Chapter 19 - Vanessa’s Last LieVanessa requested one final meeting with Eleanor.
Alexander refused immediately.
Eleanor surprised everyone by agreeing.
They met in a secured interview room with Detective Ellis present. Alexander watched from behind glass, fists clenched.
Vanessa looked different now.
Not humbled.
Hollowed.
Eleanor sat across from her, still pale, but no longer fragile in the way Vanessa remembered. Captivity had taken weight from her body, not steel from her spine.
Vanessa spoke first.
“I didn’t hate you at the beginning.”
Eleanor said nothing.
“I admired you.”
Still nothing.
“You walked into rooms like you belonged there.”
“I did belong there.”
Vanessa flinched.
Then she laughed quietly.
“That was the problem.”
Eleanor folded her hands.
“Why did you ask for me?”
Vanessa looked toward the mirror, knowing Alexander was behind it.
“Because there’s one thing Cynthia didn’t tell Richard.”
Detective Ellis straightened.
Vanessa leaned closer.
“The baby wasn’t the only child.”
Eleanor froze.
Behind the glass, Alexander stopped breathing.
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“Three embryos were taken. One became Clara. One failed before implantation.”
“And the third?” Eleanor whispered.
Vanessa’s eyes flickered.
“Cynthia sold it.”
The room went dead.
Detective Ellis stepped forward.
“To whom?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know the name. Only the broker. A private adoption attorney. Marlene Shaw.”
Eleanor looked physically struck.
“You’re lying.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“I lie when it helps me. This doesn’t. I’m telling you because Cynthia planned to use the third child later if Clara died.”
Alexander entered the room despite the officer’s protest.
“What child?” he demanded.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You may have another baby somewhere, Alexander. Or a pregnancy. Or nothing. Cynthia kept the record off Richard’s books.”
Eleanor’s breathing quickened.
Detective Ellis called for a medic, but Eleanor raised a hand.
“No.”
Her eyes locked on Vanessa.
“Why tell me now?”
For the first time, Vanessa looked ashamed.
“Because Cynthia said something after Clara was born.”
“What?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She said, ‘There’s always another heir.’”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The nightmare was not over.
It had only changed rooms.
Within hours, Detective Ellis issued a warrant for Marlene Shaw. The attorney’s office was empty. Files had been burned in a metal bin behind the building.
But Sophie, looking at a photo of Marlene on the news, suddenly whispered, “I saw her.”
I turned cold.
“Where?”
May you like
Sophie pointed at the hospital hallway.
“She was dressed like a grandmother. She looked at Baby Clara and said, ‘Wrong one.’”
