Chapter 7 - Vanessa’s OfferVanessa asked for Alexander at midnight.
Detective Ellis advised him not to go.
Harlan Pierce advised him not to speak without counsel.
Alexander went anyway.
Vanessa sat in a hospital bed with one wrist cuffed to the rail, her hair loose around her shoulders. Without diamonds, without the fake belly, without Cynthia beside her, she looked strangely ordinary.
But her eyes were still dangerous.
“You came,” she said.
Alexander stood at the foot of the bed.
“Where did you move Eleanor during the first year?”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“No hello?”
“You lost the right to hear polite words from me.”
Her smile faded.
“I loved you.”
Alexander laughed once, without humor.
“You buried my wife alive.”
“I saved you from her.”
His eyes went cold.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“Eleanor was going to ruin everything. The merger. The foundation. Your father’s legacy. She thought truth mattered more than family.”
“It does.”
“No,” Vanessa snapped. “Power matters. Control matters. Names matter. Eleanor never understood that. Cynthia did.”
Alexander studied her.
“And what did Cynthia promise you?”
Vanessa’s face twitched.
There it was.
The crack.
“She promised me a place,” Vanessa said. “Do you know what it was like standing beside your family for years while everyone looked through me? Eleanor had the name. The ring. The shares. The sympathy. Even after she ‘died,’ she was more loved than I was alive.”
“So you stole her life.”
“I earned it.”
“No. You wore it like a costume.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with rage.
“You think Cynthia planned all of this alone? Your family made it possible. Your board signed things they didn’t read. Your doctor took money. Your security ignored gates opening at midnight. Your attorney missed clauses. You built a kingdom where everyone obeyed whoever sounded richest.”
Alexander did not answer.
Because part of that was true.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“I can help you.”
He looked at her.
“Help me?”
“Cynthia has insurance. Evidence. Names. Offshore accounts. Judges. If she goes down, she won’t go alone.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Where is the original embryo record?”
Vanessa smiled.
“Get me transferred out of police custody, and I’ll tell you.”
Alexander leaned down until his face was inches from hers.
“You are never bargaining with my wife’s life again.”
Vanessa’s smile returned, thin and cruel.
“Then you better hurry.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
May you like
She looked toward the dark window.
“Eleanor’s baby was never supposed to survive past Friday.”
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