Chương 4
“Why did you take it?”
Beth looked at her hands.
“Because I recognized the envelope.”
Victoria waited.
Beth swallowed.
“I put that envelope on Alexander’s desk.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who gave it to you?”
Beth did not answer immediately.
She did not need to.
Victoria whispered, “Margaret.”
Beth nodded.
“She said you had dropped it at the residence. She said Alexander was not to be disturbed because of his father’s condition, but when he came back from New York I was to make sure he got it personally.”
“Did you know what was inside?”
“No.”
“Did you know I was pregnant?”
Beth’s face crumpled.
“Not then.”
“Did Margaret?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
That was how the eighteen days began.
There had been document examination after that. An attorney. A private investigator Victoria almost fired twice because she disliked what hiring one turned her into. A non-court paternity test based on a discarded drinking straw Alexander left at a public charity breakfast, an investigative method Victoria’s attorney described as useful for personal certainty and useless for formal parentage proceedings.
The result was what Victoria had known in her bones for seven years.
Probability of biological paternity: greater than 99.9%.
Not proof suitable for court.
Proof enough to destroy sleep.
Victoria had sent Margaret two letters through counsel asking for a private meeting.
No response.
Beth then received a letter from Reed counsel reminding her of confidentiality obligations connected to her employment.
That was when Victoria decided she would attend the foundation cruise.
Naomi had said it was a terrible idea.
Victoria had said she wasn’t going to create a scene.
Naomi reminded her of this at one in the morning while sitting barefoot at the kitchen island.
“You actually used those words.”
“I know.”
“You said, ‘I’m not going to create a scene.’”
“I know.”
“You own an evening gown with sculptural fabric.”
“That has nothing to do with violence.”
“It suggested intent.”
Victoria poured wine down the sink without drinking it.
Naomi watched.
“You should call Daniel in the morning.”
“I already texted him.”
“Good.”
Daniel Ross was Victoria’s attorney, though until eighteen days earlier most of his work for her involved contracts, vendor disputes, and one unpleasant negotiation with a hotel developer who believed paying invoices was a form of emotional surrender.
“He’s going to yell at me.”
“He bills by the hour. Let him.”
Victoria looked toward the stairs.
“What do I tell Sophie tomorrow?”
“The truth, but not all of it.”
“She asked if he’s her dad.”
“What did you say?”
“That I think he is.”
Naomi nodded.
“That’s probably right.”
“I also told her I made mistakes.”
“That was definitely right.”
Victoria gave her a look.
Naomi reached across the counter and squeezed her wrist.
At 7:12 the next morning, Alexander Reed sent Victoria a text.
She knew it was him before she opened it.
The number was unfamiliar.
The style was not.
Victoria. I got your number from Naomi’s public business contact and asked her to forward mine instead. She refused, so I’m taking the risk that this reaches you through Daniel, who has confirmed only that I may contact you once. I will not show up at your home or Sophie’s school. I need a supervised paternity test as soon as you are willing. I also need to understand what happened, but Sophie comes first. Tell me what you need me to do.
Victoria read it twice.
Then she stared at the line about school.
He knew enough to understand that appearing there would frighten her.
That annoyed her.
She did not want him being reasonable.
Anger was easier when the other person behaved badly.
She gave the phone to Daniel during a video call half an hour later.
He read the message.
“He has counsel.”
“Of course he has counsel.”
“Apparently he instructed counsel not to contact you until you responded.”
“Is that supposed to impress me?”
“No.”
Daniel adjusted his glasses.
“It is information.”
Victoria drank coffee that had already gone cold.
“Margaret?”
“Her attorney called.”
“What does she want?”
“To discuss yesterday’s incident and the return of what they describe as confidential Reed family property.”
Victoria laughed.
“The letter.”
“Yes.”
“She wants it back.”
“Very badly.”
“She can have it in discovery.”
Daniel looked tired.
“You are not allowed to enjoy saying the word discovery until we know whether anyone is actually suing anyone.”
“Can she have me arrested?”
“She could make a police report. There is video. You struck her.”
“I’m aware.”
“Good. Stay aware.”
“What about the forgery?”
“Potentially serious, depending on facts we do not yet have. Stop imagining a courtroom scene. A forged personal letter is evidence of deception. What other legal consequences attach depends on what was done with it, who participated, whether resources were misused, whether there were additional acts. We investigate before we pronounce.”
Victoria hated lawyers when they were useful.
Daniel continued, “More immediate problem: Sophie.”
“I know.”
“The video is spreading.”
“I know.”
“You may need to notify the school.”
Victoria shut her eyes.
Sophie attended a small private elementary school where most parents had the admirable ability to turn gossip into concern.
By ten that morning, the head of school had already emailed asking whether Victoria wanted arrival and dismissal adjusted temporarily.
By noon, a client had postponed a meeting.
At twelve-fifteen, someone sent Naomi a screenshot of a social-media post calling Victoria a “gold-digging secret baby mom.”
At twelve-twenty, Naomi replied to the sender with a photograph of a trash can.
Victoria confiscated Naomi’s phone.
“You are not our communications strategy.”
“I could be.”
“No.”
“I’m free.”
“You cost us two clients last year by telling a developer his mood board looked like airport divorce.”
“It did.”
Victoria’s phone buzzed again.
This time it was Alexander.
No new message.
A notification showed that he had not tried again.
May you like
She stared at his name.
Seven years earlier, she had stared at another silent phone in a hospital bed while Sophie slept beneath a warming blanket three feet away.
