Chapter 12 - Chloe Was Not the First
The forensic review uncovered another name.
Vanessa Reed.
Former Mercer Global sales director.
Payments from ten years earlier.
Hotel charges.
Jewelry reimbursements.
An apartment rental for six months.
Rebecca recognized the name instantly.
Vanessa had left the company suddenly.
Daniel told everyone she accepted a job in Chicago.
Rebecca had sent her flowers.
Now the records suggested something else.
Rebecca found Vanessa through LinkedIn.
She hesitated for hours before sending a message.
Vanessa replied the next morning.
I wondered if you would ever find out.
Rebecca’s hands went cold.
They spoke by phone.
Vanessa did not sound triumphant.
She sounded tired.
The affair lasted eight months.
Ethan had been eleven.
Daniel ended it when Vanessa asked him to leave Rebecca.
“He said divorce would cost too much.”
Vanessa told her.
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“Romantic.”
“He told me he loved me.”
“I believed him.”
“Then when I threatened to tell you, he arranged a severance package.”
Rebecca looked at the old payments.
“Company money?”
“Yes.”
“Did the board know?”
“I don’t think so.”
The pattern had begun years earlier.
Chloe was not a midlife mistake.
She was the latest version.
Rebecca felt something strange.
Relief.
Not because the betrayal was smaller.
Because it stopped being a referendum on her.
For months, she wondered what Chloe had that she lacked.
Youth.
Beauty.
Energy.
Attention.
Now she understood.
Daniel’s affairs were not about finding a better woman.
They were about finding a woman who temporarily reflected the version of himself he wanted to see.
Vanessa had been admiration.
Chloe had been youth.
Rebecca had been stability.
Women were assigned roles.
Daniel took what each gave.
Then blamed them when the role became inconvenient.
Vanessa agreed to provide records to investigators.
The board expanded its review to prior years.
Daniel’s problems deepened.
When his lawyer found out, he called Rebecca’s attorney.
“He says this is character assassination.”
Rebecca responded.
May you like
“No.”
“It’s chronology.”
