Richard’s Marriage in the Documents
Chapter 09 - Richard’s Marriage in the Documents
Richard and Victoria had been married for eighteen years.
The records did not erase every good year.
They complicated them.
Victoria helped modernize the hotel’s global brand. She comforted Richard after Edward died. She knew how to calm investors and remember the names of employees’ spouses.
She also intercepted Grace’s letters.
She controlled Eleanor’s medication.
She altered the sale agreement.
She worked with Julian to preserve a crime connected to Clara’s death.
Richard requested a private meeting.
Victoria agreed with attorneys and cameras present.
“I loved you,” she said before he asked.
He believed her.
“Then why do this?”
“Because your family would never give me real control.”
“You had authority over half the company.”
“I had authority you could remove.”
“So you wanted ownership.”
“I wanted security.”
Richard looked at the forged guardianship papers.
“You made my mother unsafe to feel secure.”
Victoria described growing up beside the Ashcroft hotels while her father served as financial adviser. Her family created deals while the Ashcrofts received photographs and headlines.
When Clara threatened to expose her father, Victoria saw it as an attack on everyone she loved.
She had spent adulthood protecting the version of history that kept her family respectable.
“You knew about North Bridge?” Richard asked.
Victoria looked away.
Not a confession.
May you like
Not innocence.
A door left half open.
