Chapter 11 - CAROLINE'S CONFESSION
Ruiz wanted Ryan to stay hidden.
He refused.
"If Victor has Caroline, he has someone who knows everything."
Owen laughed bitterly. "You're still trying to save her?"
"She's Lily's mother."
"She's the reason Emma was locked in a wall."
Ryan had no answer.
At noon, Caroline called from a number Ruiz couldn't trace.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I have four minutes."
Ryan put her on speaker.
"Tell me the truth. All of it."
Caroline began crying.
Victor had introduced her to Ryan eight years ago deliberately. At first she had agreed to report on his finances and relationships. She told herself it was harmless. Then she fell in love with him.
"I tried to stop," she said.
"You married me."
"I thought if I married you, I could keep my father from putting someone worse beside you."
Owen rolled his eyes.
Caroline continued. "Two years ago Victor found Owen. He realized Owen could sign anything you could. He made me arrange the meetings."
"Why hide him in the house?"
"Owen refused the final transfer. Victor threatened Emma. I brought them into the passages because I thought I could move them somewhere safe."
Owen stared at the phone. "You locked the door."
"Because my father was upstairs! If Emma cried, he would've found her. I came back with food. I came back every night."
Ryan remembered Lily's missing bread and water.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Victor has the red phone."
"What's on it?"
Caroline went silent.
"Caroline."
"Videos. Of you sleeping. Drinking. Arguing. Anything he could edit to make you look unstable. And one recording that can destroy him."
"What recording?"
A door opened on her end.
Caroline spoke fast.
"Your mother's crash. He confessed to Harlan. The red phone recorded it by accident."
May you like
Then Victor's voice filled the line.
"Thank you, sweetheart. That's exactly what I needed to know."
