Chapter 8 - The Meeting
Sarah insisted she hadn't contacted Victor.
Elena believed her.
That didn't mean Victor hadn't contacted Sarah.
They arranged a controlled meeting.
Sarah would go.
Elena and Daniel would watch from a nearby vehicle.
Sarah entered the small hotel café at 8:10 p.m.
Victor arrived seven minutes later.
He looked calm.
Almost amused.
“You look like your sister.”
Sarah's hands trembled.
“Where is my mother's money?”
Victor smiled.
“Still protecting her?”
“You ruined her.”
“No.”
Victor leaned closer.
“Your mother ruined herself because she couldn't accept one fact.”
“What fact?”
“Elena was always the owner.”
Sarah stared.
Victor continued.
“Your father never intended the money to belong to Evelyn. He created everything for Elena.”
“Then why did he trust Mom?”
“Because he loved her.”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
Victor slid an envelope across the table.
“Give this to Elena.”
Sarah opened it.
Inside was a copy of an old agreement.
A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
If anything happens to me, Elena must never be told who ordered the transfer.
Sarah looked up.
“Who ordered it?”
Victor's expression changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Victor stood.
“Your family has spent years looking for one thief.”
He leaned toward her.
“You should be looking for the person who wanted your father dead.”
Sarah froze.
Victor walked away.
Outside, Elena watched him disappear into the street.
She had expected another financial clue.
Instead, she had received something far more dangerous.
Her father's death had never been fully explained.
The official report called it a heart attack.
But Elena remembered something.
Her father had been forty-nine.
Healthy.
And three days before his death, he had called her from a hospital.
She had been deployed.
She hadn't answered.
Elena looked at Daniel.
“Find that hospital record.”
Daniel nodded.
“But Elena…”
She looked at him.
“What?”
May you like
“Your father wasn't admitted under his own name.”
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