Again, silence.
“That’s why I waited.”
Beatrice gave a bitter laugh.
“You still have no proof I ordered anything against Arthur.”
Khloe nodded.
“That part is true.”
Beatrice’s shoulders loosened slightly.
Khloe continued.
“But I never needed tonight to prove everything.”
Silas understood before his mother did.
“You needed her reaction.”
“I needed her to confirm she knew him.
I needed her to contradict herself in front of witnesses.
And I needed the restaurant’s cameras recording while she tried to take the evidence from me.”
Beatrice looked toward the ceiling.
For the first time that evening, she appeared to notice the cameras.
Khloe had noticed them on her first day.
Silas stood again.
“Mother, you’re leaving.”
Beatrice stared at him.
“With you.”
“No.”
The single word seemed to wound her more deeply than any accusation.
“You would choose her?”
“This isn’t about choosing Khloe.”
His gaze dropped to Arthur’s recorder.
“It’s about finding out what happened to my father.
And hers.”
Beatrice’s expression became cold again.
“You think truth makes you strong? Truth destroys families.”
Silas looked at her for a long moment.
“No.
People destroy families.
Truth just removes the cover.”
Beatrice left Laura without another word.
No one followed her.
The mahogany door closed behind her.
Only then did the room begin breathing again.
Nathaniel returned and quietly told Silas the security footage had been secured.
Evelyn came around the bar with a towel and stopped beside Khloe.
She did not ask questions.
She simply handed it over.
Khloe looked down at herself.
The wine had dried dark against her blouse.
Her hands were finally shaking.
Silas noticed.
He moved toward her, then stopped before touching her.
For six months, his protection had always arrived as power: a look, a threat, a command.
Tonight he seemed to understand that Khloe did not need to be rescued.
She needed space to stand after finishing something she had begun alone.
“What happens now?” he asked.
Khloe looked at the folder.
“The records get verified.”
“And Arthur?”
Her throat tightened.
“We find out what happened.”
