Chapter 11 - ARTHUR’S CONFESSION
Arthur asked for the room to be cleared.
Dominic refused.
Clare stayed.
Vincent stayed.
Mercer joined them after being called from the medical wing.
Arthur looked at each of them.
Then finally at Dominic.
“When your father was alive, Vale Harbor Logistics was losing money.”
Dominic folded his arms.
“Because?”
“Someone was stealing.”
“Who?”
Arthur stared at the table.
“Me.”
Clare stopped breathing.
Dominic did not move.
Arthur continued.
“At first it was small. Inflated invoices. Vendors that didn’t exist. Your father never noticed.”
“You stole from him.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“I convinced myself I was taking what I deserved.”
Dominic’s voice remained flat.
“And Thomas Rowan?”
“He noticed.”
Clare’s face tightened.
Arthur looked at her.
“Your husband was good at his job.”
“Did you kill him?”
The question came out like a blade.
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
“Did you cause that platform to collapse?”
“No.”
“Did you know it would?”
Arthur hesitated.
Clare stepped forward.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Dominic studied him.
Arthur continued.
“Thomas came to me with the invoices.”
“Why you?”
“He thought I was investigating corruption for Victor.”
Clare covered her mouth.
“I told him I would handle it.”
“But you didn’t.”
Arthur looked down.
“I warned the vendor responsible for the false repairs.”
“Who?”
“A contractor named Marcus Bell.”
Vincent immediately began searching.
Arthur continued.
“Bell panicked. Three weeks later, Thomas died.”
Clare stared at him.
“And you did nothing.”
Arthur’s eyes lifted.
“I was a coward.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“You were worse.”
Arthur did not disagree.
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Marcus Bell.”
Vincent looked up from his tablet.
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
Dominic frowned.
Arthur nodded.
“Victor found out eventually.”
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Arthur’s mouth twisted.
“What Victor always did. He made the problem disappear.”
Dominic stared at him.
Another ghost inherited from his father.
Arthur pushed the old ledger forward.
“Lakefront Meridian was used to reimburse money after the theft was discovered.”
“Then why is it active now?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
Arthur leaned forward.
“Because the person contacting me knew about Thomas.”
Clare went still.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“He sent me a photograph.”
Arthur described it.
Thomas Rowan standing beside a shipping container.
Arthur beside him.
A photograph taken shortly before Thomas died.
The caller had written one sentence beneath it.
YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DOMINIC LEARNS THE TRUTH.
Arthur had panicked.
If Dominic discovered Arthur’s theft and his connection to Thomas’s death, twenty-two years of status could disappear overnight.
Then came the fake email suggesting Dominic planned to remove him.
Then the instructions involving the brace.
Arthur believed someone was helping him expose Dominic’s weakness before Dominic destroyed him.
Instead, he had been used.
Dominic looked at him with disgust.
“You risked my life because you were afraid of losing a chair.”
Arthur’s voice cracked.
“I didn’t know the brace had been altered.”
“You knew enough.”
“Yes.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I knew enough.”
Clare looked away.
For twelve years, she had imagined monsters.
Reality was almost worse.
Her husband had died because one selfish man stole money and another frightened man covered the trail.
No grand conspiracy.
Just greed.
Cowardice.
Silence.
Dominic stood.
“You’re going to the police.”
Arthur looked up.
“You promised?”
“I promised Clare.”
Arthur gave a sad smile.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Dominic stopped at the door.
“That is becoming less frightening every day.”
Vincent almost smiled.
Then Arthur said one final thing.
“The caller told me something else.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“He said Friday wasn’t about making me chairman.”
Arthur’s eyes looked genuinely afraid.
“He said the council meeting would end the Vale organization permanently.”
Dominic stared.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur swallowed.
“But he told me I wouldn’t need to worry about you after Friday.”
The room became silent.
The brace had never been the final move.
May you like
It had only been preparation.
Friday was tomorrow.
