Chapter 10 - The Woman Vanessa Used to Be
Olivia explained the trust at sunrise.
My father had created it when Sophie was born.
I knew it existed, but I had always thought it contained investment accounts and property set aside for her future.
It did.
It also held thirty-one percent of Carter Development.
More voting power than Lucas owned personally.
More than my mother.
And because the shares were irrevocable, no one could sell them without approval from Sophie’s legal guardian.
“That’s what this is about?” I asked. “Control of the company?”
“Partly.”
“What’s the other part?”
Olivia looked at me.
“Those shares are collateral for loans Lucas took through shell companies.”
“If the fraud comes out—”
“The lenders seize everything they can reach. Lucas needs the trust transferred before the audit starts.”
I stood and paced the small kitchen.
“Where does Vanessa fit?”
Olivia’s expression hardened.
“She worked at Harbor Ridge under the name Vanessa Blake.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what she did there.”
Olivia rolled up her sleeve.
There were faint scars along her forearm.
“She controlled my medication schedule.”
My jaw tightened.
“She told me you hated me. That you had signed everything because you wanted Sophie away from me.”
Olivia swallowed.
“She showed me recordings of you saying I was dangerous.”
“I don’t remember making them.”
“I know.”
“Were they real?”
“Yes.”
The answer hit me again.
“They drugged me and recorded me?”
“Sometimes.”
“Why?”
“To build a case against both of us.”
A text arrived on my phone.
Unknown number.
A photograph of Malcolm standing beside the gate at my house.
Taken from across the street.
Then another photo.
My mother leaving her home.
Then another.
Lucas entering Carter Development headquarters.
A message appeared:
YOU HAVE SIX HOURS TO BRING SOPHIE HOME.
Olivia saw it.
Her face changed.
“They know she’s gone.”
“Who sent this?”
She shook her head.
Then my phone rang.
Vanessa.
I answered.
“You’re supposed to be off my property.”
“I am.”
“You hurt my daughter.”
“I know.”
That stopped me.
No excuse.
No tears.
Just: I know.
Vanessa’s voice trembled.
“I did things I can’t defend. But if Lucas finds Olivia, he’ll kill her for real this time.”
Olivia stared at the phone.
“You expect me to believe you’re helping us?”
“No. I expect you to listen for ten seconds.”
“Talk.”
“Lucas did not choose me to become Sophie’s guardian.”
“Then who did?”
Vanessa exhaled.
“Your father.”
I laughed.
“My father has been dead for three years.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m saying this plan started before he died.”
Olivia’s face drained of color.
Vanessa continued:
“And if you want proof, ask Olivia why your father paid her five million dollars two weeks before his funeral.”
Vanessa stayed on the line.
“You want to know what your father asked me to do?”
“Yes.”
“He told me to keep you calm until the restructuring was finished.”
“With drugs?”
“I was twenty-eight and stupid enough to believe the dose had been approved.”
Olivia’s face twisted with anger.
“You kept giving it after you saw what it did.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“I stopped. That’s why they fired me from Harbor Ridge.”
“You expect sympathy?” Olivia asked.
“No.”
“Then why tell us?”
“Because Lucas found out I stopped following orders. He’s had something on me ever since.”
“What?” I asked.
Silence.
Then Vanessa said, “A death.”
My skin went cold.
“Whose?”
She whispered, “The nurse who tried to report what was happening to both of you.”
---
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