Chapter 6 - Vanessa’s Version
Vanessa returned after midnight.
She was no longer wearing the black robe.
She had changed into the dark green dress underneath it and tied her blonde hair back.
She stood in the doorway for several seconds.
Amelia was awake.
“Come in.”
Vanessa closed the door.
“I’m not here to fight.”
“That would be a change.”
Vanessa flinched.
“I shouldn’t have hit you.”
“No.”
“I was angry.”
“You slapped a woman recovering from childbirth.”
“I know.”
“You were holding her baby.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
Amelia said nothing.
Vanessa sat.
For the first time, she looked less like Grant’s mistress and more like a woman realizing she had entered a room without knowing the exits.
“Grant told me you hated being a mother.”
Amelia stared at her.
“He said the pregnancy was an accident.”
“We tried for two years.”
Vanessa looked sick.
“He said you didn’t want Owen.”
“I chose his name before the anatomy scan.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with shame.
Amelia felt no sympathy yet.
But she saw opportunity.
“What else?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He said you had another man.”
Amelia laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“He showed me messages.”
“Fake.”
“He showed me divorce papers.”
“Fake.”
“He said you were selling the company and moving to Europe.”
“Fake.”
“He said you agreed to give him the house.”
“Fake.”
Vanessa pressed her hands together.
“I gave him money.”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“How did you know?”
“You said it earlier.”
Vanessa nodded faintly.
“He told me the lender would release his frozen investment account if he could cover a temporary margin requirement.”
“He owes nearly six million.”
Vanessa stared.
“What?”
Amelia watched her carefully.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“He used your money.”
“For what?”
“Probably to delay default.”
Vanessa stood and began pacing.
“He told me we were buying a house together.”
“Which house?”
Vanessa stopped.
Amelia already knew.
“My house?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“That’s why you were so comfortable here.”
“I thought it was already settled.”
Amelia’s anger returned.
“You thought my marriage was ending, so you came into my hospital room and held my newborn.”
Vanessa’s eyes hardened defensively.
“He said you abandoned him emotionally.”
“And that justified it?”
“No.”
“Then don’t try to make yourself the victim.”
Vanessa looked away.
Amelia continued.
“You made choices.”
“I know.”
“You knew he was married.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with him while I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You walked into my room believing I was too weak to stop you.”
Vanessa’s face crumpled slightly.
“Yes.”
The honesty disarmed Amelia more than excuses would have.
She studied Vanessa.
“Why are you here?”
Vanessa opened her purse.
She removed an envelope.
“I found this in Grant’s car.”
Amelia’s pulse quickened.
Vanessa placed it on the bed.
Inside was a photocopy of a driver’s license.
Daniel Caldwell.
Amelia stopped moving.
The photograph was wrong.
The man looked enough like Daniel to be related.
Dark hair.
Similar jaw.
Same deep-set eyes.
But it was not him.
The birth date matched Daniel’s.
The address belonged to a town in Vermont.
The license had been issued two years ago.
Amelia looked at Vanessa.
“Where did he get this?”
“I don’t know.”
“What else was in the envelope?”
“A bank deposit slip.”
Vanessa handed it over.
Twenty thousand dollars.
Recipient:
D. Caldwell Consulting.
Amelia’s heart pounded.
“Date?”
“Three months ago.”
The same period Rebecca mentioned.
Vanessa whispered, “Who is Daniel?”
“My brother.”
“Where is he?”
Amelia looked at the false driver’s license.
“Dead.”
Vanessa sat slowly.
“Oh my God.”
Amelia picked up the prepaid phone.
She called Rebecca.
No answer.
Plane.
She tried again anyway.
Vanessa watched.
“What are you going to do?”
Amelia looked at her.
“What are you going to do?”
Vanessa frowned.
“What?”
“Grant lied to both of us.”
“That doesn’t make us allies.”
“No.”
Amelia folded the photocopy carefully.
“But he expects us to hate each other more than we hate being used.”
Vanessa said nothing.
Amelia continued.
“That is why his plan worked.”
Vanessa looked toward the nursery hallway.
“What do you want from me?”
“Everything.”
“What?”
“Every message. Every email. Every transfer. Every document he showed you.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“You want me to destroy him.”
Amelia stared at her.
“No.”
May you like
She looked down at the false identity bearing her dead brother’s name.
“I want to know what he built.”
