Chương 5
But he also belonged to a family that could make him thirteen years old with one glance from his mother.
Victoria had spent years pretending that was merely annoying.
Tonight it felt dangerous.
Daniel put Sophie into the back seat.
Victoria stopped him before he closed the door.
“She should be checked.”
He looked at Sophie’s wrist.
“I know.”
“She says Margaret grabbed her. I want it documented.”
“Hospital?”
“Urgent care is enough unless something looks wrong.”
Daniel nodded.
They drove without speaking.
At the first red light, Daniel said, “I signed those papers.”
Victoria looked out the passenger window.
“We don’t know that.”
“I sign things when she tells me Charles reviewed them.”
“That needs to stop.”
“I know.”
“You’ve known.”
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
Victoria regretted the sentence immediately and did not take it back.
Daniel glanced at her.
“You think I caused this.”
“I think you made it easier.”
He looked forward again.
“That’s fair.”
His willingness to accept it irritated her more.
“I’m not trying to be fair.”
“I know.”
“Don’t do that either.”
“Do what?”
“Make me the reasonable one because you feel guilty.”
He was quiet.
The light changed.
They drove.
Two blocks later, Daniel said, “I don’t know how to talk to you right now.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“At least that’s honest.”
At urgent care, Sophie woke up angry that someone had removed her shoes.
She complained about the paper on the examination table. She refused a grape popsicle because grape was “medicine flavor” and accepted orange instead. A nurse photographed the wrist and documented a superficial pressure mark with no evidence of fracture or soft-tissue injury requiring treatment.
When the nurse asked who had grabbed her, Sophie whispered, “My grandma.”
The nurse stopped typing for half a second.
Then continued.
Victoria watched that half second.
Everything became more real once strangers had to write it down.
A physician assistant named Maribel examined Sophie gently and asked questions without leading her. Sophie described the papers. The bracelet. Margaret taking her wrist. The threat.
Maribel listened.
At the end she said, “Because of Sophie’s age and what she reported, I’m required to make a report.”
Daniel went pale.
“To child protective services?”
“Usually the report is screened through the state hotline. They decide whether there’s a child-protection issue, a law-enforcement referral, or no further action.”
Victoria knew enough law to avoid pretending she knew this process perfectly.
“Can we get a copy of the medical note?”
“Through the portal once it posts.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
Maribel looked at him.
“Is that a problem?”
“No.”
He lowered his hand.
“No. Sorry. It’s just my mother.”
Maribel gave him the expression medical professionals reserved for sentences that explained nothing.
“I understand.”
He almost laughed.
“No, I don’t think you do.”
She did not answer.
The orange popsicle dripped onto Sophie’s dress.
Sophie looked down.
“Oh no.”
Victoria took a napkin.
For thirty seconds, all three of them dealt with orange syrup.
It was the most normal thing that had happened all evening.
At home, Sophie refused to sleep alone.
Daniel carried her into their bed.
Victoria changed out of her gown while he lay beside Sophie in his tuxedo pants and undershirt, one hand resting lightly on her back.
At 1:17 a.m., Victoria stood barefoot in the kitchen and opened her laptop.
Daniel appeared ten minutes later.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
He sat across from her.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing down everything while I remember it.”
He nodded.
Victoria typed.
Daniel watched the screen.
After a while he said, “You didn’t include the part where you dumped champagne at her feet.”
“I’m getting there.”
“That may be relevant.”
“I know.”
“Could look aggressive.”
“I was aggressive.”
He rubbed his jaw.
“Vic.”
“What?”
“I’m not criticizing you.”
“You should.”
“For that?”
“For plenty.”
He leaned back.
“Can we not do the thing where you get angry at me for not being angry enough and then angry when I don’t criticize you?”
She stopped typing.
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
She almost smiled.
Then he said, “Eight and a half million.”
The room changed again.
Victoria closed the laptop.
“What debts do you have that I don’t know about?”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Gambling. Business losses. Loans.”
“None.”
“Don’t answer fast.”
“I don’t gamble.”
“You played poker in Vegas.”
“I lost six hundred dollars and complained about it for four years.”
“Private investments?”
“No.”
“Did you borrow against anything?”
“No.”
“Did your mother?”
“How would I know?”
“That’s the problem.”
He looked away.
She had hit the right place.
Daniel stood and opened the refrigerator.
He stared inside without taking anything.
“My mother controls the family office.”
“I know.”
“No. I mean controls it. I’ve never seen the full balance sheet.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You’re a board member of the Sterling holding company.”
“I get reports.”
“Those are balance sheets.”
“Consolidated reports.”
She said nothing.
Daniel closed the refrigerator.
“I can hear how stupid that sounds.”
“Good.”
He sat again.
“My father handled everything. When he died, Mom did.”
“You were twenty-seven.”
“I was twenty-eight.”
“That’s worse.”
“Thank you.”
Victoria reopened the laptop.
Daniel watched her.
“You hate this family.”
She looked up.
“No.”
“You hate what being in it does to me.”
That answer was harder.
“I hate what you allow.”
He absorbed it.
Upstairs, Sophie coughed in her sleep.
Both of them looked at the ceiling.
Daniel whispered, “I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t feel like enough.”
“It isn’t.”
At 2:03 a.m., Margaret called.
Daniel’s phone lit on the table.
He did not touch it.
It stopped.
Thirty seconds later, Victoria’s phone rang.
She declined.
Then a text appeared.
Please do not involve outsiders before we speak. There are facts neither of you understands.
Victoria showed Daniel.
He stared.
“What outsiders?”
“She may know about the urgent care report.”
“How?”
“Insurance? Hotel security? Charles?”
Daniel stood so fast his chair scraped.
May you like
“No.”
Victoria looked at him.
