Chapter 6 - THE STORY VICTOR FINALLY ADMITTED
Victor requested the interview himself.
Rebecca arranged it with outside employment counsel present.
Nathan attended as owner and board member but agreed not to lead the questioning.
Victor looked different without his gold cufflinks and hotel authority.
Still controlled.
Less polished.
He began by apologizing for the lobby incident.
Nathan said nothing.
Victor continued.
“I thought Emily was one of the children from the youth orchestra arriving through the wrong entrance.”
Rebecca looked up.
“Would that justify destroying her instrument?”
“No.”
“Would it justify calling her trash?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Then why did you?”
He looked at Nathan.
“I was angry.”
“At a nine-year-old?”
“At what she was carrying.”
There it was.
Rebecca asked, “You recognized Laura Blackwood’s violin?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I saw it every night for almost a year.”
“Did you know something was hidden inside it?”
“No.”
“Then why panic when the pouch appeared?”
Victor stared at the table.
“Because Laura used that burgundy pouch for her locker key.”
Nathan’s breath caught.
Victor knew the pouch.
Not just Laura.
Not just the violin.
The exact pouch.
“Why did she keep the key?” Rebecca asked.
Victor took several seconds.
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“Me.”
The answer surprised Nathan.
Victor continued.
Fifteen years earlier he had been ambitious, deeply in debt, and obsessed with moving into management.
Celeste took notice.
She thought he was efficient.
Reliable.
And willing to handle unpleasant things.
“She didn’t like Laura.”
“Why?” Nathan asked despite the agreement to stay quiet.
Victor looked at him.
“Because your mother knew you were seeing her.”
Nathan stared.
“We weren’t dating yet.”
“You were interested.”
“How would she know?”
“You asked hotel staff for Laura’s schedule.”
Nathan remembered.
Embarrassment flushed through him.
One evening he had asked the concierge when the violinist worked next.
The concierge apparently mentioned it to management.
Victor told Celeste.
Celeste told him to discourage the relationship.
“At first that meant scheduling Laura away from events you attended.”
Nathan felt sick.
“She changed Laura’s shifts?”
“Yes.”
“When that didn’t work?”
Victor looked away.
“The bracelet disappeared.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Did Celeste tell you to accuse Laura?”
Victor’s answer was careful.
“She told me Laura needed a reason to leave the hotel that Nathan couldn’t turn romantic.”
Nathan’s hands tightened beneath the table.
“Did you plant the bracelet?”
“No.”
“Did Celeste?”
“I don’t know.”
The bracelet genuinely appeared to have been misplaced by the guest.
But Victor admitted he used the opportunity.
He focused suspicion on Laura.
Wrote the harsh incident report.
Allowed staff gossip to spread.
Then, after the bracelet was found, he refused to correct the impression publicly.
“Why?”
Victor’s voice lowered.
“Because your mother told me the outcome was useful.”
“And your promotion?”
Victor looked at him.
“I was rewarded.”
No one spoke for several seconds.
Nathan thought of Emily crawling after broken pieces while hotel guests stared.
Victor had recreated the same humiliation fifteen years later without planning to.
A Blackwood-connected child beside a violin.
An expensive lobby.
An accusation about belonging.
The difference was Emily had a father who finally saw it.
Nathan asked one final question.
“Why were you afraid of B-17?”
Victor’s face tightened.
“Because I knew Laura kept copies.”
“Copies of what?”
Victor looked toward Rebecca.
May you like
“Not just the theft incident.”
Then back at Nathan.
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