Chapter 9 - THE UNCLE WHO PRETENDED TO LOVE HER
Victor Vale arrived at the mansion wearing a tailored navy suit and a smile that made me uncomfortable.
He was thirty-six.
Handsome.
Charming.
And so similar to Dominic that strangers sometimes assumed they were twins.
He greeted his brother warmly.
Then turned toward Audrey.
"Hello, princess."
Audrey immediately stepped behind me.
My stomach tightened.
Victor's smile faltered.
"Still shy?"
I didn't answer.
Instead, I signed to Audrey.
Would you like to go to the playroom?
She nodded.
Fast.
I looked toward Dominic.
"She wants to leave."
He nodded.
"Of course."
Victor laughed.
"Dominic, you're letting a waitress decide where your daughter goes?"
Dominic's expression hardened.
"I'm letting my daughter decide."
The words surprised Victor.
For a moment, his confidence slipped.
Then he smiled again.
"Whatever makes her happy."
I guided Audrey toward the hallway.
But before we reached the door, she tugged my hand.
Bad uncle.
I swallowed.
I know you're frightened.
She shook her head.
No.
Then she signed something that made my chest tighten.
He gave Mommy the red box.
My heart pounded.
What red box?
Audrey looked toward the dining room.
The bomb.
I froze.
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
I couldn't ask her to relive the explosion.
Not without proper support.
I knelt beside her.
Thank you for telling me.
She began trembling.
I gently signed:
You don't have to tell me anything else right now.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Later, with the child psychologist present, Audrey drew the red box.
It had a silver clasp.
A tiny black handle.
And a sticker shaped like a butterfly.
The investigators compared her drawing with photographs from the charity event where Elena died.
One image showed Victor carrying a small red gift box toward Elena's vehicle.
The timestamp was less than an hour before the explosion.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
"My brother gave her that."
Evelyn answered carefully.
"It's evidence investigators need to examine. It doesn't by itself establish what was inside."
Dominic nodded.
But his face had lost all color.
He remembered the day.
Victor told everyone he'd purchased a gift for Audrey.
A surprise from her uncle.
Elena agreed to carry it home.
Then the explosion happened.
I looked toward Audrey's drawing.
The butterfly sticker.
The red box.
The memory she'd carried silently for three years.
Then Dominic whispered:
"Victor wasn't supposed to attend that event."
I looked up.
"What?"
"He told me he was out of town."
The room went silent.
Then Evelyn opened another recovered document.
Victor's travel records.
He had canceled his trip the morning of the bombing.
But he never told Dominic.
Instead, he spent the afternoon meeting with Silas Crane.
And their final message contained four words.
ELENA HAS THE EVIDENCE.
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For three years, Dominic believed his wife's death was an attack by a rival family.
Now he had reason to suspect the betrayal came from his own brother.
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