Chapter 8 - VANESSA BREAKS RANKS
Vanessa called Claire at 2:17 the next morning.
Claire almost ignored it.
Then she remembered the fear in Vanessa’s face when the camera was mentioned.
She answered.
Neither woman spoke at first.
Finally, Vanessa whispered.
“Is Daniel with you?”
Claire sat up in bed.
“No.”
“Your father?”
“Why?”
Vanessa breathed unsteadily.
“I need to talk to you.”
Claire immediately texted Marcus from another device.
“Talk.”
“Not over the phone.”
“You took my phone after pushing me into a mirror.”
Vanessa went silent.
Claire continued.
“You don’t get to dictate safe communication.”
“He’s going to blame me.”
“Daniel?”
Vanessa’s breathing changed.
“He already is.”
Claire said nothing.
Vanessa continued.
“The lawyers told me the whole thing becomes assault if they admit I pushed you.”
“You did push me.”
“I know.”
The admission was so direct that Claire nearly missed its significance.
She glanced at the recording application.
It was active.
Vanessa kept talking.
“He said you were going to lose control.”
“Daniel said that?”
“He said you’d start screaming.”
“When?”
“Before I came over.”
Claire’s heart pounded.
“Why did you come?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“To provoke you.”
There it was.
Claire closed her eyes.
“What were you supposed to provoke me into doing?”
“Throwing something.”
“Why?”
“Because there were cameras.”
Claire felt cold.
“Daniel wanted footage of me attacking you?”
Vanessa began crying quietly.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
The sound was exhausted.
“He said if you looked dangerous enough, Richard would move against him, and then Thomas could call the emergency board meeting.”
Claire sat perfectly still.
“You knew about Thomas?”
“I knew he was helping.”
“How much?”
“Not everything.”
“What did Daniel promise you?”
Another silence.
“Marriage.”
Claire almost pitied her.
Almost.
“What else?”
“Equity in Mercer Development.”
“How much?”
“Five percent.”
Claire looked at the dark window.
Daniel had valued Vanessa’s cooperation.
“What went wrong?”
Vanessa inhaled shakily.
“You didn’t react.”
Claire remembered the mirror.
Vanessa’s frustration.
The ugly little laugh.
“So you pushed me.”
“Yes.”
“Was that planned?”
“No.”
Claire believed that part.
The setup had been planned.
The push had been Vanessa losing control when Claire refused to perform.
“What is Daniel doing now?”
“He says I acted alone.”
“Of course he does.”
“He says there was never a plan.”
Claire almost smiled.
“That’s what you’re worth to him.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“I know.”
Claire did not comfort her.
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because Daniel has files.”
“What files?”
“Everything.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“He never trusted me with the location.”
Claire thought of the phrase from the dressing room.
The copy is already off-site.
“What’s in them?”
Vanessa whispered.
“Edited videos.”
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Claire waited.
Vanessa finally said it.
“Something about your father.”
Claire’s grip tightened.
“What about him?”
“I heard Daniel and Thomas talking.”
“What did they say?”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“They said Friday isn’t just about removing you from trust decisions.”
Claire felt her pulse in her throat.
“What is it about?”
May you like
Vanessa answered.
“Removing Richard too.”
