Chapter 6 - Vanessa’s Warning
Two days before the event, Vanessa came to Emma’s studio.
She arrived shortly after closing time, wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy evening.
Emma’s assistant had already left.
Vanessa placed her handbag on a chair but remained standing.
“You should cancel whatever you’re planning.”
Emma continued organizing invitation cards.
“What makes you think I’m planning something?”
“Lucas says you’ve been acting strangely.”
“Lucas believes any woman who stops obeying him is acting strangely.”
Vanessa removed her sunglasses.
She looked tired.
Not guilty.
Tired.
“You found something in the car, didn’t you?”
Emma met her eyes.
“Are you here to ask for it back?”
Vanessa looked away.
“It wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“That is rarely the problem with an affair.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Vanessa walked toward the window.
She seemed younger without her carefully controlled office expression.
“Lucas told me your marriage had been over for years.”
“And you believed him?”
“He said you only stayed together for appearances.”
“He told me he was working late.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you not to destroy my career.”
Emma felt anger rise.
“You helped steal my work.”
Vanessa turned around quickly.
“I didn’t know the proposal belonged to you at first.”
“But you knew later.”
“Yes.”
“And you still helped him enter my office.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Emma understood immediately.
“You know about the camera,” Vanessa said.
“I know what happened in my own office.”
“Lucas said the security system was inactive.”
“Lucas says many things.”
Vanessa sat down.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
“He promised me a director position after the promotion.”
“So you traded my company for a title.”
“I spent seven years doing executive work while men took credit for it.”
“And that made it acceptable to help another man take credit from me?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Emma gathered the invitation cards into a neat stack.
“You should leave.”
“Lucas is dangerous when he feels cornered.”
“He has never hit me.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“He has been moving money. He created a separate consulting account using a subsidiary name. Some of the Northstar payments were supposed to go there.”
Emma stopped.
“Do you have proof?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because once he gets the promotion, he won’t need either of us.”
The statement revealed more than Vanessa intended.
Lucas had promised Vanessa a future.
Now she suspected he was planning to betray her too.
Emma did not feel sympathy, but she recognized an opportunity.
“Send everything to Rachel Kim.”
Vanessa stood.
“If I help you, my name stays out of the banquet.”
“No.”
Vanessa stared at her.
“No?”
“You do not get to negotiate immunity before I see the evidence.”
“I could go back to Lucas.”
“You could. Then you would be tied to corporate theft, expense fraud, and whatever is inside that hidden account.”
Vanessa’s breathing became shallow.
Emma stepped closer.
“You helped him because you believed I was weak. Do not make the same mistake twice.”
Vanessa picked up her handbag.
At the door, she paused.
“He never loved me.”
Emma answered without cruelty.
“No. He loved having two women helping him become someone neither of us needed.”
Vanessa left.
At midnight, Rachel received the files.
They included account statements, private emails, altered invoices, and messages in which Lucas instructed Vanessa to disguise hotel expenses as client meetings.
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The final document was a draft termination list.
Vanessa’s name was first.
