Chapter 55 — It Was Me
Victor called at 8:03 that evening. Not through Marcus. Not through counsel. Not through any channel that would protect him from himself.
Directly.
That told me two things. He was angry. And he had stopped pretending I was small.
I was in Marcus’s office, barefoot on the old carpet, uniform folded inside a garment bag on the chair beside me. The dress I wore now was plain black, impossible to confuse with service wear. Marcus looked at my ringing phone.
“Do not answer.”
So of course, I answered. “Mr Lang.”
Silence.
Then Victor’s voice, stripped of dinner-table warmth. “It was you.” I looked at Marcus. He closed his eyes.
“Yes,” I said. “It was me.” Three words.
Small enough to fit through a phone. Large enough to enter every room he owned.
“You accessed my study.” “You authorised it.” “You took confidential material.” “I preserved evidence.”
“You deceived my household.” “Your household deceived itself first.” His breathing changed.
Some men shout because they are losing control. Victor did not. That made him more dangerous.
“What do you want?” he asked. The question sounded almost identical to the one from the street outside Marcus’s chambers.
But now it had less contempt in it.
Good. “I already told you.” “Say it again.”
“I want the truth documented.” He laughed once. “No. You want revenge.”
“I wanted a divorce. Ryan made that easy. I wanted evidence. You made that abundant. Revenge would have required less paperwork.”
Marcus looked unwillingly amused. Victor said, “You cannot build a case on bitterness.”
“No. That is why I built it on records.” “You were in my home under false pretences.”
“I was hired, scheduled, authorised, and ignored. Only one was my choice.”
Silence. Then, colder: “I can ruin your father’s name.”
There it was.
The oldest threat when men run out of living targets. I stood.
Marcus did too. “My father is dead,” I said. “He cannot be frightened for me anymore.”
“Dead men still have reputations.” “So do living frauds.”
Victor inhaled. For a moment, I heard the empire behind him. The office. The assistants outside doors. The board beginning to whisper.
“You think you can take what I built?” he asked. “No.” I walked to the window. The city below did not care about Victor Lang.
“I think you built part of it with money that should never have passed through Ryan, Lila, or your shell companies.”
“That is defamatory.” “Then sue me.” Marcus’s eyebrows rose.
I raised one finger.
I wanted this clean. Victor said, “Careful, Eleanor.”
“There it is again.” “What?” “That word. Careful. Men like you use it when you mean obedient.”
He said nothing.
I continued, “I was careful when Ryan denied knowing me. I was careful when Lila laughed. I was careful when you left signed papers where women disappeared.” “And now?”
“Now I am finished being careful for your benefit.” The line hummed.
Then Victor spoke very softly. “If you come for my company, I will come for everything attached to you.”
“My marriage is gone. My father’s gone. My old life is gone. You should have threatened me earlier.” That landed.
I felt it through the silence. A man cannot terrify a woman who has buried the things he names.
“What do you want from me tonight?” I asked. He was quiet for so long Marcus took one step closer.
Then Victor said, “A meeting. No lawyers.” I laughed.
Not loudly. Not cruelly.
Just enough to let him hear the world had changed. “No.”
“You will regret that.” “Possibly. Through counsel.” I ended the call.
Marcus stared at me. “He will retaliate.”
“Yes.” I picked up the garment bag and handed it to him. “What is this?” he asked.
“My uniform.”
He frowned. “Why are you giving it to me?” “For evidence.”
My phone buzzed before he could answer. A message from Lila.
Victor knows about the drive. He is moving records tonight.
Then a second message arrived. Ryan is with him.