Chapter 9 - Vanessa's Confession
Vanessa asked to meet me.
Against Elena's preference, I agreed—with lawyers present.
She looked different without expensive makeup and designer clothes.
Tired.
Pregnant.
Human.
“I hated you,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel said you were controlling.”
I almost laughed.
“He said you didn't love him. That your marriage existed because of the company.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
At least that was honest.
She told me Daniel had promised marriage long before Lily's birth.
When Vanessa discovered she was pregnant, she wasn't sure who the father was.
She had been involved with Evan around the same period.
The prenatal test confirmed Daniel wasn't the father.
“Why didn't you tell him?”
She looked down.
“Because he had just told me he'd leave you if I gave him a son.”
“So you lied.”
“Yes.”
“And the ultrasound?”
“I told him the doctor said boy.”
“Did the doctor?”
“No.”
The cruelty suddenly became even more absurd.
Daniel had discarded his newborn daughter for a son who had never existed.
“What did Margaret know?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“That the paternity was uncertain.”
Not the result.
But uncertainty.
Margaret had still walked into my hospital room and helped destroy my marriage.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Because Daniel told me if investigators came, he'd say I stole everything.”
There it was.
Not remorse alone.
Survival.
Still, truth was truth.
Vanessa handed Elena a drive.
Emails.
Messages.
Records.
May you like
Then she said something none of us expected.
“There's another account.”
