Chapter 4: Victor
1536 Words
Thony’s POV
I stared at Alessandro.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“I have to go home.”
“No.”
“My things are there.”
“We’ll get them.”
I shook my head.
“You can’t just decide where I stay.”
“I can when someone is threatening you.”
“I don’t even know who is threatening me!”
“Exactly.”
His answer made me pause.
He walked toward the window and looked outside.
I watched him carefully.
There was something about the way he was acting that made me uneasy.
He looked angry.
Not at me.
At whoever had sent the message.
I crossed my arms.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He turned around.
“Nothing.”
I scoffed.
“That’s a lie.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve known me for less than a day.”
“And you’ve lied to me more times than I can count.”
“I haven’t lied.”
“You keep leaving things out.”
“There’s a difference.”
“Not when my life is involved.”
He didn’t respond.
I looked away.
I hated how calm he always seemed.
As if nothing could ever shake him.
As if he already knew how everything would end.
“I want to know about Victor.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“What about him?”
“Why was he in my father’s office?”
“I don’t know.”
“What was my father doing with him?”
“Business.”
I froze.
“You knew that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Your father and Victor worked together.”
My heart sank.
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor never told me.”
“Maybe he didn’t want you to know.”
I stared at him.
Victor had always spoken about my father.
He had told me how much he respected him.
He had told me that my father trusted him.
But I had never known they worked together.
I sat down slowly.
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must know something.”
“I know they had business dealings.”
“What kind?”
“I haven’t seen the documents.”
“Then how do you know?”
He didn’t answer.
I looked at him.
“You’re hiding something.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“Yes, you do.”
His voice was firm.
I didn’t know why that irritated me so much.
Maybe because part of me knew he was right.
I looked away.
“What did Kamila find?”
“I told you. I don’t know.”
“Then why was she looking for my father’s records?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You know about that?”
I immediately realized my mistake.
“How do you know?”
He stared at me.
I swallowed.
“Kamila mentioned it once.”
It was a lie.
I didn’t know why I lied.
Maybe because I didn’t want him to know how much I had already started investigating.
He studied me for several seconds.
“You shouldn’t lie to me.”
I looked at him.
“You’ve been lying to me since I walked through that door.”
“I haven’t lied.”
“You just keep saying that.”
He sighed.
Then he walked over to the table and opened the black folder again.
There were several papers inside.
I stared at them.
“What are those?”
“Information about your father’s company.”
My heart tightened.
I reached for the papers.
Alessandro didn’t stop me.
I looked through them.
Financial records.
Property documents.
Names.
Dates.
My eyes moved across the pages.
Then I stopped.
One name caught my attention.
Victor.
I stared at it.
“Why is his name here?”
“Because he was involved with one of your father’s businesses.”
“What business?”
Alessandro pointed to a document.
I read it carefully.
My eyebrows pulled together.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“What?”
“This company was supposed to belong to my father.”
“It did.”
“Then why is Victor listed here?”
“He wasn’t the owner.”
“Then what was he?”
Alessandro didn’t answer.
I looked at him.
“What was he?”
“An adviser.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
I remembered Victor telling me that my father trusted him.
At the time, I thought it was just another thing he said to make himself look important.
Maybe it wasn’t.
I looked at the papers again.
There was a date beside Victor’s name.
My stomach twisted.
“This was before my father died.”
“Yes.”
“How long before?”
“About a year.”
I stared at him.
A year.
Victor had been working with my father for an entire year without me knowing.
I suddenly remembered something.
A conversation.
Something Victor had said to me shortly after my father’s death.
At the time, I hadn’t thought anything of it.
But now it sounded different.
“He told me my father never wanted me involved in the business.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“Who told you that?”
“Victor.”
“And you believed him?”
I frowned.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because he had a reason to make you believe it.”
My heart began beating faster.
“What reason?”
He didn’t answer.
I stood.
“You can’t say things like that and then refuse to explain.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
“I need more evidence.”
I stared at him.
“Evidence of what?”
He looked at the papers.
“Of what Victor was doing.”
The room fell silent.
I didn’t know what to say.
Part of me wanted to dismiss everything.
Victor was my ex-husband.
He had hurt me.
He had cheated on me.
But that didn’t automatically mean he had anything to do with my father’s death.
I refused to believe it.
I looked at Alessandro.
“Are you saying Victor had something to do with my father’s death?”
“No.”
His answer came quickly.
“Then why are we talking about him?”
“Because you asked.”
I shook my head.
“This is too much.”
I walked toward the window.
Outside, the city was still moving.
Cars passed.
People walked along the streets.
Everything looked normal.
But my life didn’t.
I pressed my hand against the glass.
“What happened to my father’s company after he died?”
“You know what happened.”
“My stepbrother took control.”
“That’s what you were told.”
I turned around.
“What do you mean?”
Alessandro looked at me.
“You were the only heir.”
I stared at him.
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you inherit everything?”
“Because my father changed his will.”
“Did you see the new will?”
I opened my mouth.
Then stopped.
No.
I hadn’t.
After my father’s death, everything had happened so quickly.
The lawyers.
The funeral.
The arguments.
The documents.
I had been told that my father had left everything to my stepbrother.
I had believed them.
But I had never actually seen the original document.
My stomach tightened.
“Why are you asking me this?”
“Because you should.”
I shook my head.
“You’re saying my father’s will might not be real?”
“I’m saying you should see it yourself.”
I looked at him.
For the first time, I felt something colder than fear, doubt.
I had spent years blaming my stepbrother for taking everything from me.
Years believing my father had chosen him over me.
But what if he hadn’t?
I swallowed.
“What do you know about the will?”
Alessandro’s expression became unreadable again.
“Not enough.”
“Then why did you bring it up?”
“Because someone went to great lengths to make sure you never questioned it.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
He didn’t answer.
My phone suddenly rang.
I looked at the screen.
A number I knew.
Victor.
My heart stopped.
I stared at his name.
Alessandro noticed.
“Don’t answer.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because he shouldn’t know you’re with me.”
The phone continued ringing.
I didn’t move.
Then it stopped.
A few seconds later, a message appeared.
I opened it.
My breath caught.
“We need to talk.”
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
“You don’t know the truth about your father’s death.”
My hands went cold.
I slowly looked up at Alessandro.
He was already watching me.
“What did he say?”
I couldn’t speak.
Because for the first time, Victor had mentioned the one thing I had never thought anyone would question, my father’s death.
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