Chapter 8 - The Last Lie He Told Her
Winston requested a meeting the following morning.
Through his attorney, he offered to “clarify several unfortunate misunderstandings.”
Vivian nearly refused.
Then Lena explained that investigators were preparing additional interviews and that she had no obligation to participate in a family discussion.
“What do you want?” Lena asked.
Vivian considered the question carefully.
For years, she had wanted her father to become the man she remembered.
Now she wanted him to speak while she could look directly at him.
They met in a conference room at Lena’s office.
No private estate.
No locked doors.
Both attorneys remained present.
Winston entered wearing the watch Vivian had given him for his sixtieth birthday.
For some reason, that was what hurt.
“You look tired,” he said.
“So do you.”
He sat.
His lawyer placed a folder on the table.
Winston ignored it.
“I never intended for you to be frightened.”
“You ordered a doctor to sedate me.”
“You were hysterical.”
Vivian looked at Lena.
Then back at him.
“I was trying to leave.”
“The situation had become complicated.”
“You locked the door.”
Winston’s mouth tightened.
“I was protecting you from a mistake.”
“Marrying Preston was the mistake.”
“He comes from a good family.”
“So do I,” Vivian said. “Apparently that doesn’t mean much.”
His attorney shifted.
Winston leaned forward.
“You have no idea what it takes to keep a family like ours standing.”
“I know what it cost Mom.”
For the first time, he looked away.
There it was.
Not a confession.
Something uglier than surprise.
Recognition.
Vivian’s throat tightened.
“Did you know someone was going to hurt her?”
“Be careful,” his attorney said immediately.
Winston stared at his hands.
“Your mother wouldn’t listen.”
Lena’s voice was sharp.
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
His lawyer ended the meeting.
Winston stood before Vivian could.
“You’ll destroy everything she built.”
Vivian remained seated.
“She bought a building you didn’t know about. She left records you couldn’t erase. She tried to get me out.”
He stared at her.
“She built more than you ever noticed.”
After he left, Vivian shook so hard she could not hold the water Lena offered.
She waited for satisfaction.
It never came.
Only grief.
That afternoon, Brooks called with a breakthrough.
A former garage employee had identified the damaged parts found in Declan’s storage unit. Records and messages linked Declan to unauthorized work on Eleanor’s car before the crash.
Then Preston made a mistake.
He tried to leave the country using a flight booked through an associate.
Investigators detained him under an arrest warrant related to the financial scheme. Faced with the evidence, he asked through counsel to cooperate.
His first interview lasted six hours.
By evening, Brooks had enough corroboration to seek additional warrants.
Vivian received the news while eating soup at her kitchen counter.
Preston admitted that Winston had asked Declan to stop Eleanor from delivering records to her attorney.
He claimed he had believed they meant intimidation.
Messages on his own phone contradicted parts of that story.
Winston had known about a plan to interfere with the car.
Vivian set down her spoon.
For months, she had wondered whether she could have saved her mother by answering one more call.
Now she knew who should have stopped it.
The following morning, officers arrested Winston at the estate.
He did not struggle.
On the news, he paused beneath the white wedding arch before entering the police vehicle.
The roses were beginning to brown.
Adrian watched beside Vivian in silence.
When the screen changed to a commercial, she turned it off.
“I thought knowing would make it easier.”
He looked at her.
“Does anything?”
“Sometimes work. Sometimes Rosa. Sometimes forgetting for five minutes and then feeling guilty.”
“You’re allowed five minutes.”
She leaned against his shoulder.
He waited before resting his arm around her.
For one quiet moment, she let herself stay.
Then Brooks called.
Declan had been located.
He was hiding at a commercial marina outside the city.
Officers were moving in.
Vivian looked toward the dark window.
“Please call me when it’s over.”
“I will.”
But an hour later, her own phone lit up first.
May you like
A message from Declan.
Rossi owes me. Ask him what he’s willing to lose.
