Chapter 8 - Malcolm’s Lawyer
Malcolm refused to enter the mansion.
His attorney insisted the meeting take place in the library adjoining the main foyer.
Nathaniel chose to attend remotely through his tablet.
Not because Victoria wanted him upstairs.
Because Nathaniel wanted Malcolm to understand that entering a room was no longer necessary for Nathaniel to control what happened inside it.
Claire positioned the camera.
Ava and Elena went downstairs.
Victoria stayed in the bedroom.
That interested Nathaniel.
“You’re not joining him?”
“He brought a lawyer.”
“So?”
“So this has become ugly.”
Nathaniel almost laughed.
“It became ugly when you kissed him beside my bed.”
She looked away.
Downstairs, Malcolm sat beside attorney Samuel Price.
The smugness from the previous night was gone.
His shoulders were rigid.
Elena began.
“Your client entered a private office and left records there after receiving notice that financial transactions connected to his company were under review.”
Samuel replied evenly.
“My client preserved materials.”
Ava stared.
“In shredded form?”
Samuel looked at Malcolm.
Malcolm shifted.
“I didn’t shred anything.”
“Then who did?”
“I found them like that.”
Elena leaned forward.
“You texted Victoria Carter instructing her to delete everything marked C.M.”
Malcolm’s face changed.
Samuel turned slowly toward him.
That message had apparently not been disclosed.
Nathaniel watched from upstairs.
Interesting.
Malcolm had lied to his own attorney.
Elena continued.
“We also have records showing M.R. Strategic Holdings received more than three million dollars from Carter-related entities.”
Malcolm rubbed his jaw.
“For services.”
“Describe them.”
“Corporate risk.”
“Who performed the work?”
“My contractors.”
“Names?”
“My attorney can provide records.”
Samuel said nothing.
Ava opened another folder.
“Your company reported one employee last year.”
Malcolm looked angry.
“Subcontractors.”
“Then this should be easy.”
Samuel requested a recess.
Nathaniel muted his tablet.
Victoria stood near the window.
“He’s going to turn on me.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
It was the first honest thing she had said all day.
“You sound surprised.”
“He promised.”
“People who betray spouses can betray lovers.”
She looked at him sharply.
“Was that supposed to hurt?”
“No.”
Nathaniel paused.
“It was supposed to be obvious.”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“You think I loved humiliating you?”
“Yes.”
She flinched.
Nathaniel regretted the certainty almost immediately.
Not because he believed she was innocent.
Because simplistic answers were becoming dangerous.
“I think,” he corrected, “you wanted me to feel powerless.”
Victoria stared at him.
“That is different.”
“Why?”
She said nothing.
Nathaniel waited.
Finally she whispered, “Because that’s how you made me feel for years.”
Nathaniel absorbed the accusation.
There was truth inside it.
Not enough truth to excuse her.
But enough to hurt.
“You could have said that.”
“I did.”
“Then you could have left.”
“I wanted you to understand.”
“So you used my disability.”
She closed her eyes.
The sentence landed.
Nathaniel continued more softly.
“You took the worst thing that ever happened to me and used it as a weapon because you were angry about our marriage.”
Victoria’s tears came now.
Real ones.
Nathaniel felt no triumph.
Only exhaustion.
The tablet signaled that Malcolm’s meeting had resumed.
Claire unmuted it.
Samuel Price spoke first.
“My client is prepared to provide records concerning M.R. Strategic Holdings and Harbor House.”
Malcolm stared at the table.
“In exchange for what?” Elena asked.
“My client wants confirmation that Mr. Carter will not make knowingly false accusations concerning the origin of the business arrangement.”
Nathaniel spoke through the screen.
“No.”
Every head turned toward his image.
Samuel blinked.
“Mr. Carter—”
“I don’t bargain with facts I haven’t seen.”
Elena hid a smile.
Samuel adjusted.
“Then perhaps Mr. Reed can clarify one point voluntarily.”
Malcolm finally looked at the screen.
“The power of attorney amendment.”
Upstairs, Victoria went completely still.
Nathaniel saw it.
Malcolm continued.
“I didn’t know it existed until Victoria used it for the Harbor House financing.”
Victoria stepped toward the tablet.
“He’s lying.”
Nathaniel ignored her.
Malcolm said, “She told me Nathaniel signed it before the accident.”
Elena asked, “Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Malcolm rubbed his face.
“Then I met Gerald Pike.”
Nathaniel felt a chill.
The notary.
“When?”
“Last summer.”
“Why?”
“Victoria asked me to deliver an envelope.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
Victoria whispered, “Malcolm, stop.”
He could not hear her upstairs.
Or perhaps it did not matter.
Elena asked, “What did Pike say?”
Malcolm looked toward the camera.
“He said he had done enough for Victoria.”
Nobody moved.
“He said if she wanted another signature backdated, she could find someone else.”
Nathaniel stared at Victoria.
She backed away from the tablet.
“Nate.”
He did not look at her.
Downstairs, Elena asked the question everyone now feared.
“Another signature?”
Malcolm nodded.
Samuel placed a warning hand on his arm.
Too late.
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Malcolm swallowed.
“He said the first one was the power of attorney.”
