Chapter 6 - WHAT VANESSA WANTED
Thomas locked the front door.
Vanessa stared at him.
"You can't keep me here."
"I'm not keeping you anywhere."
He placed the key on the table.
"But if you walk out before the police arrive, don't expect me to lie for you."
Margaret sat motionless.
"I don't understand."
Vanessa paced across the living room.
"You never understand anything until it's too late."
Margaret flinched.
"Explain it."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"Clara was destroying everything."
"How?"
"She was going through company accounts."
Thomas answered.
"Because money was missing."
Vanessa turned on him.
"It was temporary."
"One hundred eighty thousand dollars is not temporary."
"I was going to put it back."
"From where?"
Vanessa did not answer.
Thomas stepped closer.
"Where did the money go?"
Vanessa's shoulders dropped.
"My business."
Margaret looked confused.
"What business?"
"The wellness company."
"You told me investors funded it."
"They backed out."
Thomas closed his eyes.
Vanessa continued.
"I had employees."
"A lease."
"Contracts."
"I couldn't just shut everything down."
"So you stole from Adrian."
"I borrowed it."
"You created fake invoices."
Vanessa shouted.
"I was desperate."
Margaret whispered.
"What does any of that have to do with Clara?"
Vanessa looked toward the window.
"She found the payments."
"She didn't accuse me."
"Not yet."
Vanessa pressed both hands against her temples.
"She asked questions."
"She started checking vendor records."
"I knew what would happen."
Thomas stared at her.
"So you decided to make Adrian distrust his wife."
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
"I just needed time."
Margaret's voice shook.
"You risked Emma's life."
"I didn't mean for her to get hurt."
"You pushed the stroller."
"I knew Clara was close."
Thomas took a step toward her.
"That makes it worse."
Vanessa looked genuinely confused.
"I knew she'd save her."
Margaret stared at her daughter in horror.
"You used a seven-month-old baby as a prop."
Vanessa's face crumpled.
"I wasn't thinking."
Thomas gave a bitter laugh.
"Everyone in this family suddenly wasn't thinking."
His words reached Adrian through the phone.
He was still listening.
Thomas picked up the device.
"Adrian."
"I'm here."
"I'm sorry."
Adrian looked around his empty home.
"So am I."
Thomas lowered his voice.
"For what?"
Adrian swallowed.
"I hit Clara."
Silence followed.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Thomas's face hardened.
"You did what?"
"I believed Vanessa."
"That doesn't answer me."
"I hit my wife."
Thomas looked toward Vanessa.
Something changed in his eyes.
Vanessa had not only endangered Emma.
She had detonated Adrian's marriage.
The doorbell rang.
Vanessa spun around.
Two police vehicles were visible outside.
Her breathing became rapid.
"Mom."
Margaret did not move.
"Please."
Vanessa rushed toward her.
"Tell them it was an accident."
Margaret looked at the daughter she had defended her entire life.
Then she remembered Emma's tiny face.
She remembered Clara bringing groceries when Margaret had surgery.
She remembered Clara sitting beside her in the hospital through the night.
She remembered every time she had dismissed Clara while excusing Vanessa.
Margaret stood.
"No."
Vanessa stared at her.
"No?"
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"I have protected you from consequences your entire life."
The doorbell rang again.
Margaret stepped away.
"And this is what my protection turned you into."
Thomas opened the door.
Detective Bell stood outside.
May you like
Vanessa began crying.
For the first time, nobody believed the tears meant she was the victim.
