Chapter 10 - THE SECOND POCKET
The wedding gown was taken into evidence the next morning.
Vanessa’s attorney objected.
Detective Reyes obtained a warrant.
A forensic seamstress examined every layer of fabric.
The first altered pocket had contained the custody papers and recorder.
The second pocket was hidden inside the dress’s structured bodice.
It could not be reached without removing the entire lining.
Inside was a small memory card wrapped in plastic.
The card was encrypted.
Nathan and a federal cybercrime team worked for six hours to open it.
Lucas waited at home with Emma.
He had not returned to the Bellamy Estate.
The flowers, cake, and empty chairs remained behind.
He did not want Emma to see them again.
At 4:00 p.m., Nathan called.
“We opened the card.”
“What is on it?”
“Photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Your home.”
The card contained images taken inside Lucas’s private study.
His bedroom.
Emma’s classroom.
Claire’s medical office.
Diane’s apartment.
Someone had monitored the entire Bennett family for years.
There were also photographs of Rachel.
The oldest image had been taken six months before her death.
She stood outside Hartwell and Pierce Family Law holding a red folder.
Another showed her meeting a private investigator.
A third showed her placing the necklace around Emma’s neck.
The final photograph showed Rachel’s car leaving a parking garage on the night she died.
Andrew Mercer’s sedan followed directly behind her.
Then Nathan found video files.
One recording showed Vanessa entering Lucas’s home eight months before they officially met.
Mercer had let her inside while Lucas was away.
She walked through every room.
She studied family photographs.
She examined Rachel’s clothing.
She opened Emma’s bedroom door.
Vanessa had not fallen in love with Lucas.
She had trained for the role.
Mercer taught her what Lucas liked.
What restaurants he preferred.
What books he read.
Which charities mattered to him.
He created the perfect woman by building her from stolen information.
Lucas watched the footage without speaking.
Emma sat beside him coloring.
She looked up.
“Is that Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Why is she in our old house?”
“She was learning how to trick me.”
Emma returned to her picture.
“She was good at it.”
Lucas almost laughed.
“She was.”
The card contained one final folder.
It was labeled VOWS.
Inside were audio samples of Lucas’s voice collected from interviews, phone calls, and private home recordings.
A software program had used them to create false statements.
In one file, Lucas’s synthetic voice said he wanted Emma placed in residential care.
In another, he admitted stealing money from the trust.
In another, he authorized Vanessa to control his medical decisions.
The forged documents were only part of the plan.
Vanessa and Mercer intended to release fake audio after the wedding.
Lucas would appear to support every decision they made.
Nathan looked sick.
“They could still release these.”
“Can we prove they are false?”
“Eventually.”
“Eventually is not enough.”
One recording had already been sent to a journalist.
That evening, a national network played Lucas’s synthetic voice.
“I cannot control Emma anymore.”
“She frightens Vanessa.”
“A residential school is the safest option.”
The media storm began instantly.
Commentators accused Lucas of hiding the truth.
Child protection officials requested an emergency welfare interview.
Vanessa appeared outside her attorney’s office.
She wore a dark suit and no makeup.
She claimed the wedding was canceled because she tried to protect Emma from an unstable father.
Then she looked directly into the cameras.
“Lucas Bennett is not the man the public believes he is.”
At home, Emma watched the television before Lucas could turn it off.
She heard her father’s false voice say she frightened him.
Her face crumpled.
“Was that really you?”
Lucas knelt in front of her.
“No.”
“It sounded like you.”
“Someone created it.”
She moved away from him.
“You said Vanessa created things too.”
“Yes.”
“How do I know which voice is real?”
Lucas had no answer that could erase what she had heard.
May you like
The lie had entered his daughter’s mind.
That was exactly where Vanessa wanted it.
