Chapter 13 - FORTY-EIGHT HOURS
The custody review was forty-eight hours away when Cassie disappeared.
Not physically.
Legally.
She stopped answering subpoenas.
Her apartment was empty.
Her phone disconnected.
Naomi panicked.
Lydia did not.
“People run when they’re scared.”
“Vanessa scared her.”
“Probably.”
“Can we find her?”
“Not by stalking her.”
Naomi glared.
Lydia lifted an eyebrow.
“I know that look.”
“What look?”
“The look where you decide laws are inconvenient.”
Naomi sat back.
“So we do nothing?”
“No.”
Lydia handed her a document.
“We subpoena VBL’s bank records.”
Naomi read.
Eight thousand to Cassie.
Three thousand to a private investigator.
Five payments to a digital media consultant.
A payment to Tri-Ridge Storage.
And one name Naomi recognized.
Camille Ross.
The wedding planner.
Thirty thousand dollars.
Two days after the wedding.
Naomi stared.
“What was this for?”
“Camille claims final event fees.”
“Thirty thousand after she already received full payment?”
“Exactly.”
“Silence money.”
“Maybe.”
Naomi looked at the rest.
Another payment.
$12,500.
Aiden Clarke.
Eli’s former videography assistant.
The man who had opened the service-room door.
Naomi felt sick.
Vanessa had paid people around the wedding.
Not after Naomi slapped her.
Before.
The dates proved it.
That evening Graham came to Naomi’s apartment.
He looked terrible.
“I told Vanessa I want a divorce.”
Naomi said nothing.
“I thought you should know.”
“Why?”
“Because this affects Maisie.”
“Yes.”
He sat.
“She laughed.”
Naomi frowned.
“What?”
“She said I couldn’t afford to divorce her.”
Graham was worth millions.
“That makes no sense.”
“I said that.”
“And?”
“She showed me a folder.”
Naomi waited.
“Documents from Mercer Development.”
“What kind?”
“My father approved off-book settlements years ago.”
Naomi’s stomach tightened.
“For what?”
“Construction defects. Injuries. One death.”
Naomi stared.
“Your father covered up a death?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I’m trying to find out.”
Graham leaned forward.
“Vanessa said if I leave her, everything goes public.”
Naomi looked away.
Now it made sense.
Vanessa wanted access.
Status.
Protection.
The ballroom humiliation had threatened her place in the family, but she had additional reasons to stay.
She had acquired leverage.
Graham whispered,
“I think Unit 214 contains copies.”
“Then let it.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“If your father did something criminal, protecting him isn’t our job.”
“You don’t understand what it could do.”
“To the company?”
“To thousands of employees.”
Naomi stared at him.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The reason Vanessa keeps winning.”
His face hardened.
“She gives everyone something they’re afraid to lose.”
Naomi stood.
“Cassie feared her career.”
“You fear your family company.”
“Naomi—”
“You feared losing Maisie, so you filed first.”
Graham looked down.
“And I feared losing my daughter so much that I nearly let Vanessa provoke me into becoming exactly what she wanted.”
She stepped closer.
“Fear is her currency.”
Graham looked at her.
“So what do we do?”
“We stop paying.”
Vanessa arrived twenty minutes later.
Neither had invited her.
She knocked once.
Naomi opened the door but left the chain attached.
Vanessa smiled.
“I know Graham is here.”
Graham stepped into view.
“What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s smile tightened.
“Forty-eight hours from now, a judge decides where Maisie lives.”
Naomi said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“I can make this easy.”
“For whom?” Naomi asked.
“For everyone.”
She looked at Graham.
“Withdraw the accusations against me.”
Then Naomi.
“Agree to a revised schedule.”
“What schedule?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Two weekends a month.”
Naomi laughed softly.
“You want me to surrender custody of my daughter.”
“I want stability.”
“You want punishment.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Only slightly.
Naomi saw satisfaction.
She was right.
Vanessa said,
“You already showed everyone what kind of mother you are.”
“No.”
Naomi leaned toward the narrow opening.
“You showed everyone what kind of evidence you can manufacture.”
Vanessa stopped smiling.
Naomi continued.
“And now I know about VBL.”
A flicker.
“The payments.”
Another.
“Camille.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“Aiden.”
Silence.
“Unit 214.”
That one landed.
Vanessa looked at Graham.
“You told her.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s voice became cold.
“You stupid man.”
Graham stared at her.
“Leave.”
Vanessa looked back at Naomi.
“Do you really want that unit opened?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Because when the truth inside that room comes out, Graham’s family won’t survive it.”
Naomi met her eyes.
“That isn’t my family.”
Vanessa’s smile returned.
“But it’s Maisie’s.”
Then she walked away.
The threat remained hanging in the hallway.
For the first time, Vanessa was no longer threatening Naomi’s reputation.
May you like
She was threatening Maisie’s name.
And Naomi knew she would burn every lie to the ground before she allowed Vanessa to make her daughter carry the shame of adults.
