Chapter 16 - Why Vanessa Betrayed Her
Adrian wanted Claire.
He always had.
The children were leverage.
The meeting point was Carter Medical headquarters.
Top floor.
Boardroom.
Vanessa drove while Claire told us the part she had hidden even from me.
“Adrian recruited Vanessa before she met you.”
I stared at my wife.
She kept her eyes on the road.
“You married me because of him?”
“Yes.”
The answer hollowed me out.
Claire continued quickly.
“She was supposed to watch you.”
Vanessa said, “At first.”
“At first?”
“I was drowning in debt. My mother needed surgery. Adrian offered money.”
“You could have left.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The day after Noah called me Mom for the first time.”
I looked away.
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Adrian sent me photographs of you asleep. Noah at school. Lily at daycare. He said if I stopped cooperating, accidents would happen.”
“So you kept lying.”
“Yes.”
“You helped Claire disappear.”
“Yes.”
“You hid her death certificate.”
“Yes.”
“You hit my children.”
Vanessa flinched.
“I never hit them.”
I thought of the cane.
“Noah was protecting Lily from you.”
“From the cane.”
She swallowed.
“I was smashing the vent control in your office. Noah thought I was going to hit Lily because she ran in front of me.”
I remembered the room.
The cane had been raised.
Lily crying.
Noah shielding her.
I had assumed the worst because I had been trained to.
That did not erase Vanessa’s lies.
But it changed the scene.
Again.
Claire leaned forward.
“Daniel, Adrian doesn’t need you to believe a specific lie. He just needs you to distrust the right person at the right time.”
My phone rang.
Noah.
I answered.
“Dad?”
“I’m here.”
A man took the phone.
Adrian Voss spoke in my father’s voice.
“Come home, son.”
My body reacted before my mind did.
My hand reached for the door handle.
Claire slapped me across the face.
“Daniel!”
I blinked.
Adrian laughed through the phone.
The conditioning still worked.
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