“No.”
“Then stop acting like you caused her choices.”
Victor looked at me.
“I married her.”
“And she made her own decisions.”
He sighed.
“You sound exactly like Natalie.”
“Good. Natalie charges four hundred dollars an hour.”
Victor laughed.
It was the first real laugh I had heard from him since I found him.
A month later, prosecutors filed charges related to financial exploitation, forged documents, misuse of medication, interference with Victor’s care, and conspiracy.
The most serious questions about intent were complicated.
Prosecutors explained that suspicious behavior was easier to prove than someone’s private intention.
Victor simply nodded.
“Let them prove what the records prove,” he said. “I’m still here.”
And there were plenty of records.
Bank transfers.
Hotel receipts.
Recovered messages.
Access logs.
Security footage.
A neighbor’s doorbell camera.
And eventually, one audio recording that changed everything.
Mom had made the recording herself.
Investigators found it on the flash drive.
Victor was still recovering from anesthesia when it was recorded.
His speech was slow.
Mom repeatedly asked whether he wanted her to take over the company arrangements if he became unable to manage them himself.
Victor answered:
“Natalie handles that.”
Mom asked again.
He said no.
Then Grant’s voice could be heard.
“We can try again tomorrow.”
Whatever explanation they might have offered before became much harder to defend.
Grant eventually agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
According to his statement, Mom had found an old tax document and realized Victor’s shares might be worth more than $3 million.
