CHAP 10 — WHAT VANESSA REALLY WANTED
Vanessa called the next morning.
Not her attorney.
Her.
“I heard you met Victor.”
“You hear quickly.”
“He’s my uncle.”
“I know.”
“He wants the company.”
“I know.”
“He’ll destroy Adrian to get it.”
“So?”
A pause.
“You really don’t love him anymore.”
The question irritated me.
“You watched him beat me.”
“I know.”
“Stop sounding surprised.”
Vanessa was silent.
Then:
“I want to give you the recording.”
“No deal?”
“No deal.”
That changed my attention.
“Why?”
“Adrian came to see me last night.”
“What did he want?”
“The original transfer files.”
“Do you have them?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened me.”
“With?”
“To tell everyone the baby could be Miles’s.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
“You publicly announced you were carrying his child.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re afraid he’ll tell the truth?”
“I’m afraid of what he’ll do after.”
Her voice was different.
No theatrical weakness.
Real fear.
I agreed to meet.
Vanessa placed the recorder on the table between us.
Then another object.
A small external drive.
“What’s that?”
“Everything.”
I stared at her.
“Why now?”
“Because I was wrong about him.”
“No.”
Her eyes lifted.
“You were not wrong about Adrian.”
I leaned forward.
“You knew he was married. You helped him hide money. You helped prepare documents against me. You watched him hurt me.”
Vanessa looked down.
“You were wrong about one thing.”
“What?”
“You thought you controlled him.”
That landed.
Her mouth tightened.
I continued.
“Now you’ve realized men who betray one woman for you can eventually betray you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You sound like my mother.”
“What’s on the drive?”
“Emails. Transfer records. Messages with Miles. Messages with Adrian.”
“Anything about Blackthorn?”
“Yes.”
My pulse quickened.
“Did Victor instruct you?”
“No.”
“Martin Lyle?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did he want?”
“Information.”
“On Vale?”
“And you.”
There it was.
“Why me?”
“To understand how much Sinclair money was supporting Adrian.”
Vanessa looked genuinely ashamed now.
“At first, that was all.”
“And then?”
“Adrian pursued me.”
“You refused?”
“No.”
At least she did not lie.
“I liked winning.”
“Winning what?”
“Something you had.”
The honesty surprised me.
“You looked like everything came easily to you.”
I almost laughed.
“You knew nothing about me.”
“I know.”
“But you hated me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked toward the window.
“When I was sixteen, I watched my father sell our home because Sinclair bought the last good assets from his firm.”
“My father didn’t cause his collapse.”
“I know that now.”
“But you wanted someone to blame.”
“Yes.”
“And I was convenient.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not redemption.
Understanding.
Those were different.
“Is the baby Adrian’s?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does that bother you?”
“It terrifies me.”
“Then stop using the child as a weapon.”
Her eyes filled.
“I already have.”
She slid the recorder toward me.
The audio was clear.
Adrian discussing the divorce.
The trust.
My supposed instability.
Then his voice:
“If she refuses, I’ll make her understand that being my wife means she doesn’t humiliate me in my own house.”
Vanessa asked:
“How?”
Adrian laughed.
“Claire has lived a very protected life. Sometimes pain teaches faster than conversation.”
My hand went cold.
The recording had been made three weeks before that night.
The violence had not been spontaneous.
He had anticipated it.
Maybe planned it.
The external drive contained something even more important.
A spreadsheet.
VMI Strategic Advisory.
Payments.
Dates.
Recipients.
Adrian’s personal authorizations.
And one transfer of $9.8 million to Blackthorn.
I stared at Vanessa.
“Why was Adrian paying your uncle’s fund?”
“He wasn’t.”
“Then what is this?”
Her face changed.
“That account isn’t Victor’s.”
“Blackthorn received it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That routing number belongs to Blackthorn Caribbean.”
“What’s the difference?”
“My uncle doesn’t control that entity.”
“Who does?”
Vanessa looked genuinely afraid now.
“Martin Lyle.”
The partner who had revealed my identity.
The man who connected Vanessa to Vale Meridian.
The man nobody had been paying attention to.
May you like
And unlike Adrian, Vanessa, or Victor—
Martin Lyle had never appeared in a photograph.
