Page 97 of Ugly Truths
William looks between us, the faintest flicker of impatience in his expression, but mostly, he seems entirely unbothered. He picks up his fork, as if he’s about to resume eating.
I can’t hold back anymore.
“How was Martin involved in all of this?” My words are low and sharp.
Our father pauses, brows knitting. “Martin?” he echoes, feigning surprise. “Why does that matter?”
“Did you really think that if we'd found these files, we also wouldn’t have seen he was helping you?”
William sighs, setting his fork down again with exaggerated care. “Martin handled logistics, and things I couldn’t be bothered with.”
Natalie inhales sharply. The weight of her stare on my profile could crumble buildings.
“And when he left,” I ask, running a hand over my chin. “You, what? Pinky promised to keep it a secret and hired someone else to do it?”
He rolls his eyes. “I didn’t need to convince him of anything. He was just as complicit as I was, so we called it a draw. Although, all that involving him did was make it difficult to get rid of him when he started to overstep his bounds.”
Overstep his bounds.
My spine goes rigid at his choice of words. “Overstep how?”
William scoffs at the memory. “He started to think he could get away with anything. He becamearrogant. Sloppy.”
“In what way?” I press, my voice sharp enough to cut through his practiced indifference.
He waves his hand dismissively as he reaches for his iced tea. His gaze flicks to Natalie for the briefest of moments over the top of his glass, and I see it. The slight shift in his expression.
I want to look at Natalie to see if she caught it too, but I can’t. My pulse quickening. “Overstep how?” I repeat.
He knows exactly what I’m asking, and for the first time, there’s something uneasy in the way he adjusts his posture. “He took liberties where he shouldn’t have.”
My stomach plummets. Natalie doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe. My fingers curl into fists against the table, the rage simmering just beneath my skin. “Liberties,” I echo, my voice cold, flat. “Like the ones he took with your daughter?”
William doesn’t break eye contact with me, though there’s a slight flutter in his jaw muscle. “What he did was abhorrent,” he counters like a practiced politician. “And in the end, it gave me the excuse I needed to cut ties. It worked out for everyone involved.”
The room tilts.
He knew about my altercation with Martin when I caught him cornering Natalie in the hallway at that goddamn summer party. I thought I’d kept the scene contained, smoothed over by the party's chaos and the fact that Martin limped off without saying a word. I should’ve known better. Of course, William knew. He always knows.
And he did nothing.
He let it slide because it worked in his favor. Martin was a useful pawn, and Natalie’s safety was just another thing he was willing to gamble with to keephis empire intact.
Natalie’s chair scrapes loudly against the floor as she stands. She doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even look at William. Instead, she turns to me, her expression carefully blank except for the fury burning in her eyes.
She gives me a single, sharp nod. Then, with a grace that feels almost haunting, she walks toward the door. William watches her go, nothing more than a look of annoyance on the edges of his features.
And that’s all it takes. The last thread snaps.
Whatever part of me still hoped there was some humanity left in him, some shred of decency, disintegrates into nothing.
William looks at me, raising an eyebrow as if he expects me to follow Natalie’s lead as the door closes and automatically locks behind her.
Slowly, I reach into the inner pocket of my suit jacket until I touch the orange bottle, the hard surface cool against my skin. I pull it free and place it on the table between us. The sharp sound of plastic meeting polished wood cuts through the oppressive quiet like a gunshot.
William’s eyes flick down to the bottle. For a split second, there’s uncertainty there, but it’s gone as quickly as it came.
Elena’s warnings echo, but she can’t understand. Looking at William now, I know: this moment is mine.
