Chapter 6 - DINNER WITH THE ENEMY

Victor did not accuse Dominic.

That surprised everyone.

Instead, he placed the cuff link on his desk.

“Explain.”

Dominic stared at it.

“I lost that pair six months ago.”

“Where?”

“At Isabella's memorial.”

Victor looked at Serena.

Someone was planting evidence.

Serena asked, “Who had access?”

“Everyone close to the family.”

Carlo had attended.

So had dozens of employees.

The cuff link proved nothing except that their enemy wanted Victor suspicious.

That was more useful than it appeared.

“They're scared,” Serena said.

Victor looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because scared people rush.”

She proposed something Victor considered insane.

A dinner.

Invite Carlo.

Adrian.

Celeste.

Even Judge Keene, under the excuse of discussing a private settlement through attorneys.

“Put everyone in one room?”

“Yes.”

“Inside my house?”

“Yes.”

“Near my children?”

“No. They stay upstairs.”

Victor stared.

“You enjoy dangerous ideas.”

“I raised a daughter on fourteen dollars an hour. Danger and I have met.”

Three nights later, the dining room glittered with silver and crystal.

Carlo arrived first.

Adrian came next.

Seeing Serena standing beside Victor nearly broke his composure.

“You look comfortable.”

“I am.”

Celeste arrived wearing diamonds.

Judge Keene came last, insisting his attendance was informal.

Victor raised a glass.

“To family.”

Nobody drank.

Dinner became psychological warfare.

Victor asked harmless questions.

Serena watched reactions.

When Isabella's name was mentioned, Carlo touched his left cuff.

When Antonio's name surfaced, Adrian stopped eating.

When the Bellweather Foundation was mentioned, Keene asked for more wine.

Then Victor said casually:

“We recovered the complete ledger.”

Three people reacted.

Celeste dropped her fork.

Adrian looked at Carlo.

Carlo looked at Keene.

There.

The hierarchy.

Judge Keene was not above them.

He was afraid of Carlo.

Serena understood.

Carlo was closer to the center than they thought.

Upstairs, the children were supposed to be watching a movie.

Instead, Matteo had built a “spy station” using baby monitors.

Lucia objected.

“My mom said stay upstairs.”

“We are upstairs.”

“We're spying.”

“That's different.”

Through the monitor, they heard Carlo say something when he thought Victor had left the room.

“Antonio should've burned with the rest.”

Lucia froze.

“What does that mean?”

Matteo pressed record.

Downstairs, Victor returned.

Carlo immediately stopped talking.

Dinner ended without confrontation.

But after the guests left, Lucia brought the recording.

Serena listened.

Antonio should've burned with the rest.

Her father's death had been ruled a heart attack after a small electrical fire in his office.

Serena suddenly understood.

“The fire.”

Victor called for Antonio's old case records.

They discovered the autopsy had been unusually limited.

The medical examiner who signed it later received a Bellweather consulting payment.

Serena sat down.

“They killed my father.”

Victor did not tell her to calm down.

He simply sat beside her.

For several minutes, she cried.

Quietly.

Furiously.

Then Lucia entered.

Serena wiped her face.

Lucia climbed into her lap.

“Was Grandpa brave?”

Serena held her tightly.

“Yes.”

“Are you brave?”

Serena looked at Victor.

“No.”

Lucia seemed confused.

Serena kissed her forehead.

“Brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you're scared and still choose what matters.”

Across the room, Victor absorbed the words.

They were meant for Lucia.

But he needed them too.

Later that night, Carlo called Victor.

“Meet me alone.”

“Why?”

“I can give you Adrian.”

“I already have Adrian.”

“No.”

Carlo's voice dropped.

“You have a pawn.”

Victor became still.

“Who is above you?”

Silence.

Then Carlo whispered:

“Someone your family has trusted longer than you've been alive.”

The call ended.

Ten seconds later, Dominic entered.

“Carlo's car exploded.”

Victor stared at him.

“Where?”

“Two blocks from his apartment.”

“Alive?”

“Yes. Barely.”

Victor looked at Serena.

Their enemy had just tried to silence his own conspirator.

And if Carlo survived long enough to talk, everything could end.

But the next morning, the hospital reported Carlo had disappeared.

No discharge.

No security footage.

Nothing.

Except one message left beneath his pillow.

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