Chapter 8 - THE SIGNATURE
Sebastian denied everything.
“I was never at Silver Pines.”
Roberto stood across from him in a conference room downtown.
“I didn’t say Silver Pines.”
Sebastian stopped.
Roberto watched realization hit him.
“You said Sofía smelled your cigars.”
“No.”
Roberto leaned forward.
“I said she smelled you somewhere before the clinic.”
Sebastian’s face turned gray.
Marcus stood near the door.
No one spoke.
Finally Sebastian sat down.
“She brought Sofía to my office.”
“Why?”
“She needed me to notarize documents.”
“With my daughter sitting there?”
“I didn’t know she had taken her without permission.”
“Stop lying.”
Sebastian rubbed his forehead.
“I thought she had authority.”
“You helped create the authority.”
“That doesn’t mean I knew she was abusing Sofía.”
Roberto threw the psychiatric declaration onto the table.
“One doctor signed this.”
“Who?”
Sebastian looked at Marcus.
“Am I being recorded?”
“Yes.”
The answer came from Roberto.
Sebastian closed his eyes.
“Dr. Aaron Feld.”
Roberto recognized the name.
A psychiatrist who had evaluated him after Elena died.
“He hasn’t treated me in years.”
“Vanessa paid him.”
Roberto felt his stomach turn.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“For what?”
“To state that you showed signs of complicated grief, obsessive attachment, and impaired judgment.”
“That was after my wife died.”
“I know.”
“And you turned it into evidence that I’m currently incompetent?”
Sebastian stared at the table.
“Yes.”
The betrayal was almost impossible to process.
“How much did Vanessa pay you?”
Sebastian looked up.
“Nothing.”
Roberto laughed bitterly.
“Then why?”
Sebastian’s face tightened.
“Because you were going to remove me.”
Roberto frowned.
“What?”
“From the company.”
“I heard you discussing restructuring.”
“You assumed I would fire you?”
“I knew what happened to everyone who became unnecessary.”
Roberto stared at the man he had trusted for more than a decade.
“So you helped a predator gain control of my family because you were afraid of losing your job.”
Sebastian’s voice cracked.
“I didn’t know what she was doing to Sofía.”
“You knew enough.”
Sebastian looked defeated.
“She has copies of everything.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Think.”
Sebastian hesitated.
“There’s a safe deposit box.”
“Which bank?”
“I don’t know.”
“She never told me.”
“But she uses a key.”
Roberto froze.
“What key?”
“Small silver key.”
Sofía had mentioned something strange months earlier.
Vanessa wore a chain beneath her clothes.
She never removed it.
Even while swimming.
At the time, Roberto assumed it held jewelry.
That evening, Sofía was sitting at the piano when Roberto returned.
She turned her face toward him.
“You smell worried.”
Despite everything, he smiled.
“You can smell that?”
“No.”
“I can hear it.”
He sat beside her.
“Sofía.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever touched Vanessa’s necklace?”
“The one with the key?”
His heart stopped.
“You knew it was a key?”
“She told me not to touch it.”
“Do you know anything else?”
Sofía nodded.
“She talks to somebody in the library sometimes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“But she calls him Doctor.”
Roberto slowly stood.
“She says the same thing every time.”
“What does she say?”
Sofía repeated the sentence exactly.
May you like
“Once he signs the second page, Roberto won’t control anything.”
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