“I was involved in the redevelopment proposal. I did not know about the stolen commissions at first. When Edward confronted me, I backed out. Patricia threatened to expose our relationship, and I stayed quiet. I have regretted it for four years.”
I looked at him.
“Regret is convenient when someone else brings proof.”
He bowed his head.
“You’re right.”
Courtney was crying now for real.
Not loudly.
Not beautifully.
Just silently, with mascara tracking down her face.
“Mom,” she said, “what did you do?”
Patricia’s face had gone calm again.
Too calm.
She looked around the room at the people watching her empire collapse.
Then she smiled.
“You all want a villain,” she said. “Fine. Make me one. But don’t pretend any of you are clean. Every person in this room has benefited from reputation, silence, and selective memory.”
No one spoke.
She turned to me.
“You think you’re different because you bought the building? You’re standing in a room built by people like me. The only difference is I was honest enough to understand the rules.”
“No,” I said. “You confused rules with rot.”
Her smile flickered.
I closed my father’s statement and placed it back in the box.
Then I looked at the officers.