Chapter 8 CHAPTER EIGHT

Theo withdrew to his room, breathless. One hour.

Victor wanted the phone. He suspected that Theo might have an evidence. The NDA, the cash, everything may be a snare. Sign the papers, give over the phone, and Victor could just get rid of the issue.

After all, he'd done it before.

Theo pulled out his phone, and saw the email that he had sent to David at 3 AM. The reply had come an hour ago.

Holy shit, Theo. This is huge. Get out of that house NOW. I'm coming to get you.

Theo replied: I am not able to leave. Victor is aware that I had found something. Offering money for silence. Wants my phone.

The answer came fast: DO NOT give him that phone. It is the sole leverage that you have.

Theo replied: I know. Need a plan. Can you find Thomas Brennan? The partner Graham mentioned. He is getting some pay, may not be dead.

David texted back: I'll start looking. But Theo, seriously, get out. It is these individuals who murdered your uncle. They won't hesitate with you.

Theo caught some footsteps in the hallway. He hastened to lock his phone and pushed it under his mattress.

A knock at the door.

"Theo?" Elena's voice. "Can I come in?"

He opened the door. Elena was still in her casual clothes, troubled at the face.

“My father had said to me that he offered you an offer.” She said softly. "The money. Leaving."

"Did he?" Theo said.

"Is it true? You're taking it?" Elena asked.

Theo studied his wife. It was three years of marriage and he had not yet managed to read her. Was she relieved? Upset? Is it just a normal reaction?

"Would you care if I did?" he asked.

Tears filled her eyes. Elena said “I am aware that I have not been a good wife. I have heard that they have been horribly treating you. But I never wanted this. You leaving, I mean."

“You never wanted me around either.” Theo snapped

“Not really. That's not fair." Elena replied with tears in her eyes

"Isn't it?" Theo kept his voice level. “And when was the last time you defended me, Elena? And when was the last time you choose me over them?”

She looked away. "It's not that simple."

"It's exactly that simple. You are either with your family or with me. You've made your choice clear." Theo unmoved by her tears

“They are all I have ever known” said Elena. “My father, he... he expects. Standards. I can't just..."

"Can't just what? Treat your husband as a human being?” Three years of frustration were surging up in Theo. "I've cleaned toilets, Elena. Eaten leftovers. Slept in the room of a servant as you were faking my non-existence. And you never mentioned a word in my defense.”

"I was scared." Elena said in a low voice.

"Of what? Your father's disapproval? His money?" Theo shook his head. "I was scared too. Fear of becoming homeless, unemployed, zero sum winner. But you know what? I rather have nothing than continue to live like this.”

Elena wiped her eyes. "So you're taking the money? Starting over?"

Theo was about to tell her everything. The evidence, the murder of Michael Callahan, about the hidden room. But something held him back. Elena had shown to whom she was loyal.

Instead he grumbled, I haven't made up my mind.

“My father told me, you have one hour to sign the agreement.” Elena said.

"I know." Theo replied.

Elena hesitated at the door. "For what it's worth, I am sorry. I should have been stronger. Should have protected you."

"But you weren't. And you didn't." Theo said.

She went, and he shut the door after her.

Theo picked up his phone that was underneath the mattress. Forty minutes left.

He was not ready to hand over the phone to Victor. That was non-negotiable. But he did not want to simply say no without any implications.

An idea formed.

Theo accessed his photos, chose the forty-three photos of the concealed room and made an album. Then he factory-reset an old phone that he had stored in his drawer, which was two years old and hardly worked.

He stashed some harmless snapshots into the old cell phone. Snapshots of the exterior of the mansion, the gardens, nothing delicate. Made it like a phone that he used.

The actual phone and every piece of evidence was slipped into the inside pocket of his jacket.

The burner phone he left on his desk.

Thirty minutes.

Theo took the NDA and read it thoroughly. Legal jargon was heavy, however, the point was obvious. Complete obedience, complete silence. Breaking of the law would lead to lawsuits, criminal charges provided that Victor could produce them, and loss of all payment.

It was created to be able to frighten him to submission.

But Theo had spent three years in terrorizing. He was done being afraid.

He signed the NDA. Each page, each first, each signature line.

He then photographed every page with his actual phone and e-mailed them to David with the following note: Evidence that Victor was trying to purchase my silence. Keep safe.

Twenty minutes.

Theo walked down to the study of Victor, with the signed NDA in his one hand, the burner phone in the other.

He knocked.

"Come in."

Victor raised his head off his desk. "Ah. Decision made?"

Theo put the NDA on the table. "Signed."

Victor turned it over, page after page, signing. With contentedness, he took out a briefcase and opened it. Stacks of cash, neatly banded.

“Two hundred thousand as I promised.” Victor pushed it sliding down the desk. "And your phone?"

Theo put the burner phone next to the money.

Victor took it, and leafed through it. His eyes narrowed. "This is your phone? The one you use regularly?"

"That's my phone." Theo said.

"It's old. Hardly any photographs, no new messages.” Victor said.

"I don't use it much. No one to call." Theo replied.

Suspiciously, Victor studied him. But he did not know if Theo was lying.

"Fine." He pocketed the phone. "The money is yours. I expect you gone by tonight. Get away, take it away. Inform Elena that it is two-sided, both of you desire new beginning.”

"What if I don't leave?" Theo asked

Victor's smile vanished. "Then the deal is void. And I shall ensure that your life is hard, Theo. Harder than you think, harder than you can guess.”

Theo took up the brief case. It was heavy, substantial. Life-changing money. Blood money.

"One more thing," Theo said. "The room in the basement. I want to know it's real. That I did not imagine what I saw.”

"It's real." Victor sat back in his chair. “The guilt of my father became actual. His confession, his regrets. Everything was there in that room like a shrine to his weakness.”

"And you keep it why?" Theo asked.

"Insurance. All the people in that room are implicated. Graham, Thomas Brennan, business associates that assisted in covering it. In the event that someone attempts to reveal us, I reveal him or her. Mutual assured destruction.” Victor's smile was cold. “That is the way you live in this world, Theo. Not by some principles, or truth. Through leverage and fear."

"Is that how you sleep at night?" Theo replied.

"I sleep perfectly well. Your uncle died in vain. All for nothing. It did not matter anything about his principles, his inquiry, his truth. He lies in an unmarked grave and the Whitmores still are here, and powerful. That's reality. Accept it and move on." Victor said with no emotions.

Theo stood. "I'll be gone by tonight."

"Smart choice." Victor returned to the computer. "Close the door on your way out."

Theo stomped away, with briefcase. Two hundred thousand dollars. And all the words of that talk was recorded on the actual phone in his pocket.

Victor believed he had purchased the silence of Theo.

He had in fact just admitted to murder.

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