“Closer than you think.”
Richard felt his stomach tighten.
“You brought him here?”
“I didn't bring anyone. He came because he wanted to see whether you were finally ready to understand.”
Michael placed the device on the table. Then he reached into his briefcase and removed a second phone.
“Victor has been patient, Richard. Twenty years is a long time to wait for something that should have belonged to him from the beginning.”
“What does he want?”
“The company. The properties. The financial accounts. Everything Thomas and you built.”
“Why doesn't he simply make an offer?”
Michael laughed.
“Because Victor doesn't negotiate with people who know too much.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You've always been a coward, Michael.”
Michael's smile disappeared.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed.”
“You sacrificed nothing. You sold your conscience.”
“I protected myself.”
“From what? The consequences of your own decisions?”
Michael's eyes hardened.
“Don't lecture me.”
Richard looked between the two men.
“Enough. Tell me where Victor is.”
Michael glanced toward the window.
“He's downstairs.”
Richard moved toward the door.
Michael raised one hand.
“Don't.”
“Get out of my way.”
“Your daughter is still recovering. I wouldn't recommend making any sudden movements.”
Richard stopped.
Michael turned toward Isabella.
“I am sorry you became involved in this.”
Isabella looked directly at him.
“You were involved in my mother's death.”
Michael said nothing.
“You helped someone destroy our family.”
“Your family was already broken.”
“No,” Isabella replied weakly. “You broke it.”
For the first time, Michael looked uncomfortable. He had expected fear. He had expected tears. He had expected a young woman who would remain silent because she was too frightened to challenge him.
Instead, Isabella looked at him with the same determination Eleanor had once shown.
And Michael hated that resemblance.
He moved toward the bed.
Thomas blocked his path.
“Take another step and you'll regret it.”
Michael looked at him.
“You still think you're the hero?”
“No.”
Thomas's voice was quiet.
“I think I'm the man who should have come back sooner.”
Then the door suddenly opened.
Two security officers rushed into the room. Behind them stood a woman in a dark blue suit. She was approximately fifty years old, with short silver hair and a small identification badge clipped to her jacket.
“Michael Reeves,” she announced. “Step away from the table.”
Michael froze.
For the first time that morning, his confidence disappeared.
Richard stared at her.
“Who are you?”
“Special Agent Laura Bennett. Financial Crimes Division.”
Michael slowly looked toward Thomas.
Thomas gave him a tired smile.
“You really should have checked the hospital's security system.”
Agent Bennett approached the table.
“We have been monitoring the communications connected to Victor Hale for several weeks. Your device interrupted the local network, but the recording was already transmitted.”
Michael shook his head.
“You can't prove anything.”
The agent looked at him.
“We can prove quite a lot.”
She nodded toward the officers.
“Take him.”
Michael resisted.
“This is a mistake! Richard, tell them!”
Richard did not move.
“You should have thought about that before you touched my family.”
As the officers escorted Michael into the corridor, he turned one final time.
“You still don't know what happened to Eleanor!”
Richard stepped forward.
“What do you mean?”
Michael's expression twisted into a smile.
“Ask Victor who was driving the second car that night.”
Then he disappeared through the doorway.
Richard remained motionless.
Thomas lowered his eyes.
Isabella looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas did not answer immediately. He walked toward the window and stared at the hospital parking lot.
Then he spoke.
“Eleanor's accident involved two vehicles.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
Thomas turned.
“The official report only mentioned her car. But there was another vehicle following her.”
Richard felt his blood run cold.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who was driving it.”
“Did you find out?”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
He looked toward Isabella.
“It was someone from our family.”
Daniel had been sitting alone in the hospital cafeteria for nearly an hour.
He had ordered coffee. He had not touched it.
His phone lay on the table, displaying seventeen missed calls from unknown numbers.
He knew the calls were connected to Victor.
For months, Victor had contacted him through different accounts, always with the same message.
You owe me.
Daniel had originally believed the man was simply trying to manipulate him. But Victor had known details about the company that nobody outside the family should have known.
He knew about the missing accounts. He knew about the old partnership agreement. And he knew about Eleanor's death.
Daniel had been terrified that if he refused to cooperate, Victor would reveal everything about his own financial decisions.
The truth was that Daniel had made a terrible mistake.
Four months earlier, he had borrowed money from an investment company to cover losses caused by a failed business project.
The investment company was secretly controlled by Victor.
At first, the arrangement appeared legitimate. Daniel would receive a short-term loan, repay it with interest, and move on.
But when the repayment deadline arrived, Victor demanded something else.
He wanted access to the Harrison Group's internal financial systems.
Daniel refused.
Victor then showed him documents proving that the company had been using an illegal ownership structure since its earliest years.
He threatened to expose the entire arrangement.
Daniel panicked.