Chapter 12 - WHAT VICTORIA REALLY WANTED
Detectives searched Victoria's messages under a court-approved warrant.
What they found changed Mark's understanding of everything.
Messages to a friend.
Once I'm married, I can convince him to restructure the trust.
Another:
The kid gets everything right now. Ridiculous.
And then:
If Mark thinks I'm good with Leo, he'll sign anything.
Mark read the messages alone.
He had believed Victoria loved him.
Maybe not perfectly.
But genuinely.
Instead, their relationship had been strategy.
He remembered the charity gala.
Victoria asking about Leo within ten minutes.
He thought it was kindness.
Now he wondered whether she'd already researched him.
Mark closed his eyes.
Anna's face appeared in his memory.
His late wife had once told him:
"You trust people because you think everyone negotiates honestly."
At the time, he'd laughed.
Now the sentence hurt.
Elena found him sitting alone in the dark study.
"Mark?"
He didn't look up.
"I failed him."
"Don't."
"I brought her here."
"You couldn't know."
"I should have."
Elena sat across from him.
"Leo doesn't need a perfect father."
Mark looked at her.
"He needs a father who believes him when something is wrong."
"I didn't."
"You noticed."
"Too late."
"Not too late."
Her voice softened.
"You're here."
The silence between them changed.
For the first time, Mark wasn't billionaire and Elena wasn't employee.
They were simply two exhausted adults sitting inside a quiet room, worrying about the same little boy.
Then Leo appeared in the doorway holding his damaged train.
One wheel was still missing.
"Daddy fix?"
Mark's eyes filled.
He knelt.
"Yeah."
He took the toy.
"Daddy's going to fix it."
May you like
And this time, Mark wasn't only talking about the train.
---
