Chapter 7 - VANESSA’S MISSING NINE YEARS
Vanessa remained at the vineyard until midnight.
The wedding guests were released in groups after giving statements. The flowers wilted. The candles burned down. The wedding cake stood untouched beneath the chandelier.
James Harrow left without saying goodbye.
Vanessa found him near the parking area with his father.
“You’re leaving?”
James avoided her eyes.
“My family’s legal team advised us to separate ourselves from the investigation.”
“We were married six hours ago.”
“The certificate has not been filed.”
She stared at him.
“You said we were building a life.”
“I didn’t know your family was involved in federal crimes.”
“My family is accused. That is not the same as guilty.”
His father opened the car door.
“James.”
Vanessa grabbed her husband’s sleeve.
“Please.”
James finally looked at her.
“What happened at North River?”
Vanessa released him.
“I don’t remember.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I was seventeen.”
“What procedure did they perform?”
“I said I don’t remember.”
James stepped into the car.
“We should not speak until my attorney contacts yours.”
The car drove away.
Vanessa remained on the gravel road in her wedding gown while workers dismantled the security barriers around her.
A federal agent approached.
“Ms. Bennett, Agent Voss wants to speak with you at the hospital.”
“My mother said I should not answer questions.”
“Your mother is currently being interviewed regarding unlawful confinement.”
Vanessa looked back toward the reception hall.
Victoria sat inside with Charles and two attorneys.
For once, her mother appeared unable to control the room.
“I’ll go,” Vanessa said.
At the hospital, Mara questioned her in a private conference room.
Vanessa had changed into gray sweatpants and a borrowed sweater. Without the wedding gown and makeup, she looked younger.
Claire watched from a wheelchair near the window.
She had insisted on attending.
Evan sat on the opposite side of the table under guard.
Mara placed the photograph of Victoria, Richard, Hart, and the newborn in front of Vanessa.
“Who is the baby?”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
“I don’t know.”
“You were treated at North River Clinic on the date written on the back.”
Vanessa looked at Claire.
“I didn’t choose any of it.”
“Choose what?” Claire asked.
Vanessa began twisting her wedding ring.
“There was a boy at school. Daniel Price.”
Evan frowned.
“You never told me about him.”
“Mother made sure no one knew.”
Mara said, “Continue.”
“I became pregnant when I was seventeen.”
Claire looked at the photograph again.
“You gave birth?”
“I don’t remember the birth.”
“How can you not remember?”
“They gave me medication. I woke up days later at home. Mother said the baby had died.”
“Did you see the body?”
“No.”
“Did you receive a death certificate?”
“I was seventeen. I believed her.”
Evan stood abruptly.
The escorting agent ordered him to sit.
“Our parents told us you had been hospitalized after a skiing accident.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“There was no skiing accident.”
Mara placed the old medical registration on the table.
“The record lists a deceased female infant.”
Vanessa touched the paper.
“I wanted to name her Rose.”
Claire’s anger shifted.
For the first time, she saw Vanessa not as the spoiled bride from the reception but as a frightened teenager trapped inside the same family system.
“Why would your mother hide the birth?” Claire asked.
“Because Daniel’s family was poor. Because I had scholarships. Because our family was negotiating a business merger.”
“Where is Daniel now?”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“Dead.”
Mara leaned forward.
“How?”
“A car accident two weeks after the baby was born.”
“Did you see him before he died?”
“No. Mother said he left me.”
Claire remembered the ledger.
“His name was not listed as the father.”
“Mother never allowed him near the clinic.”
Mara tapped the photograph.
“After the delivery, what happened?”
“I started asking questions. I remember hearing a baby crying in another room. I tried to get out of bed, but Dr. Hart injected something into my arm.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I woke up at home. Richard was there. He had documents for me to sign.”
“What documents?”
“I don’t know. Adoption papers, maybe. Medical waivers. Mother told me the baby died and that signing would help with the burial.”
“Did you read them?”
“I could barely hold a pen.”
Mara wrote carefully.
“Why would Richard tell Evan that Lily had been promised to you?”
Vanessa looked genuinely shocked.
“He told him that?”
Evan spoke.
“He said our family had spent years repairing what happened to you. He said Claire’s pregnancy created an opportunity.”
Claire felt sick.
“What opportunity?”
Evan lowered his head.
“He said you could finally receive what was taken from you.”
Vanessa pushed back from the table.
“No.”
“Did Victoria ever discuss raising Claire’s child?” Mara asked.
“No.”
“Did she pressure you about children?”
“All the time. James and I discovered last year that I cannot carry a pregnancy.”
Claire stared at her.
“Why not?”
Vanessa looked at the medical registration.
“Complications from the birth.”
The room became silent.
Claire remembered Victoria insisting that she and Evan conceive quickly after the wedding.
She remembered the fertility supplements Victoria purchased without being asked.
She remembered Dr. Hart changing her prenatal doctor.
She remembered the amniocentesis.
“Did they create my pregnancy?” Claire whispered.
Evan looked up sharply.
“What?”
Mara answered carefully.
“That is one possibility we are investigating.”
Claire’s breath came faster.
“No. Lily was conceived naturally.”
“Were you undergoing fertility treatment?”
“Victoria said I needed hormone therapy because my cycles were irregular.”
“Who prescribed it?”
“Dr. Hart.”
Mara and Vanessa exchanged a look.
Claire saw it.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Vanessa removed her wedding ring.
“When I arrived at the hospital tonight, Mother called me from the vineyard.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me not to worry about my marriage.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Vanessa continued.
“She said once the confusion was resolved, I would have everything I had been promised.”
“And what did you say?”
“I asked what she meant.”
May you like
Vanessa looked through the conference room window toward the secured neonatal corridor.
“She said, ‘Your daughter has finally come back to you.’”
