Chapter 25 - Victor’s Trap
Victor met Grant at a private dining room in downtown Chicago.
Federal agents occupied three nearby rooms.
Victor wore a recording device beneath his shirt.
Rachel hated the plan.
She hated it even more because Victor volunteered.
Grant arrived ten minutes late.
He looked relaxed.
“Victor.”
“Grant.”
They shook hands.
The gesture nearly made Victor sick.
Grant poured himself sparkling water.
“You look different.”
“I’m broke.”
Grant smiled.
“Poverty creates humility.”
Victor sat.
“What do you want?”
“You already know.”
“You want me to lie in court.”
“I want you to correct your previous misunderstanding.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You really do think everyone is stupid.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed.
“Careful.”
Victor leaned back.
“I lost my wife because I thought I was smarter than everyone else in the room.”
He looked directly at Grant.
“I recognize the disease.”
In the surveillance room, Agent Sloan smiled faintly.
Rachel did not.
Grant remained calm.
“Rachel destroyed you.”
“No.”
Victor’s answer came immediately.
“I destroyed myself.”
“Then why protect her?”
Victor paused.
“Because she’s Maya’s mother.”
Grant tapped the table.
“And Maya’s future becomes complicated if Rachel refuses to cooperate.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means young women make mistakes. They drive tired. They cross streets while looking at phones. Accidents happen.”
Rachel stood in the surveillance room.
Sloan grabbed her arm.
“Stay here.”
Victor’s hands curled beneath the table.
“You threaten my daughter again and—”
“And what?”
Grant smiled.
“You’ll hit me? Very dramatic. Very useless.”
Victor stared at him.
“What exactly do you need me to say?”
“That Rachel fabricated the release document after learning Northstar intended to challenge the title.”
“And the ledger?”
“Say she modified it.”
“Page 215 too?”
Grant’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Victor noticed.
“So you know about it.”
Grant recovered.
“I know Rachel manufactures evidence.”
Victor leaned closer.
“You knew my wife’s grandfather.”
Grant said nothing.
“You were involved seventeen years ago.”
Grant’s eyes became cold.
“Your wife’s grandfather was an obstacle.”
Victor’s heartbeat accelerated.
“In what?”
“My father had a development strategy.”
“You mean stealing farms.”
Grant smiled.
“You still don’t understand business.”
“No.”
Victor’s voice became quiet.
“I understand it better now.”
Grant leaned back.
“William Vance could have sold for millions. Instead, he clung to dirt because farmers romanticize suffering.”
“And you forged his signature.”
Silence.
Victor repeated.
“You forged it.”
Grant took a slow drink.
“My father solved problems. I helped.”
Victor felt adrenaline hit his bloodstream.
“By forging deeds?”
Grant smiled.
“Prove it.”
In the surveillance room, Sloan whispered, “Thank you.”
Victor continued.
“What about the warehouse fire?”
Grant’s expression did not change.
“Unfortunate.”
“The hacked terminal?”
“Technology fails.”
“The fake clinic records?”
“People lie online.”
Victor laughed.
“You planned all of it.”
Grant leaned forward.
“I planned pressure.”
“That nearly killed two drivers.”
“No one died.”
“That’s your defense?”
“My defense is that you are wearing a wire.”
Victor froze.
Rachel stopped breathing.
Grant looked directly at the hidden microphone beneath Victor’s shirt.
“Federal agents always choose predictable men.”
Chairs moved in the surveillance room.
Sloan spoke urgently into her radio.
“Move.”
Grant stood.
Victor stood too.
Grant smiled.
“You really wanted to redeem yourself.”
Then he reached inside his jacket.
Victor reacted instinctively.
He shoved the table sideways.
Federal agents burst through both doors.
“FBI! HANDS!”
Grant froze.
His hand emerged slowly.
He was holding a phone.
Not a weapon.
He laughed.
“Relax.”
Agents forced him against the wall.
Sloan seized the phone.
Grant looked toward Victor.
“You just destroyed whatever remained of your life.”
Victor’s chest rose and fell.
“No.”
He thought of Rachel.
Maya.
The house he lost.
The company he lost.
The man he used to be.
“My old life deserved destroying.”
Grant was detained but not immediately arrested.
His attorneys arrived within minutes.
The prosecutors had gained valuable admissions, but Grant had stopped before confessing explicitly.
Still, the threat toward Maya had been captured.
The historical involvement had been acknowledged.
And Grant had said the words:
I planned pressure.
Outside the building, Victor found Rachel waiting near the federal vehicles.
He stopped.
Neither moved.
Finally Rachel said, “That was reckless.”
Victor smiled weakly.
“I learned from you.”
“No.”
Rachel shook her head.
“I’m careful.”
Victor almost laughed.
Then his expression collapsed.
“I’m sorry.”
Rachel nodded.
“I know.”
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the street.
“Is Maya safe?”
“Yes.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Good.”
Rachel studied him.
The man standing before her was not the husband she wanted back.
That life was over.
But he was also no longer the arrogant stranger who had demanded she accept Elise.
“Victor.”
He looked up.
“You made the right decision today.”
Tears immediately filled his eyes.
Rachel did not hug him.
She did not promise reconciliation.
She simply gave him something he had not earned in years.
Respect.
It was enough.
May you like
Across the street, federal agents escorted Grant Ward into a vehicle for further questioning.
And for the first time, the smile disappeared from his face.
