Chapter 16 - Victor Planned to Take More Than the ViolinVictor’s plan became clear after investigators opened his encrypted files.
He knew Anna had cancer eighteen months ago.
A private investigator tracked one of her oncology appointments.
Victor began preparing.
He forged guardianship documents.
Not naming himself.
That would have been obvious.
Naming a woman.
Patricia Lang.
His older sister.
Licensed foster parent years earlier.
If Anna died and Emily entered the child welfare system under an alias, Patricia could potentially position herself nearby.
Complicated.
Uncertain.
But Victor liked leverage.
Why Emily?
The trust.
At twenty-one, Emily would receive voting shares.
Before then, a legal guardian might have influence over certain distributions and decisions.
Not control the shares.
But access to information.
Potentially enormous settlement opportunities.
Victor did not need to own Hale Group.
He only needed to sell access.
Marcus felt sick.
“He was going to traffic her through paperwork.”
Richard’s face became murderous.
Not physical trafficking.
Financial possession.
A child as asset.
Emily was not told every detail.
Only enough.
Victor had known her mother was dying.
He planned to manipulate what happened afterward.
The ballroom changed everything.
Why?
Emily arrived before Patricia’s plan could move.
Public place.
Violin visible.
Marcus present.
Witnesses.
Victor saw the instrument and panicked.
He tried to take it.
Maybe destroy evidence later.
Maybe search it.
When Emily grabbed him, he hit her.
Then Marcus appeared.
The trap closed.
Anna had predicted his greed accurately.
Richard sat beside Emily that afternoon.
No entourage.
No suit jacket.
“Can I ask you something?”
Emily nodded.
“Where did you sleep last night?”
“Here.”
“Before?”
“The motel.”
“And before your mother died?”
“With her.”
Richard swallowed.
“Did you have enough food?”
Emily shrugged.
“Mostly.”
That answer broke him.
“What does mostly mean?”
“Mom ate less when money was bad.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Anna Hale.
Daughter of a billionaire.
Skipping meals so Emily could eat.
While thirty returned letters sat in a motel box.
“I want to fix this.”
Emily looked at him.
“How?”
Richard stopped.
The old answer came automatically.
Money.
House.
School.
Trust.
Everything.
Anna’s daughter stared at him, waiting.
He changed the answer.
“I don’t know.”
Emily nodded.
“That sounds better.”
He almost laughed.
“Your mother would enjoy this.”
“She said you hate not knowing.”
“She was right.”
Emily looked at the violin.
“Can I stay with Marcus?”
Richard’s face fell.
But he nodded.
“Yes.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m trying not to make my feelings into your responsibility.”
Emily looked impressed.
“Did somebody teach you that?”
“Your mother. Mostly after she died.”
Emily’s eyes softened.
Marcus agreed to temporary guardianship arrangements under supervision while legal identity issues were resolved.
Richard could have fought.
He didn’t.
That mattered.
Samuel met Emily properly two days later.
No smile at first.
He brought nothing.
No gifts.
“I’m your cousin,” he said.
Emily frowned.
“You’re old.”
Samuel laughed.
“Fair.”
He told her about Thomas.
Her great-uncle.
How much he loved Anna.
How badly he failed to protect her.
Emily asked:
“Why did you pay Victor?”
Samuel answered honestly.
“Because I was scared.”
“Everybody was scared.”
“Yes.”
“My mom was scared too.”
“Yes.”
“She still did stuff.”
Samuel nodded.
He understood the judgment.
Fear explained.
It did not absolve.
Then Evelyn approached Marcus privately.
“We have a problem.”
Of course.
“What?”
“The third ledger page.”
Jon had one.
Anna presumably had one.
Thomas may have hidden another.
Federal investigators found references to three torn pages.
“What’s on the third?”
Evelyn looked pale.
“Ownership.”
Marcus frowned.
“Of what?”
“The Beverly Hills Grand.”
Richard’s flagship hotel.
The building they stood inside.
Howard Hale had used hidden investors during expansion decades earlier.
One investor received a secret twenty-percent beneficial stake.
That ownership was never properly transferred.
“Who?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Edmund Lang.”
Marcus stared.
Victor’s father.
If valid, Victor might have a legitimate claim against the hotel worth hundreds of millions.
Suddenly Victor’s obsession with the Beverly Hills Grand had another explanation.
Not just access.
He believed part of it belonged to him.
“And Anna had the proof?”
“Possibly.”
“Where?”
Evelyn looked at the violin.
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We searched it.”
“Not the violin.”
May you like
She looked at Emily.
“The bow.”
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