Chapter 2 - A Room Full of Witnesses
“End the game,” Julian ordered. “Now.”
Theo kept his hands in his lap. “I’m waiting for Mr. Whitlock.”
“I said end it.” Julian reached for the chessboard, but Victor caught
his wrist with surprising strength.
“Touch one piece,” Victor said, “and you will leave this room before the
guests do.”
Mara leaned toward her son. “Theo, sweetheart, we came to deliver the
letter. We don’t have to stay.”
“Yes, we do,” Theo whispered. “Dad said he’d finally answer.”
Victor set the notation beside the board. “Your father and I played a
private match in this exact position. Twenty years ago.”
“Grandfather,” Julian warned.
“Thirty-seven moves,” Victor continued, ignoring him. “He offered a
draw. I refused. Then he showed me a line I had never seen before.”
“What happened?” Theo asked.
“I told him it was impossible.” Victor swallowed. “The next morning, a
report appeared claiming he had stolen our engine’s source code. The
press called him a fraud. The foundation dismissed him. I said nothing.”
Mara’s eyes flashed. “You let my husband lose his career while you stood
on a stage and called him a thief.”
“I did.”
The answer was so quiet that it landed harder than a shout.
Julian stepped between them. “This is absurd. Elias signed a settlement.
He admitted wrongdoing.”
“He signed after your lawyers threatened to take our house,” Mara said.
“He never admitted anything.”
“Prove it.”
She pulled a sealed envelope from her purse. The paper was yellow at the
edges, and the flap had been opened and resealed years earlier. Elias
had written Victor’s name on the front, but the letter had never reached
him.
Victor stared at it. “Why didn’t you send this?”
“Because the man who delivered it to my door told me that if I did, my
husband would be charged with a crime he didn’t commit.”
Julian’s expression hardened. “You should be careful what you accuse
people of.”
Theo moved a black knight one square forward.
“Your turn,” he told Victor.
Every eye returned to the board. Victor studied the position, then made
a move so small that most of the guests missed its meaning. Theo saw it
immediately. His father had taught him what came next.
The boy’s face changed.
“You remember,” Theo said.
Victor nodded once.
“I remember everything.”
Then he looked at the livestream camera and asked the question Julian
May you like
feared most.
“Is the original Whitlock engine still in the company vault?”
