Chapter 19 - Victor and I finally talk without staff
Victor requested mediation.
I agreed.
No ballroom.
No employees.
No Chloe.
Conference room.
Victor.
His attorney.
Me.
Leah.
A retired federal judge serving as mediator.
Victor looked older.
Not ruined.
Not trembling.
Just tired.
He said:
“Daniel and I made music together.”
“Yes.”
“You reduce me to a thief.”
“You accepted sole credit for his work.”
“I contributed.”
“Then take contributor credit.”
His jaw tightened.
“You signed a settlement.”
“I did.”
“You took money.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want to rewrite what that meant.”
“No. I want the document to mean what it actually says.”
Silence.
Then Victor said something I did not expect.
“I envied him.”
The mediator looked up.
Victor continued:
“He could sit down and make something I could only describe.”
There.
“I had money, orchestras, halls, critics. Daniel had the part I wanted.”
“Then why didn’t you credit him?”
Victor stared at the table.
“Because after he died, the work became associated with me before anyone challenged it publicly.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Then:
“Because I liked being believed.”
There.
The first honest sentence.
No excuse.
No grand confession.
Vanity.
Power.
Opportunity.
A contract ambiguous enough to hide behind.
May you like
That combination was sufficient.
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