Chapter 7 - The Fiancée Who Finally Begged|
Vanessa Whitmore had never looked frightened in front of me.
Not when she ordered employees around.
Not when she humiliated Helen.
Not even when Adrian confronted her about cutting my hair.
But when I entered the interview room at the Manhattan police station, she looked terrified.
Her blonde hair was loose.
Her makeup had faded.
The expensive pink dress she'd worn earlier was wrinkled.
She sat beside an attorney with a silver briefcase.
Robert Mercer was being questioned separately.
Adrian stood beside me.
A detective named Laura Hayes occupied the chair across from Vanessa.
The detective had already explained that I could observe part of the interview and ask questions through her.
I had agreed.
I wasn't there to threaten Vanessa.
I wasn't there to humiliate her.
I wanted answers.
Vanessa looked up when I entered.
Her eyes widened.
"You."
I said nothing.
She turned toward Adrian.
"Darling, thank God."
He remained standing.
"Don't call me that."
Her face changed.
"Adrian, please."
He looked at the detective.
"Proceed."
Vanessa's attorney leaned forward.
"My client has already explained that she was traveling for personal reasons."
Detective Hayes opened a folder.
"With a false passport?"
The attorney said nothing.
"Under the name Victoria Marsh?"
Vanessa looked away.
Hayes continued.
"And accompanied by a man who has been legally dead for twenty-two years?"
Vanessa's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
"I didn't know his real name."
I almost laughed.
She looked at me.
"What?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You think this is funny?"
"No."
I looked directly at her.
"I think you're finally discovering what it feels like when nobody believes you."
Her face reddened.
Adrian didn't move.
Detective Hayes slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Robert Mercer entering the private club.
"How long have you known this man?"
Vanessa stared at it.
"Six months."
"Why did you contact him?"
"He contacted me."
"About what?"
She hesitated.
"Business."
"What kind of business?"
"My mother's estate."
Hayes leaned forward.
"Margaret Whitmore?"
Vanessa nodded.
The detective opened another folder.
"Your mother was connected to Blackwater Harbor."
Vanessa's eyes flickered toward me.
I noticed.
So did Adrian.
Hayes continued.
"Did Robert Mercer tell you about Nora Bennett?"
Vanessa looked down.
Her attorney whispered something.
Then she answered.
"Yes."
My stomach tightened.
"When?" Hayes asked.
"About three months ago."
I stared at her.
Three months.
The same period when my father had been photographed beside Mercer.
"What did he tell you?" Hayes asked.
Vanessa swallowed.
"He said Nora's grandmother had stolen something from my mother."
I felt cold.
"What?"
Vanessa looked at me.
"Documents."
"What documents?"
"I don't know."
Hayes leaned forward.
"Did he ask you to search the mansion?"
Vanessa hesitated.
Her attorney placed a hand on her arm.
"Don't answer that."
Adrian's expression hardened.
Detective Hayes remained calm.
"That's your right."
She closed the folder.
"But we have security footage showing you entering the west wing at eleven forty-two last night."
Vanessa went pale.
Hayes continued.
"We also have a witness who saw you carrying a wooden box."
My heart pounded.
"Where is it?"
Vanessa stared at the table.
I leaned forward.
"Where is my grandmother's box?"
She looked up.
For a moment, I saw the old hatred return.
"Your grandmother should have minded her own business."
The room went silent.
Adrian took one step forward.
Detective Hayes raised a hand.
He stopped.
I stared at Vanessa.
"What did you say?"
She swallowed.
"Nothing."
I shook my head.
"No."
My voice was steady.
"Say it again."
Vanessa looked away.
I leaned closer.
"My grandmother raised me after my parents disappeared."
I felt tears burning.
"She worked until her hands ached."
"She taught me to read."
"She taught me to sew."
"She sat beside my bed when I was sick."
I swallowed.
"And you cut off the braid I grew because I loved her."
Vanessa's eyes filled.
I continued.
"Now you're sitting here talking about her as though she deserved what happened."
My voice broke.
"What did she do to you?"
Vanessa stared at me.
Then something changed.
Her face crumpled.
"She ruined my family."
I blinked.
"What?"
"My mother lost everything because of Eleanor Bennett."
Adrian frowned.
"Margaret was wealthy until the day she died."
Vanessa shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it," Hayes said.
Vanessa looked toward her attorney.
He remained silent.
Finally, she whispered, "My mother spent the last years of her life terrified."
I stared.
"Of whom?"
"Robert Mercer."
Helen, who had been waiting outside, was brought in at the detective's request.
Vanessa looked at her.
Recognition flashed across her face.
"You."
Helen stood very still.
"Hello, Vanessa."
Vanessa's mouth opened.
"You're Robert's wife."
"Former wife."
Vanessa looked between us.
"You've been working in Adrian's house all this time?"
Helen nodded.
Vanessa began laughing.
It was a strange, frightened sound.
"Of course."
She looked at me.
"Of course you were there."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
"Robert told me your grandmother had hidden evidence somewhere in Adrian's estate."
My heart hammered.
"He said the maid knew where it was."
I stared at her.
"He told you that?"
She nodded.
"He said you were pretending to be innocent."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"And you believed him?"
Vanessa looked at him.
"He had photographs."
"What photographs?"
"Of Nora with Eleanor."
I felt sick.
Vanessa continued.
"He said Eleanor had trained Nora to destroy our families."
I shook my head.
"I was a child."
"I know that now!"
Her voice cracked.
"I didn't know what to believe."
I stared at her.
"You knew enough to hurt me."
She looked down.
For the first time, she had no answer.
Detective Hayes returned to the question.
"Where is the box?"
Vanessa swallowed.
"Robert has it."
"Did you open it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He told me not to."
Hayes made a note.
"Did he instruct you to cut Nora's hair?"
Vanessa hesitated.
My heart stopped.
Adrian looked at her.
"Answer."
She began crying.
"Yes."
The word was barely audible.
I felt as though someone had struck me.
Hayes leaned forward.
"Why?"
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"He said Eleanor had hidden a key in Nora's braid."
I stared.
"What?"
"He told me the braid contained something important."
I looked down at my hands.
My braid had been ordinary hair.
Nothing more.
But Vanessa had believed it concealed a secret.
"Did you find anything?" Hayes asked.
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Then what did you do?"
"I threw the hair away."
My throat tightened.
Helen stepped closer to me.
I didn't move away this time.
Vanessa looked at me.
"I didn't know it meant so much to you."
I stared at her.
"Yes, you did."
She closed her eyes.
I continued.
"I told you about my grandmother."
My voice was quiet.
"You laughed when I explained why I kept my hair long."
Vanessa began crying harder.
"I was jealous."
Adrian looked at her.
"Of what?"
She turned toward him.
"Of her!"
The room went silent.
Vanessa's voice rose.
"You remembered her birthday."
"You asked whether she'd eaten."
"You thanked her."
"You looked at her like she mattered."
Adrian stared.
"She does matter."
Vanessa flinched.
He continued.
"Every employee in my home matters."
She shook her head.
"You never looked at me that way."
Adrian's expression softened for one brief moment.
Then it hardened again.
"Because respect isn't something you can demand by humiliating another person."
Vanessa covered her face.
I felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
Detective Hayes asked another question.
"Did Robert Mercer tell you to leave the threatening message in the sewing room?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Then who wrote it?"
"I don't know."
Hayes studied her.
Vanessa looked genuinely frightened.
"Robert told me to take the box and leave."
She swallowed.
"He said someone else would handle the rest."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Someone else?"
Vanessa nodded.
"He called him the Chairman."
The room went still.
Helen looked at Adrian.
He looked at her.
I frowned.
"Who's the Chairman?"
Nobody answered.
Detective Hayes leaned forward.
"Did Mercer give you a name?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
"Did you ever meet this person?"
"Once."
My heart pounded.
"Where?"
Vanessa looked at Adrian.
"At your engagement party."
He stared.
"What?"
She nodded.
"He was there."
"Who?"
Vanessa's lips trembled.
"He was one of your guests."
Adrian's expression became unreadable.
Detective Hayes opened a guest list.
"Can you identify him?"
Vanessa stared at the names.
Then she pointed.
I leaned forward.
The name she selected made Adrian go completely still.
Thomas Cole.
His younger brother.
The man who managed the family's shipping empire.
The man who had personally approved my employment contract five years earlier.
Adrian stared at the page.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then he turned toward Marcus.
"Find my brother."
Marcus reached for his phone.
Before he could dial, it rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"Sir."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Thomas Cole has left the country."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"When?"
"Two hours ago."
"Where is he going?"
Marcus looked at me.
Then at Helen.
"His flight plan says Switzerland."
Adrian stared at the wall.
Vanessa began sobbing.
I looked at the photograph of my father.
Then at the woman who had destroyed my braid.
Suddenly, I understood.
Vanessa had been cruel.
But she hadn't been the person controlling everything.
May you like
She had been useful to someone far more dangerous.
And that person was Adrian's own brother.
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