Chapter 16 - Victor’s counterattack
Victor did not disappear.
He retained excellent counsel.
Then he attacked the weak points.
Genevieve had suffered documented autoimmune abnormalities.
True.
She pursued numerous alternative explanations late in illness.
True.
Elena accepted $25,000.
True.
Elena removed copies of documents from Mercer-controlled property.
Disputed.
I had been estranged professionally from Victor during governance reforms.
True.
The first environmental test was preliminary.
True.
The second report did not say residents faced immediate fatal danger.
True.
Victor’s position:
He acted reasonably based on information available at the time.
He stopped invasive testing temporarily because the property contained historically sensitive structural areas and because Genevieve was medically unstable.
He commissioned follow-up.
Lawyers summarized findings.
He relied on them.
He did not know the twins would become sick.
He did not cause the decades-old contamination.
He did not order anyone exposed.
Parts of that defense were strong.
That infuriated me.
Then investigators found an email from the environmental consultant to Victor six weeks after the second report:
Given the detected vapor conditions, continued residential occupancy of the west wing is not advisable until source characterization and mitigation are completed.
Victor forwarded it to in-house counsel.
Message:
Do not circulate to Lawson until we understand Falcon implications. He will evacuate the house and blow up the transaction.
There.
Not murder.
Not deliberate poisoning.
Knowledge of a safety recommendation.
Decision to withhold it.
The same week, I had emailed him:
Genevieve is asking again whether we should move the kids. Anything new?
Victor replied:
Nothing that changes prior recommendation. Keep routine stable.
I had followed that advice.
Genevieve had not trusted it.
May you like
Elena had.
That was the core.
