Chapter 10 - THE SECRET BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES
For the first time since meeting him, Viktor looked afraid to tell me the truth.
Not afraid of me.
Afraid of what the truth might do.
His father, Miklos Kovacs, had spent years trying to erase part of the original council agreement.
Not because Ilona had betrayed the family.
Because she had caught Miklos betraying it.
In the late 1990s, Miklos secretly diverted money through companies controlled by Tomas's father.
Ilona discovered the transactions.
She threatened to expose both men.
“What happened?”
“She left New York.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Viktor's jaw tightened.
“My father threatened her.”
The room went silent.
I thought of Grandma in Ohio.
Cooking soup.
Growing tomatoes.
Teaching me Hungarian words while pretending she had no interesting history at all.
“He threatened my grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“Did he hurt her?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“I spent years finding out.”
That surprised me.
Viktor had learned about Ilona after inheriting his father's files.
He discovered she had possessed enough evidence to destroy Miklos but never used it.
Instead, she negotiated one condition.
Her daughter and future descendants would be left alone.
“That was why the custodian clause survived,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And Tomas's father hated her for it.”
“Yes.”
Now Tomas wanted what his father never obtained.
Control.
Legitimacy.
The Kovacs empire without the Kovacs name standing above him.
Then Viktor gave me the hardest truth.
“My father wasn't a good man.”
I studied his face.
“You're not defending him.”
“No.”
“Most people would.”
“Most people confuse loyalty with lying.”
For the first time, I understood something important about Viktor.
He wasn't frightening because he never felt anything.
He was frightening because he controlled what he showed.
The next morning, investigators found Tomas.
Not at an airport.
At Sterling House.
He had walked into the restaurant at 6:15 a.m. and asked for me by name.
Daniel called Viktor immediately.
Then Daniel said something stranger.
Tomas wasn't alone.
He had brought Adrian Pierce.
And Pierce claimed Tomas had deceived him too.
But that wasn't the real shock.
May you like
Pierce had brought the missing second agreement.
It carried my mother's signature.
