CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
Victor had planned everything with careful patience.
The mountain trip.
The storm.
The false story.
The rushed funeral.
The insurance claim.
He told investigators I slipped while taking pictures near the overlook. He said he tried to save me, but the storm was too dangerous. He said Serena was only there because she had followed us, worried about our marriage.
He even cried for the cameras.
But greed makes people careless.
Victor called Cross Atlantic himself to ask how quickly the payout could be processed.
He said he needed closure.
He said he needed to settle medical bills.
He said losing his wife and son had destroyed him.
Adrian listened to the recording twice without changing expression.
Then he looked at me.
“Do you want him to know?”
I was weak, bruised, and barely able to keep my eyes open.
But my son was alive beneath my hand.
Victor had tried to erase us.
“No,” I whispered. “Let him talk.”
So Adrian arranged the call.
He told Victor there had been a delay with the claim. He asked him to confirm details from the funeral home.
Victor answered from the lobby, Serena beside him, both of them standing beneath flowers bought with lies.
He spoke freely.
Cruelly.
Carelessly.
“They both froze to death,” he said. “That worthless woman got what she deserved.”
Adrian recorded every word.
Then he turned the phone toward me.
May you like
Victor saw my face on the screen.
For one beautiful second, he forgot how to breathe.
