.
He pressed a hand against his wound.
“The lake house.”
Dante stared.
“It burned.”
“Not all of it.”
The underground level.
The tunnel.
The hidden basement.
They rushed Elias to a safe medic and drove toward the ruins.
Rain ended before dawn.
Fog settled over the lake.
The old property looked dead.
But lights glowed beneath the ground.
Dante descended through a concealed entrance.
Victor waited inside.
Sofia sat beside him eating crackers.
Unhurt.
She saw Isabela.
“Mommy!”
Isabela moved.
Victor raised a gun.
“Stop.”
She froze.
Dante stepped forward on crutches.
Victor smiled.
“You’re walking.”
“Disappointed?”
“Surprised.”
Dante looked at Sofia.
“Let her go.”
Victor shook his head.
“After we talk.”
“Talk.”
Victor looked at Elena.
“She thinks I ran Voss.”
“You funded it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Rosa told me to.”
Silence.
Dante stared.
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You still think this is about me.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I wanted the trust.”
“At least you admit it.”
“I wanted it because Rosa was stealing from it.”
Dante’s expression changed.
Victor continued.
“She funded Voss.”
“Why?”
“To control succession.”
Rosa again.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“She learned something after Alejandro disappeared.”
“What?”
“That bloodline control was too unpredictable.”
Dante frowned.
Victor looked at Elena.
“Your sister was supposed to inherit.”
Then at Dante.
“You were supposed to be permanently disabled.”
Then at Sofia.
“And if neither of you could control the trust…”
Victor paused.
“…there was one more heir.”
Dante felt dread.
“Who?”
Victor looked at Sofia.
Dante’s blood froze.
“No.”
Isabela stepped in front of her daughter.
Victor continued.
May you like
“Ask Elias who Sofia’s father is.”
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