Margaret remained in the hospital under police protection.<\/p>\n
Victor was no longer answering calls.<\/p>\n
His attorney claimed he was traveling.<\/p>\n
Daniel did not believe him.<\/p>\n
Neither did I.<\/p>\n
We were allowed to see Margaret the following afternoon.<\/p>\n
Only Emily and I.<\/p>\n
Greg stayed away voluntarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may react badly to him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I knew what he meant.<\/p>\n
Another son.<\/p>\n
Another betrayal.<\/p>\n
Even if Greg was helping now, Margaret had no obligation to separate him from Victor emotionally.<\/p>\n
The hospital room was quiet.<\/p>\n
Margaret looked smaller than I imagined.<\/p>\n
Gray hair.<\/p>\n
Bruised wrist.<\/p>\n
Oxygen line beneath her nose though the nurse said it was temporary.<\/p>\n
When she saw me, she smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sound taller on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily introduced herself.<\/p>\n
Margaret studied her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe obstacle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily blinked.<\/p>\n
Then Margaret smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor's word, not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised a laugh out of both of us.<\/p>\n
For a moment she looked simply elderly.<\/p>\n
Tired.<\/p>\n
Human.<\/p>\n
Then her eyes sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they find the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret, Daniel says you told them Greg didn't take the twenty-five thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Victor complained about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled my chair closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked toward the closed door.<\/p>\n
A police officer stood outside.<\/p>\n
Still, she lowered her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor believed families cooperated better when they thought they were already compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would create benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPayments?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout telling people?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDebt forgiveness. Consulting credits. Referral bonuses. Sometimes money sent through businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly what Anita found.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they later resisted,\u201d Margaret continued, \u201cVictor could show they had been paid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey'd look complicit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere some actually complicit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret did not pretend everyone was innocent.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome children wanted the money. Some knew exactly what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Greg?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know everything he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Victor considered him unreliable.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he kept hesitating.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Greg's months of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
To Victor, even that had been insufficient commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat your son wanted the result without wanting to admit what the result required.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded true.<\/p>\n
Greg wanted my house sold.<\/p>\n
He did not want to think of himself as a man forcing his mother out.<\/p>\n
Victor exploited the gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho created the twenty-five-thousand-dollar entry?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWestbridge accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Victor's direction?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho specifically?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDennis Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg had mentioned a Dennis at the lodge.<\/p>\n
Emily asked, \u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor's financial controller.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel had not identified him publicly.<\/p>\n
Now we had a full name.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe debt reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor told Dennis to credit Greg's loan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the ledger would show payment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Greg know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor said no.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat back.<\/p>\n
One accusation against my son had changed.<\/p>\n
Only one.<\/p>\n
The rest remained.<\/p>\n
I felt both relieved and angry at myself for feeling relieved.<\/p>\n
Margaret noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou love him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo did I.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room changed.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
She looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's why it takes so long to see what they're doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
People imagine betrayal arrives looking like hatred.<\/p>\n
Often it arrives sounding like concern.<\/p>\n
Safety.<\/p>\n
Help.<\/p>\n
Family responsibility.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cHow did you get away?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret's expression darkened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey moved me to the lodge after I called you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo men.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he order it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assume so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the lodge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily sat straighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I was creating confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed from anger.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to know what I told you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I wanted him frightened.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told him about the Cedar Lake records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore police searched?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn't he remove them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought I was lying about where they were.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
She had taken a risk.<\/p>\n
A dangerous one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the red ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe moved it himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the lodge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when you told me Cedar Lake, you knew it wasn't there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed police to search Cedar Lake first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make Victor believe they hadn't found the important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at this eighty-one-year-old woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sent investigators in the wrong direction deliberately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Victor was monitoring calls, he needed to hear Cedar Lake.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Daniel's warnings.<\/p>\n
Margaret had conducted her own operation.<\/p>\n
Not wisely.<\/p>\n
But effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you escape?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne guard fell asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou walked out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stole his keys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily laughed.<\/p>\n
Margaret looked offended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing. You're just not what their paperwork describes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence stayed with me.<\/p>\n
No one is the paperwork.<\/p>\n
No one is the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
No one is the debt summary.<\/p>\n
No one is the family profile.<\/p>\n
No one is the worst line in a file.<\/p>\n
Margaret reached for water.<\/p>\n
Her hand trembled.<\/p>\n
Then she looked at me again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Walter.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Chuck approached him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey argued.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout the property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Victor's company.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter knew Victor personally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt strangely betrayed by the idea.<\/p>\n
Walter had never mentioned him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour husband repaired equipment for one of Victor's early development companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made sense.<\/p>\n
Walter had done industrial maintenance work before retiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't he tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked toward Emily.<\/p>\n
Then back to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter discovered billing fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor was inflating repair costs and shifting money between companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband was alive then. We owned part of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Walter report it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCompany owners first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they act?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter threatened to go to authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind raced backward.<\/p>\n
Walter had once left a job suddenly.<\/p>\n
He said management had become dishonest.<\/p>\n
I never pressed.<\/p>\n
We needed the paycheck.<\/p>\n
He found another.<\/p>\n
Life moved forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Walter have copies?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalter always kept copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course he did.<\/p>\n
Workshop receipts from 1989 still existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does this have to do with now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor remembered him.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house wasn't random.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat back.<\/p>\n
For years, I believed this started with property value.<\/p>\n
Then Greg's debt.<\/p>\n
Then Victor's targeting system.<\/p>\n
Now another layer appeared.<\/p>\n
History.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you saying Victor targeted my house because he hated Walter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour property became valuable. Greg became vulnerable. Those were practical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Walter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonal.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt anger rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor could not hurt Walter.<\/p>\n
But he could take what Walter protected.<\/p>\n
His wife.<\/p>\n
His house.<\/p>\n
His granddaughter's future.<\/p>\n
His son.<\/p>\n
Margaret's eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor holds grudges like investments.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the hospital floor.<\/p>\n
Walter had known Victor was dangerous enough to document.<\/p>\n
Yet he never told me.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
To protect me?<\/p>\n
To avoid frightening me?<\/p>\n
Was that so different from what everyone else had done?<\/p>\n
Choosing what I was allowed to know?<\/p>\n
The thought angered me.<\/p>\n
Emily saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandma?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather hid things too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot like Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
But secrecy had consequences even when motivated by love.<\/p>\n
Walter's silence left me unprepared.<\/p>\n
I loved him.<\/p>\n
That remained true.<\/p>\n
Love did not make every decision wise.<\/p>\n
Margaret reached toward me.<\/p>\n
I took her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't punish a dead man too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed through sudden tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hated when I did that while he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before we left, Margaret gave Daniel a formal statement identifying Dennis Vale.<\/p>\n
She also described Victor's structure.<\/p>\n
Companies insulated other companies.<\/p>\n
Employees handled documents.<\/p>\n
Family members provided pressure.<\/p>\n
Care facilities provided placement.<\/p>\n
Lenders created leverage.<\/p>\n
Developers acquired land.<\/p>\n
And at the center, Victor made sure nothing directly required him to touch the vulnerable owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe liked clean hands,\u201d Margaret said.<\/p>\n
Daniel answered quietly, \u201cThey may not be as clean as he thinks.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, we returned home.<\/p>\n
Greg waited on the porch.<\/p>\n
Not inside.<\/p>\n
He had learned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I told him about Dennis.<\/p>\n
The debt credit.<\/p>\n
The false invoice.<\/p>\n
For a moment, hope appeared in Greg's face.<\/p>\n
Then he pushed it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I didn't take that payment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I still did everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
Emily watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate you saying that before I had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm learning slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery slowly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
We went inside.<\/p>\n
I told them about Walter and Victor.<\/p>\n
Greg looked stunned.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad knew him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently he told almost nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily looked toward Walter's chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe that's why Grandpa distrusted Westbridge so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Victor come after us because of Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad tried to stop him years ago, and I helped him get revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't take responsibility for Victor's motives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are responsible for what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor is responsible for what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep the accounts separate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter would have approved that too.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Daniel arrived with news.<\/p>\n
Dennis Vale had been located.<\/p>\n
At an airport.<\/p>\n
Trying to leave the country.<\/p>\n
He had been detained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he talking?\u201d Emily asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChuck?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCooperating through counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning self-preservation is becoming popular.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Silver Pines?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRecords seized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has provided documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Halpern?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder review.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the property sales?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral have been frozen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth's house among them.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Alvarez's too.<\/p>\n
Margaret had independent counsel now.<\/p>\n
Her competency and financial-control orders were being reexamined.<\/p>\n
For the first time, the machinery that trapped people had begun moving in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
Slowly.<\/p>\n
Legally.<\/p>\n
But moving.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel placed a folder on my table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies of documents recovered from the lodge.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
Walter's name appeared.<\/p>\n
Not as a target.<\/p>\n
As a problem.<\/p>\n
An old internal Victor Shaw memo described him as:<\/p>\n
Former employee. Hostile. Retains documentation. Family property strategically valuable. Monitor future succession.<\/p>\n
My breath stopped.<\/p>\n
Dated twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n
Twelve.<\/p>\n
They had watched our family that long.<\/p>\n
Emily whispered, \u201cGrandpa wasn't paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel pointed toward the next page.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
A scan of an old letter.<\/p>\n
From Walter to Victor.<\/p>\n
My husband's handwriting.<\/p>\n
Victor\u2014<\/p>\n
You keep treating people like numbers on paper. Someday one of those people is going to refuse to stay where you put them.<\/p>\n
I touched the page.<\/p>\n
Walter had written it years before my suitcase.<\/p>\n
Years before Silver Pines.<\/p>\n
Years before forty-three target properties.<\/p>\n
He had understood Victor's flaw.<\/p>\n
Victor thought paperwork could define reality.<\/p>\n
Walter believed people eventually broke through the paper.<\/p>\n
The irony made my chest ache.<\/p>\n
Daniel's phone rang.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
We watched his expression change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep him there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended the call.<\/p>\n
Emily stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor Shaw has been found.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg's face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Silver Pines.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walked in fifteen minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says he wants to see his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret isn't there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe apparently didn't know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel reached for his coat.<\/p>\n
Greg asked, \u201cIs he surrendering?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is he doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA petition claiming Margaret is incompetent, delusional, and being manipulated by outsiders.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood immediately.<\/p>\n
Victor was not running.<\/p>\n
He was returning to the method that had protected him for years.<\/p>\n
Paperwork.<\/p>\n
If he could discredit Margaret, he could weaken every accusation she made.<\/p>\n
Perhaps even explain her disappearance as confusion.<\/p>\n
I looked toward Walter's letter.<\/p>\n
Someday one of those people is going to refuse to stay where you put them.<\/p>\n
Victor still believed paper would win.<\/p>\n
This time, however, Margaret was not alone.<\/p>\n
Neither was Ruth.<\/p>\n
Neither was I.<\/p>\n
And Victor was about to discover how many people had finally stopped allowing him to write their reality for them.<\/p>\n
Margaret remained in the hospital under police protection. Victor was no longer answering calls. His attorney claimed he was traveling. Daniel did not believe him. Neither did I. We were … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27007,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26972\/revisions\/27007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}