Chapter 2 - THE VOICE ON CHLOE’S PHONE
Nobody spoke.
Chloe stared at her phone as though it had betrayed her.
The man on the line continued.
“Chloe?”
“Is Vanessa there?”
Daniel slowly turned toward his fiancée.
Vanessa reached for the phone.
Chloe ended the call first.
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Who was that?”
“No one.”
“He asked whether my mother signed over the house.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“He was talking about wedding paperwork.”
“What wedding paperwork transfers my mother’s home?”
“It was a misunderstanding.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Did she ask you to sign something?”
I nodded.
“Three times.”
Vanessa laughed again.
The sound was sharper now.
“She is making it sound sinister.”
“The house will eventually be yours.”
“I was only trying to simplify the estate.”
“It is not your estate,” Daniel said.
“It will be our family home.”
“No.”
He stood.
“It is Mom’s home.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
For the first time, the sweetness disappeared completely.
“You promised we would live here after the wedding.”
“I said we could stay temporarily while renovations were completed.”
“You also said the company would support us.”
“My company supports itself.”
She pointed toward me.
“Because she keeps interfering.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What does my mother have to do with the company?”
Vanessa looked away.
That was when I removed the clinic invoice.
I placed it on the garden table.
Daniel picked it up.
He read the patient name.
Vanessa Cole.
Then he read the procedure.
Contraceptive implant insertion.
The date was six weeks earlier.
His face became still.
Vanessa rushed toward him.
“That is private.”
“You said you were pregnant.”
“I am.”
“You had this procedure six weeks ago.”
“It can fail.”
Daniel looked at me.
“How did you find this?”
“It was inside my study.”
“Under the drawer where your father kept the company records.”
Vanessa snatched the invoice.
“You searched my things.”
“They were inside my desk.”
Chloe moved closer to her sister.
“We should go.”
Daniel blocked the garden path.
“Not until you tell me who called.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
This time, the tears came easily.
“You are choosing her again.”
“She has hated me from the beginning.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Ask for Chloe’s phone.”
Chloe held it tighter.
“No.”
Daniel reached toward it.
She pulled away and stumbled into the rose bushes.
The phone fell onto the grass.
Its screen lit up.
A message preview appeared.
MARCUS: Once the house is transferred, Daniel signs the merger.
Daniel picked up the phone.
Marcus Vale was his chief financial officer.
His oldest friend.
The man scheduled to serve as best man at the wedding.
Daniel opened the message thread.
Vanessa lunged for the device.
He stepped away.
The thread contained photographs of my deeds.
Copies of Daniel’s company contracts.
A wedding timeline.
May you like
And one final message sent that morning.
Make the mother look unstable before Daniel gets home.
