Chapter 8 - The Brother In The Hallway.
Victor arrived at the hospital thirty minutes after Owen Grant was arrested.
He came without calling.
He came without a lawyer.
And he came furious.
Two guards stopped him at the restricted elevator.
Victor demanded to see Adrian.
Adrian watched him through the hallway camera for almost a minute before stepping outside Emma's room.
Rafael stayed at his shoulder.
Mason remained inside with Noah and Dr. Shah.
Victor pointed toward the guards.
"What is this?"
"Security."
"Against me?"
"Against anyone who might bring another fake nurse into my wife's room."
Victor's expression tightened.
"I heard what happened."
"Of course you did."
"Adrian, stop."
"Owen Grant was arrested in the service tunnel."
Victor's face changed.
It was not surprise.
It was recognition followed by calculation.
"Owen?"
"Your driver."
"I know who he is."
"He had the key stolen from Emma's purse."
Victor looked toward the closed hospital door.
"That proves nothing about me."
"You're right."
Adrian stepped closer.
"The recordings are better."
Victor went pale.
Adrian continued.
"Emma recorded you and Mom talking about the red ledger."
Victor's eyes shifted toward Rafael.
"You don't know what you heard."
"I heard you say Emma found it."
"Because she did."
"I heard Mom tell you to take it back."
Victor lowered his voice.
"You think this is about stolen charity money?"
"Isn't it?"
Victor looked down the hallway.
For the first time, his anger gave way to something like panic.
"Send the guards away."
Adrian laughed.
"No."
"Then at least tell him to stand farther back."
Rafael did not move.
Victor leaned closer to Adrian.
"Mother has been using the foundation for years."
Adrian stared at him.
"You knew."
"I found out after Dad died."
"And you helped her."
"At first, yes."
The admission was so direct that Adrian almost missed its importance.
Victor rubbed a hand across his face.
"The money wasn't all stolen."
"That sounds like something thieves say."
"Some of it funded private settlements, political favors, and emergency loans that protected the company."
"Using children's hospital donations."
Victor flinched.
"I tried to unwind it."
"By running my wife over?"
"I did not order that car."
"Owen had her key."
Victor's voice broke with frustration.
"Because I told him to recover the ledger."
Adrian's fists clenched.
Rafael stepped slightly closer.
Victor raised both hands.
"I told him to take the folder from her purse after dinner."
"You sent a man to steal from my wife."
"Yes."
"And then the car came."
"That was not part of the plan."
Adrian stared into his brother's eyes.
Victor looked ashamed.
He also looked terrified.
"Who ordered it?"
Victor said nothing.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Adrian grabbed Victor's lapel and slammed him against the wall.
The guards moved instantly.
Rafael did not pull Adrian away.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Victor's voice became hoarse.
"Mother stopped trusting me two weeks ago."
"Why?"
"Because Emma approached me."
Adrian's grip loosened.
"Emma did what?"
"She showed me copies of the ledger."
"Why would she trust you?"
"She didn't."
Victor gave a bitter laugh.
"She offered me a chance to tell the truth before she went to federal investigators."
Adrian stepped back.
Victor straightened his jacket.
"I said no."
"Of course you did."
"Then yesterday morning, I changed my mind."
Adrian frowned.
"Why?"
Victor looked toward Emma's room.
"Because Mother threatened Noah."
Everything inside Adrian went silent.
Rafael's expression hardened.
"Explain."
Victor swallowed.
"She said Emma needed to understand what happens when outsiders attack the family."
Adrian moved toward him again.
Victor held up a hand.
"I thought it was intimidation."
"You thought threatening my son was intimidation?"
"I was going to meet Emma after dinner."
"Where?"
"In the garage."
Adrian remembered Emma sending Noah toward him near the kitchen doors.
"Why didn't you tell the police?"
Victor looked ashamed.
"Because I sent Owen to steal the ledger first."
"Coward."
"Yes."
The simple answer stopped Adrian.
Victor reached into his coat slowly.
Rafael's hand moved toward his holster.
Victor produced his phone.
"Emma sent me this at 9:14 last night."
The message contained four words.
DON'T TRUST THE DRIVER.
Adrian stared at the timestamp.
The crash happened at 9:22.
Victor's driver had stolen the key.
Emma knew it.
But if she warned Victor about Owen, then she believed Owen was working for someone else.
Victor looked Adrian directly in the eyes.
"My driver wasn't obeying me anymore."
"Then who was he obeying?"
May you like
Victor answered in a whisper.
"Mother."
