Chapter 10 - Veronica Admitted Why She Chose AdrianVeronica agreed to a second interview.
This time there was less performance.
Maybe because Marcus was caught.
Maybe because the evidence made performance pointless.
Detective Ford asked:
“Did Marcus send you to Adrian after Claire’s crash?”
“Yes.”
“What was the goal?”
“Find Claire’s evidence.”
“How?”
“Get close.”
“Did Marcus tell you to marry him?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you not to?”
“Yes.”
That surprised everyone.
“Why?”
“He said it was dangerous.”
“How?”
“He thought I would start wanting Adrian’s life.”
“Did you?”
Veronica stared at the table.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before I met him properly.”
Ford waited.
Veronica continued.
“I had seen Adrian at company events.”
“While you were with Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“Did Adrian know you?”
“No.”
“What did you think?”
Veronica almost smiled.
“He listened when people spoke.”
Adrian heard the interview later and felt sick.
He had been attractive to her as an idea.
Not a man.
A safer brother.
A respected brother.
A life that looked clean.
“What about Claire?”
Ford asked.
“I envied her.”
“Before the crash?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She had everything I thought I wanted.”
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Eli?”
Veronica paused.
“A family.”
“Money?”
“That too.”
At least honest.
“After Claire crashed, what did Marcus ask?”
“To find the phone.”
“Why?”
“He knew she recorded things.”
“Did you find it?”
“No.”
“So you approached Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to marry him?”
“No.”
“Did you love him?”
Veronica cried.
“Yes.”
Ford did not soften.
“Did you love Eli?”
Long silence.
“I wanted to.”
“That’s not the question.”
“Sometimes.”
“Then why torment him?”
Veronica’s face changed.
“Because he never let Claire disappear.”
Ford stared.
“He was her son.”
“I know.”
“Say what you mean.”
Veronica wiped her eyes.
“Every time he looked at Adrian, Claire was there.”
“Every birthday.”
“Every school event.”
“He had her expressions.”
“Her laugh.”
“Her stubbornness.”
“And you resented him for being her child.”
“Yes.”
The answer was ugly.
Necessary.
Ford asked:
“Why did you hide Claire’s photographs?”
“I told myself Eli needed to move forward.”
“Truth?”
“I hated seeing her.”
“Why take his red box?”
“I was looking for evidence.”
“Why keep it after you found nothing?”
“I didn’t find nothing.”
Adrian leaned forward.
What?
Veronica continued.
“I found the vendor papers.”
“But police found them in the box.”
“I put them back.”
“Why?”
“I panicked.”
“When did you first open it?”
“About a year ago.”
“Why not destroy the evidence?”
Veronica stared at the table.
“I couldn’t.”
That surprised Adrian.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Ford waited.
Finally:
“Maybe because some part of me knew Claire deserved to win.”
Adrian hated how human that sounded.
He did not want Vanessa—Veronica—to be human.
Human complicated anger.
But people who did terrible things were still people.
That was what made danger difficult to spot.
“Did Marcus know the red box existed?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him you found it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because by then I hated him.”
“Did you consider giving it to Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because then I would lose Adrian too.”
There.
Self-preservation again.
“What happened the day Eli found the card?”
Veronica cried.
“He came into the bathroom with the photo.”
“He asked why Uncle Marcus was with me.”
“I panicked.”
“And then?”
“He said his mom had recorded us.”
“I grabbed him.”
“Then forced him toward the bathtub.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted him to stop talking.”
Ford’s face hardened.
“He is eight.”
“I know.”
“Did you believe frightening him would keep him quiet?”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to drown him?”
“No.”
“Did you intend to terrify him?”
Veronica could not answer.
She did not need to.
Then Ford asked the question Adrian had been avoiding.
“Did you marry Adrian because you wanted access to Claire?”
Veronica looked toward the camera.
“No.”
“Why should anyone believe you?”
“Because I could have left after I searched the house.”
“Instead?”
“I stayed.”
“That doesn’t prove love.”
“No.”
Veronica cried.
“I stayed because the first thing in my life that wasn’t built around Marcus was Adrian.”
Adrian closed the video.
He did not need more.
Nathan, his attorney, looked at him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Still love her?”
Adrian thought.
He expected shame.
Instead:
“I love someone who never really existed.”
Nathan nodded.
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked toward the hospital courtyard where Eli sat with Claire’s nurse.
“Doesn’t change what she did.”
“No.”
“Doesn’t mean every good moment was fake either.”
“No.”
That was harder.
Veronica had made pancakes with Eli.
Sat through school plays.
Stayed beside him during pneumonia.
Comforted Adrian after bad nights with Claire’s prognosis.
Some of it may have been real.
The bathroom was real too.
So was the cover-up.
Both.
Adrian’s marriage ended that week.
He filed for divorce.
Veronica did not contest.
Her criminal case would take longer.
Her cooperation against Marcus would matter.
It would not erase Caleb—Eli. Need name consistency. Eli.
That evening Eli asked:
“Are you and Veronica divorced?”
“Not yet.”
“Will you be?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still love her?”
Children went straight to the wound.
Adrian answered:
“I miss parts of what I thought we had.”
“That’s not yes.”
Adrian smiled sadly.
“No.”
Eli waited.
Then Adrian said:
“Yes. Part of me probably still does.”
Eli frowned.
“Even after what she did?”
“Yes.”
“That’s dumb.”
“Sometimes feelings are.”
“Do you want her back?”
“No.”
Immediate.
Eli relaxed.
Adrian understood the distinction.
Love did not require access.
May you like
History did not require reconciliation.
And regret did not require returning to the person who caused it.
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