Chapter 5 - VANESSA'S REAL CONNECTION
Mary enlarged the photograph.
Her father looked healthy.
Thomas stood beside him.
Vanessa appeared younger, perhaps twenty-two.
Mary had believed Ethan met Vanessa two years earlier at a charity gala.
That had been a lie.
“Find everything on Vanessa Hart.”
Daniel nodded.
Olivia began searching company records.
Within twenty minutes, the first connection appeared.
Eight years earlier, Vanessa had worked as a junior accountant for Bennett Holdings.
Mary stared at the employment file.
“She worked for us?”
“Six months.”
“Why did she leave?”
Olivia scrolled.
“She didn’t.”
Mary looked up.
“What?”
“She was terminated.”
“By whom?”
Olivia turned the screen.
Thomas Bennett.
Reason for termination: misconduct and unauthorized access to confidential financial records.
Mary remembered Vanessa’s face in the hotel suite.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Maybe Vanessa had not been afraid of losing Ethan.
Maybe she had been afraid of being found.
Daniel’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his face changed.
“They found Vanessa.”
Mary stood.
“Where?”
“St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Someone attacked her in the parking garage.”
Mary reached for her coat.
Daniel blocked the doorway.
“You should not go alone.”
“I’m not going alone.”
Thirty minutes later, Mary entered a private hospital room with two security officers outside.
Vanessa had stitches above her eyebrow.
A bruise covered her cheek.
She stared at Mary silently.
Mary closed the door.
“You knew my father.”
Vanessa looked away.
“How did you get that photograph?”
“You sent it.”
“I hoped you would see it before Thomas did.”
“Why were you working with Ethan?”
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“Working with him?”
“You were sleeping with him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with something Mary had not expected.
Shame.
“Because Ethan promised he could get me the files Thomas stole eight years ago.”
Mary stared at her.
“You expect me to believe you slept with my fiancé for corporate documents?”
“No.”
Vanessa wiped a tear away.
“I slept with Ethan because I loved him.”
The admission still hurt.
Mary hated that it hurt.
Vanessa continued.
“But that’s not why I came back into his life.”
“What did Thomas do eight years ago?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“My father was Bennett Holdings’ controller.”
Mary remembered him.
Peter Hart.
He had died in an apparent car accident.
Vanessa looked directly at her.
“My father discovered Thomas was stealing.”
Mary felt cold.
“He told Richard Bennett.”
“My father told your father everything.”
“What happened?”
“Three days later, my father died.”
Mary’s breathing slowed.
Vanessa reached toward the bedside cabinet.
She removed a small key from beneath a water cup.
“Before he died, he hid copies of the records.”
“Where?”
“A storage facility in Brooklyn.”
Mary took the key.
Vanessa grabbed her wrist.
“Mary.”
“What?”
“Do not tell Ethan.”
Mary pulled her hand away.
“Why?”
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Because Ethan isn’t trying to stop Thomas.”
May you like
A pause.
“He’s trying to replace him.”
