Chapter 10 - Before Her Father Died
Elise could hear her own pulse.
"You filed this while my father was alive."
Sébastien stared at the form.
"It's fabricated."
"Your signature."
"You already know signatures can be forged."
"Convenient."
He pushed back his chair. "My uncle was sick. Everyone knew succession had to be organized."
Elise went still.
"My father died of a sudden aneurysm."
Sébastien realized the mistake.
Too late.
"What illness?"
"I meant his health generally."
"He played eighteen holes of golf four days before he died."
Mireille looked between them.
Antoine stopped typing.
Elise stepped closer.
"What did you know?"
"Nothing."
"You just said he was sick."
"People say things under pressure."
"Not that."
Sébastien looked toward Victoire.
She stared at the table.
Elise saw it.
"You know something too."
Victoire shook her head quickly.
"No."
"Then look at me."
She did not.
Elise's voice softened.
"Victoire. What happened before my father died?"
Tears appeared in the woman's eyes.
Not practiced this time.
"I was an assistant in events. I wasn't part of anything."
"Anything what?"
Sébastien slammed his palm on the table.
"Stop talking."
Vincent grabbed his shoulder and forced him back into the chair.
Victoire began to cry.
"There was a dinner. Your father and Sébastien argued in the library. I brought coffee."
Elise could barely breathe.
"And?"
"Sébastien told me to leave the tray outside."
"Then what?"
"Nothing. I left."
"That's not all."
Victoire looked at Sébastien.
Then at Elise.
"The next morning, I saw him throw away a prescription bottle from your father's room."
The conference room went silent.
Sébastien's face emptied.
May you like
"She's lying."
Victoire whispered, "I kept it."
