Chapter 9 - Rosa’s Choice
Victoria fired Rosa on Thursday morning.
She did it before Daniel woke.
Rosa was packing lunch for Ethan when Victoria entered the kitchen and placed an envelope on the counter.
“You can leave today.”
Rosa stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Severance.”
“I didn’t resign.”
“You don’t need to.”
Victoria’s voice was calm.
Almost pleasant.
Rosa did not touch the envelope.
“Does Mr. Mercer know?”
“He will.”
Rosa looked toward the staircase.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You have worked here a long time. I’m offering you a graceful exit.”
“You are offering me money.”
“Yes.”
“To keep quiet?”
Victoria smiled.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Rosa took off her apron.
She folded it slowly.
Then she pushed the envelope back.
“I will speak with Mr. Mercer.”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“You’ve become very brave.”
Rosa met her eyes.
“No.”
She thought of Ethan in the rain.
“I became ashamed that I waited so long.”
Daniel walked into the kitchen seconds later.
He took in the scene.
The apron.
The envelope.
Victoria.
Rosa.
“What happened?”
“I terminated her,” Victoria said.
“No, you didn’t.”
“This is my household too.”
“You do not have authority to fire her.”
Victoria laughed.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Daniel turned to Rosa.
“Please stay.”
Rosa nodded.
Victoria shoved the envelope into her handbag.
“This woman has been spying on me.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“She has been protecting my son.”
“So that’s what this is.”
“What is?”
“You saw a video.”
Rosa inhaled sharply.
Daniel did not react.
Victoria smiled bitterly.
“Did you think I didn’t know?”
“How?”
“You came home twelve hours after she filmed me. Then you suddenly knew about documents.”
Victoria looked at Rosa.
“Not exactly difficult.”
Daniel said, “You tied Ethan outside.”
“I secured him for three minutes while he calmed down.”
“In a storm.”
“The dogs were sheltered.”
“He wasn’t.”
“He refused to come inside.”
“That isn’t what the video shows.”
“You saw fifteen seconds.”
“I saw enough.”
Victoria looked at Rosa.
“You filmed a private family moment without context.”
Rosa answered quietly.
“I filmed what I saw.”
Victoria turned back to Daniel.
“You want a villain so badly that you’re refusing to see what your life actually is.”
“What is my life?”
“You have a child whose needs are increasing. You have a company collapsing under financial pressure you don’t understand. You have a brother cleaning up your messes. And you have a wife you leave alone to manage everything.”
Daniel stared.
“You know about the company’s financial pressure?”
Victoria realized the mistake.
Grant had not told Daniel the company was under pressure.
Only that family-office money had been lost.
She recovered quickly.
“Grant talks.”
“I bet he does.”
Victoria picked up her handbag.
“I’m taking Mason to my sister’s.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You don’t control where my son goes.”
“That’s true.”
Daniel stepped aside.
“But Mason asked to stay here today.”
Victoria froze.
“He what?”
“He told me this morning he doesn’t want to leave Ethan.”
Her face changed.
“Where is he?”
“Upstairs.”
Victoria stormed toward the staircase.
Daniel followed.
Mason was sitting on Ethan’s bedroom floor playing with the red truck.
Victoria appeared in the doorway.
“Pack your bag.”
Mason looked up.
“No.”
“Mason.”
“I want to stay.”
“We’re leaving.”
“No.”
Victoria grabbed his backpack from the chair.
Mason stood.
“You made me lie!”
The entire hallway went silent.
Victoria stared at her son.
Mason’s face crumpled, but he kept speaking.
“You said Ethan broke the lamp. I broke it.”
“Mason, stop.”
“You said Ethan scratched the car. I did.”
“Mason.”
“You said if I didn’t say it, Daniel would make us leave.”
Victoria’s voice became sharp.
“Enough.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“No. Let him finish.”
Victoria looked at him with open hatred.
Mason began crying.
“You said Ethan had to go away so we could be a real family.”
Ethan stood behind him.
His face went still.
Daniel saw the sentence hit.
Not because Ethan understood estate plans or fraud.
Because he understood go away.
Victoria looked at Ethan.
For one second, something like regret passed across her face.
Then it vanished.
She walked into the hallway.
“Fine.”
She turned to Daniel.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then ask your brother why he needed Ethan’s trust to look expensive.”
Daniel stared.
Victoria continued.
“Ask him what happens when auditors compare family-office withdrawals against actual care expenses.”
Then she walked downstairs.
Daniel followed.
At the front door, she paused.
“Rosa thinks she saved your son with one video.”
Victoria looked back.
“She saved you from signing papers.”
Daniel said nothing.
Victoria opened the door.
“But she may have destroyed everything else.”
She left.
Ten minutes later, Nadia called.
Her voice was urgent.
“Daniel, we have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“Someone initiated a remote wipe on the family-office archive.”
Daniel looked toward the driveway where Victoria’s car had disappeared.
“Can we stop it?”
“Marcus is trying.”
“How much could we lose?”
“Everything that proves where the money went.”
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
May you like
For the first time, the conspiracy was no longer trying to hide.
It was trying to erase itself.
