Chapter 6 - Four Days Before the Vote
Victor wanted to walk into the board meeting.
Clara told him that was a terrible idea.
“No.”
Victor stared at her.
“No?”
“You can stand for a little over a minute.”
“Yesterday.”
“Congratulations.”
“I walked.”
“Four steps.”
“Five.”
“The fifth was mostly gravity.”
Nathan turned away to hide a smile.
Victor’s expression hardened.
“I will not enter that room looking helpless.”
Clara folded her arms.
“The chair does not make you helpless.”
“That is not how they see it.”
“Then let them be stupid.”
Victor looked genuinely offended.
No employee had probably spoken to him that way in years.
Clara continued.
“If you exhaust yourself trying to prove something, Sebastian gets exactly what he wants.”
“He wants the board to see me weak.”
“He wants the board to see you making impaired decisions.”
Victor became quiet.
She had found the right argument.
Dr. Lena Cho and the new independent rehabilitation physician agreed.
Victor should demonstrate objective progress, not stage a physical performance.
Updated strength tests.
Clean toxicology.
Video of supervised therapy.
Medical testimony explaining the interference caused by chronic unauthorized medication.
The evidence mattered more than dramatic walking.
Victor disliked that because dramatic walking would feel better.
He accepted it anyway.
Sofia flew to Chicago under private security.
Her reunion with Victor lasted fourteen minutes before the first argument.
“You should have believed me.”
“I said I was wrong.”
“You said it once.”
“How many times do you require?”
“Three years’ worth.”
Clara started backing toward the door.
Sofia noticed.
“No. Stay. He behaves better when you’re here.”
Victor stared at his sister.
“I do not.”
“You laughed in a security video.”
Nathan had apparently betrayed him.
Clara looked innocent.
Sofia smiled for the first time.
The family reconciliation did not happen that day.
What happened was more useful.
Victor listened.
Sofia explained how Sebastian manipulated the original access logs that framed her.
Victor admitted he never allowed her to present a full defense.
They did not hug.
They agreed to continue speaking.
Repair without pretending rupture disappeared.
Meanwhile, investigators worked quietly.
Chicago police reopened the accident file.
Federal financial investigators reviewed Haven Ridge.
Elise Ward entered protective cooperation through her attorney.
Sebastian knew none of it officially.
But he knew something had changed.
He stopped visiting Victor.
He sent board lawyers instead.
Then the media story appeared.
BILLIONAIRE VICTOR MORETTI’S RECOVERY CONTROLLED BY UNLICENSED CAREGIVER?
Clara read the article at breakfast.
“I am licensed.”
Victor looked at the tablet.
“That is what bothers you?”
“They got my age wrong too.”
The story claimed Clara had isolated Victor from trusted medical staff after being employed less than two weeks.
Anonymous sources said she convinced him medication was poisoned and encouraged paranoid accusations against family.
A photograph showed Clara helping Victor transfer into his wheelchair.
The angle made her look as though she was holding him possessively.
“That came from inside the estate,” Nathan said.
Victor stared at the image.
“Sebastian.”
“Likely.”
Clara’s phone filled with messages.
Former coworkers.
Reporters.
Strangers.
One commenter described her as a gold digger trying to manipulate a vulnerable billionaire.
Clara laughed once.
Then stopped.
Victor noticed.
“You can leave.”
She looked up.
“Excuse me?”
“This job is becoming dangerous to your reputation.”
“You think I should quit because strangers think I’m sleeping with you?”
Nathan became fascinated by the ceiling.
Victor’s voice remained careful.
“That is not what I said.”
“It’s what the story says.”
“I am offering you an exit.”
“I already had one after seven minutes.”
Victor looked toward her.
“I will pay the remainder of the contract.”
“No.”
“You are refusing money?”
“I’m refusing to let Sebastian decide when I leave.”
Something shifted between them.
Victor looked away first.
The article created one practical problem.
The board’s outside counsel requested Clara not attend the medical review, claiming conflict.
Victor objected.
Clara surprised him.
“I won’t go inside.”
“You are part of the rehabilitation team.”
“I am also the person Sebastian is using to make you look irrational.”
Victor hated the logic.
Nathan suggested Clara give a sworn statement and remain available remotely.
She agreed.
The night before the review, Clara conducted Victor’s final therapy session.
He stood for ninety seconds.
Then walked seven controlled steps using the bars.
After rest, he repeated five.
Progress.
Not recovery.
But real.
When the session ended, Victor remained seated beside the window.
“Tomorrow, if they remove me?”
“They won’t remove you from being Victor.”
“That is not helpful.”
“You own too many things for someone who confuses ownership with identity.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Is this professional rehabilitation?”
“No. Free bonus.”
He looked toward the city.
“My father built Moretti Freight with two trucks. I turned it into Moretti Global.”
“I know.”
“If Sebastian controls it—”
“Then you fight with evidence.”
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No. I make the next step sound simple.”
Victor turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because when people are terrified, the whole staircase is useless. They need one step.”
He looked at his legs.
“One step.”
Clara realized the words meant more than the board.
Victor reached for the sealed water.
His hand brushed hers.
Neither moved immediately.
For two weeks, their physical contact had been clinical.
Transfers.
Balance.
Support.
That touch was different because no one needed it.
Victor pulled his hand back.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I don’t.”
“I noticed.”
Clara walked toward the door.
“Clara.”
She turned.
It was the first time he used her first name without irritation.
“If this ends badly tomorrow—”
“It won’t end tomorrow.”
“How do you know?”
“Because even if Sebastian wins a vote, evidence still exists.”
Victor studied her.
“You really believe evidence wins?”
“No.”
That surprised him.
“I believe evidence gives truth somewhere to stand. People still have to choose it.”
She left.
At 11:42 p.m., Nathan called.
Someone had attempted to enter the estate’s secured medical archive using Elise Ward’s disabled credentials.
Security stopped the person before entry.
He carried a Moretti Global contractor badge.
His phone contained instructions.
REMOVE ALL TOX FILES BEFORE 6 A.M.
The message came from a prepaid number.
Another message appeared beneath it.
IF MORETTI LOOKS STRONG TOMORROW, MOVE TO PLAN B.
Victor read the words.
“What is Plan B?”
Nathan shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
Clara looked toward the therapy bars.
The board meeting was nine hours away.
May you like
Sebastian’s first plan had been to keep Victor weak.
Whatever came next apparently required something more desperate.
