Chapter 88 Collin's Monologue
COLLIN'S POV
I looked at Caitlyn sitting on the bed and felt nothing. No love. No affection. Not even anger anymore. Just cold calculation. She was a problem that needed to be solved. Nothing more.
"Do you want to know why I married you?" I asked.
"I do not care," Caitlyn said. She would not look at me. Just stared at the floor.
"I married you for your father," I said. "Robert was a powerful man. Respected. Connected. He had relationships with people I needed access to. Politicians. Judges. Business leaders. Marrying his daughter gave me legitimacy."
"So it was all business," Caitlyn said. "I was just a business transaction."
"Exactly," I said. "I did not love you. I never loved you. I needed you. There is a difference."
"Then why keep up the pretense?" Caitlyn asked. "Why pretend to care at all?"
"Because your father needed to believe it was real," I said. "He never would have agreed to the marriage otherwise. He was protective of you. Wanted you to be happy. So I played the part of the loving fiancé. The devoted husband. It was easy."
"And after my father died?" Caitlyn asked. "Why keep me around after that?"
"Because killing you immediately would have raised too many questions," I said. "People knew we were married. Knew we lived together. If you had died right after your father there would have been an investigation. I could not risk that."
"So you kept me alive," Caitlyn said.
"I kept you controlled," I corrected. "I made sure you could not leave. Could not tell anyone what you knew. Could not be a threat to me."
"The cameras," Caitlyn said. "The rules. The beatings. That was all to control me."
"Of course," I said. "I needed you compliant. Afraid. Too scared to even think about betraying me."
"But I did betray you," Caitlyn said. She looked up at me finally. "I found a way. I got out."
"You got lucky," I said. "Cross helped you. Without him, you never would have escaped."
"Maybe," Caitlyn said. "But I still did it. I still got away from you."
"For a few months," I said. "And now you are back. So what did you really accomplish?"
Caitlyn did not answer that. She just looked away again. I could see tears on her face but I did not care.
"Do you want to know about your father?" I asked. "How did he really die?"
"You killed him," Caitlyn said. "I already know that."
"I did more than kill him," I said. "I destroyed him first. Financially. Professionally. Personally. By the time I was done, he had nothing left. No money. No reputation. No hope."
"Why?" Caitlyn asked. "He trusted you. He brought you into the business. Why would you do that to him?"
"Because I needed his company," I said. "And he would not sell it to me. He wanted to keep it in the family. Pass it down to you. I could not let that happen."
"So you destroyed him," Caitlyn said.
"I dismantled everything he built," I said. "Piece by piece. I stole his clients. Ruined his deals. Spread rumors about his competence. Within six months the company was worthless."
"And then you killed him," Caitlyn said.
"And then I made it look like he killed himself," I corrected. "The heart attack story was for the public. The police knew it was suicide. Pills and alcohol. Very sad. Very tragic."
"He would never kill himself," Caitlyn said.
"He did when he had nothing left to live for," I said. "When he realized he had lost everything. When he knew he had failed you. That is when he took the pills."
"You drove him to it," Caitlyn said. Her voice was shaking. "You destroyed him and then you drove him to suicide."
"I gave him a choice," I said. "He chose death. That was his decision. Not mine."
"You are a monster," Caitlyn said.
"I am a businessman," I said. "I do what needs to be done to succeed. Your father was in my way. So I removed him."
"And me?" Caitlyn asked. "Was I in your way too?"
"You were useful," I said. "For a while. Having you as my wife gave me access to your father's legacy. His connections. His reputation. People trusted me because I was married to Robert's daughter."
"But that usefulness ran out," Caitlyn said.
"It did," I agreed. "Once I had everything I needed from your father's network you became a liability. Someone who knew too much. Someone who could hurt me."
"So you planned to kill me," Caitlyn said.
"Eventually," I said. "But then you got pregnant and that complicated things. A dead pregnant wife raises questions. So I decided to wait until after the baby was born."
"You were going to let me have the baby and then kill me," Caitlyn said.
"That was the plan," I confirmed. "Make it look like complications from childbirth. Very tragic. Very believable."
"But I escaped before you could do that," Caitlyn said.
"You did," I said. "And that forced me to change my plans. To hunt you down. To bring you back here."
"Why?" Caitlyn asked. "Why not just let me go? I was not a threat to you anymore."
"But you were," I said. "You gave a statement to the police. You agreed to testify. You became the biggest threat I had ever faced."
"So you came after me," Caitlyn said.
"I had to," I said. "I could not let you destroy everything I had built. Could not let you take away my freedom. My power. My life."
"Your life," Caitlyn repeated. "What about my life? What about my father's life? What about all the people you have hurt and killed?"
"They do not matter," I said simply. "Only my life matters. Only my success. Everyone else is just a means to an end."
"You are sick," Caitlyn said. "You are truly sick."
"I am realistic," I corrected. "I understand how the world really works. The strong survive. The weak are consumed. I chose to be strong."
"You chose to be evil," Caitlyn said.
"Evil is just a word people use when they do not understand power," I said. "I am not evil. I am effective."
"You killed my father," Caitlyn said. Her voice was rising. "You beat me. You controlled me. You destroyed my life. That is not effective. That is evil."
"Believe what you want," I said. "It does not change anything. You are here. I won. That is all that matters."
"You have not won yet," Caitlyn said. "Rourke is still building his case. Other people are testifying. You will still go to prison."
"Not without you," I said. "You are the star witness. The prosecutors need you. Without your testimony, the case is much weaker. Easier to fight."
"Viktor is testifying too," Caitlyn said. "And other people. You cannot stop all of them."
"I do not need to stop all of them," I said. "I just need to stop you. And I am about to do exactly that."
"By killing me," Caitlyn said.
"By eliminating the threat," I said. "By making sure you never make it to trial. By protecting everything I have worked for."
"It will not work," Caitlyn said. "They will know it was you. They will charge you with my murder."
"They will suspect," I agreed. "But they will not be able to prove it. I have been very careful. Covered my tracks. Made sure there is no evidence linking me to what happens to you."
"What is going to happen to me?" Caitlyn asked. Her voice was quieter now
. Scared.
"You will find out soon enough," I said. "But first I want to tell you one more thing. One final truth before you die."