Chapter 5 - The Part Vanessa Had Not PlannedGrant paused the recording.
Vanessa looked at him.
Neither spoke.
Michael quietly stepped away, giving them space without leaving.
Grant asked:
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
For the first time all day, the emotion looked real.
“I did love you.”
“When?”
“Grant…”
“When did you start loving me?”
She wiped her cheek.
“I don’t know.”
“Before or after you agreed to marry me for Richard Vale?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“You don’t understand how it started.”
“Then explain it.”
She sat slowly in front of the makeup mirror.
The perfect bride was disappearing.
“I owed Richard.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“What?”
“My brother.”
Grant frowned.
Vanessa had a younger brother named Lucas.
She rarely mentioned him.
“He was arrested six years ago.”
“For what?”
“Fraud.”
Grant had never known.
“Richard helped him.”
“How?”
“He knew the prosecutor.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“And?”
“Lucas avoided prison.”
“What did Richard want from you?”
“Nothing then.”
“And later?”
Vanessa looked at him through the mirror.
“Access.”
“To me?”
“To people.”
“What people?”
“Wealthy men.”
Grant stared.
“You did this before.”
Vanessa flinched.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I attended events. Introduced people. Collected information.”
“For Richard?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of information?”
“Business.”
“Private?”
“Sometimes.”
Grant felt sick.
“And then he introduced you to me.”
“Yes.”
“What were you supposed to do?”
“Get close.”
“How close?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
She looked down.
“Close enough to influence you.”
“About the merger.”
“Yes.”
“But I refused.”
“Yes.”
“So the plan changed.”
Vanessa nodded.
“To marriage.”
Another nod.
“And Rose.”
Vanessa looked up quickly.
“Rose wasn’t part of it at first.”
Grant’s voice went cold.
“But she became part of it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you wouldn’t sign anything involving the company without thinking about what happened to her.”
Grant felt anger rise.
“You used the fact that I love my daughter.”
“I didn’t design the plan.”
“You participated.”
“Yes.”
“Did Dr. Keller know?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Not everything.”
“What did she know?”
“That we wanted documentation of Rose’s attachment problems.”
“For what purpose?”
“She thought we were preparing for custody conflict with Margaret.”
“Did she fabricate anything?”
“No.”
Grant wasn’t sure whether to believe her.
“Who is the man on the recording?”
Vanessa looked afraid.
“I can’t tell you.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“You’re still protecting them?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“If I say his name, this becomes worse.”
“It already involves my daughter.”
Vanessa stood.
“You think Richard is the most dangerous person involved?”
Grant went still.
Michael stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa stared at Grant.
“The merger isn’t really Richard’s.”
“Whose?”
She shook her head.
Grant’s phone rang.
Daniel.
Grant answered.
“What?”
Daniel’s voice was tense.
“You need to come downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Guests are leaving.”
“Good.”
“No. Grant.”
A pause.
“The police are here.”
Grant frowned.
“Who called them?”
“Margaret Lewis.”
Rose’s grandmother.
Grant’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She says Rose has been abused.”
Grant froze.
“What?”
“She has photographs.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Grant looked at her.
“You knew this was coming.”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“I didn’t know she would do it today.”
Grant felt his heartbeat in his throat.
Michael asked, “What photographs?”
Daniel answered through the speaker.
“Bruises. Rose crying. Apparently statements from a therapist.”
Grant’s face went cold.
Rose sometimes had bruises.
She was four.
She climbed furniture.
Ran into tables.
Fell from playground equipment.
But if someone photographed each bruise separately…
Built a narrative…
Vanessa whispered, “Grant.”
He turned.
“Did you photograph my daughter?”
No answer.
Grant walked closer.
“Did you photograph Rose’s bruises?”
Vanessa began to cry.
“I was told to document everything.”
Grant felt something inside him go numb.
“How long?”
“Months.”
“How long?”
“Seven months.”
Rose had trusted her for nearly two years.
Called her Mommy.
Picked flowers for her wedding.
And Vanessa had spent seven months turning every scraped knee into evidence against Grant.
Michael asked the question Grant could not.
“Who told you to do it?”
Vanessa looked toward the phone still holding the recording.
Then whispered:
“The man Rose recorded.”
Grant stared.
“Who is he?”
Vanessa finally answered.
“Rose’s grandfather.”
Grant froze.
Emma’s father had been dead for six years.
Michael frowned.
“Rose doesn’t have a living grandfather on her mother’s side.”
Vanessa’s face went pale.
“I know.”
Grant stared at her.
May you like
Then Vanessa whispered:
“That’s what Margaret thinks too.”
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