Chapter 5: The Vale File
My father went pale.
My mother lowered her eyes.
I took a sip of wine.
“Rumors can be dangerous.”
Victor chuckled.
“Only when they aren’t true.”
Across the table, Elian whispered something into Mara’s ear. I could not hear the words, but I saw her fingers tighten around her napkin until her knuckles turned white.
I excused myself before dessert.
In the hotel bathroom, I locked myself inside a stall and opened the encrypted folder Mara had sent me.
Photos.
Threats.
Voice recordings.
Elian laughing while explaining exactly how Victor would crush our family.
Then came the contracts showing my parents’ company trapped under predatory loan terms.
But the file that made my pulse slow was the wire transfer schedule.
Victor Vale had not only threatened my parents.
He had been using their company as a laundering channel. Continue Reading ⬇️
