"You met them."
My voice comes out low, but it lands hard in the room. I hold Nathaniel's phone so tightly my fingers hurt. The screen shows Elena by the curb. Evelyn Thornton beside her. And Victor standing in front of them with the black file box in his hands.
Victor does not answer right away.
Julian turns to him slowly. "Tell me that is fake."
"It is not fake," Victor says.
The silence after that feels thick enough to choke on.
I look at him. Really look at him. The tired face. The weak shoulders. The same man who held my hand and asked for time. The same man who told me he wanted no more lies between us. And now this.
"You took the files before Elena left the building," I say.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Victor looks at me, not at Julian, not at Nathaniel. Me. That almost makes it worse.
