Chapter 6
Vanessa refused to answer.
Daniel explained that the bank had flagged a transfer linked to the account used for the proposed property transaction. The payment had been sent to Derek Whitmore shortly before the request involving my lake house.
The exact amount and purpose still needed to be verified.
Marcus stared at his wife.
“You told me the debt was two hundred thousand dollars.”
“It was.”
“Then why is there another transfer?”
“I was trying to negotiate with him.”
“Using money you didn't have?”
Vanessa began crying again.
“I was desperate!”
I had heard that word too many times that evening.
Desperate.
As though desperation erased responsibility.
As though fear transformed deception into innocence.
I looked at her and felt no satisfaction at seeing her frightened. I had wanted the truth, not her suffering.
But I would not let her turn my compassion into another opportunity.
“Vanessa, did you transfer money from my accounts?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel spoke carefully.
“We have not established that any money was successfully removed from Mrs. Evelyn's accounts. The suspicious requests are being reviewed, and the bank has secured the affected access points.”
I nodded.
“Then we will let the investigation proceed.”
Vanessa seized on his words.
“Exactly! Nothing happened. Nobody lost anything. Can we please stop acting as though I'm some criminal?”
Marcus looked at her.
“You tried to use my mother's property to solve your private financial problems.”
“I made a mistake!”
“You made dozens of decisions.”
She turned toward him.
“Are you really going to abandon your marriage over money?”
“No,” he said quietly. “I'm questioning my marriage because you lied to me, endangered my mother, and blamed everyone else when you were caught.”
Vanessa slapped her handbag against her side.
“You have always loved her more than me!”
Marcus shook his head.
“This isn't a competition.”
“It has always been one!”
Her words carried across the ballroom.
Then she looked at me.
“You have everything. Money, property, friends who worship you. You get to decide who belongs in this family and who doesn't.”
I held her gaze.
“You were never required to compete with me. I wanted you to be my daughter-in-law, not my replacement.”
For a moment, her expression softened.
Then her phone buzzed.
She glanced at the screen.
Whatever she read made her tremble.
Marcus noticed.
“Who is that?”
“Nobody.”
“Show me.”
“No!”
She pulled the phone against her chest.
Marcus stepped back, looking exhausted.
“I'm not going to take your phone. But I need you to understand that I cannot keep living like this.”
Vanessa looked at the exit.
Then she whispered, “Derek is threatening me.”
Daniel's expression sharpened.
“What kind of threat?”
“He says I owe him more money than I can pay. He says he'll tell everyone what happened if I don't settle the debt.”
“What happened?” Marcus demanded.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I can't explain it here.”
“You've been explaining nothing all night!”
She sank into a chair.
“I met Derek through a friend. He promised me a safe investment with guaranteed returns. When I lost money, he offered to help me recover it. I borrowed more because he said the next payment would solve everything.”
“Did he tell you to obtain my mother's property records?” Daniel asked.
She hesitated.
“He said knowing the value of the family's assets would help him advise me.”
“Did he tell you to create the trust?”
“No.”
Patricia studied her.
“Then why did you ask me how to transfer the lake house?”
Vanessa covered her face.
“Because Derek told me the debt would disappear if I could secure a loan against it.”
Marcus looked as though he had been struck.
“You were going to borrow against my mother's home to pay a man who had already taken your money?”
“I thought it was the only way out!”
“And when Mom refused?”
Vanessa stared at the ruined cake.
“I wanted to hurt her.”
Nobody spoke.
At last, I sat beside her.
She looked at me in surprise.
“I'm not sitting here because what you did was acceptable,” I said. “I'm sitting here because I know what fear can do to a person. But you must stop lying if you want any chance of repairing your life.”
Her face crumpled.
“I don't know how.”
“Start by telling the truth.”
Daniel explained that Vanessa should communicate with the investigators through appropriate legal counsel. He also advised her not to make any further financial arrangements with Derek.
Marcus agreed to stay with his brother for the next few days while he considered his marriage.
Vanessa watched him prepare to leave.
“Marcus, please don't go.”
He looked at her for a long time.
“I need space to think.”
Then he turned toward me.
“Mom, can I stay with you?”
I squeezed his hand.
“Of course.”
We walked toward the ballroom doors.
Behind us, Vanessa called my name.
I stopped.
She stood beneath the golden birthday decorations, her ruined gown covered in frosting and her face streaked with tears.
“I never wanted things to go this far,” she whispered.
I believed her.
But wanting a disaster to stop was not the same as choosing not to cause one.
“Then make your next decision a better one,” I told her.
As Marcus and I left the ballroom, my phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent me a message.
May you like
It contained a single sentence.
STOP INVESTIGATING VANESSA, OR YOUR SON WILL PAY THE PRICE.
