Chapter 7
Daniel was arrested that evening.
This time properly.
Conspiracy.
Attempted murder.
Fraud.
Embezzlement.
Trust violations.
Vanessa screamed when police took him through the lobby.
Not because she loved him.
Because she saw her protection leaving in cuffs.
She shouted at me.
“You think they’ll believe a barefoot madwoman over Daniel?”
Detective Quinn lifted the evidence bag holding the drive.
“They already do.”
Vanessa’s brother Marcus was caught near the Canadian border two days later.
He had cash.
A fake ID.
And one of my rings in his bag.
My ring.
Taken from my wrecked car.
He confessed faster than anyone expected.
Daniel paid him.
Vanessa planned the timing.
The SUV was supposed to push me over the rail, then burn my car if needed.
But rain made the slope unstable.
The car slid too far down.
Marcus panicked.
He thought I was dead.
He was wrong.
At his first hearing, Daniel looked at me from across the courtroom.
He mouthed, Cousin.
I looked away.
He had lost the right to family words.
The press surrounded the courthouse.
I gave one statement.
“My grandfather built this resort as a home, not a weapon. The people who tried to steal it will answer in court.”
A reporter shouted, “Are you afraid?”
May you like
I touched the founder badge pinned inside my jacket.
“Yes,” I said. “But I came back anyway.”
