Chapter 17 - The Edge
Vanessa reached the terrace before the first officer caught up.
Fog covered the ocean below.
She climbed over the low stone wall.
“Stay back!”
Police stopped.
Grant held Noah behind them.
Claire stood beside him.
Vanessa balanced dangerously near the edge.
For the first time, she no longer looked wealthy.
Or elegant.
Or powerful.
She looked terrified.
Grant stepped forward.
“Vanessa.”
“Don’t.”
“You wanted my company?”
“No.”
“My money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Her laugh sounded broken.
“You.”
Grant stared.
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“I loved you before Laura even noticed me.”
Claire realized the truth.
The theft had begun as greed.
But the murder had been something darker.
Obsession.
Vanessa continued.
“She had everything.”
“Your name.”
“Your house.”
“Your child.”
“You looked at her like she was the only person in the room.”
Grant said nothing.
“So you killed her?”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“She was going to destroy me.”
“No.”
Grant’s voice remained calm.
“She was going to expose you.”
“There’s a difference.”
Vanessa looked at Noah.
“I could have been good to him.”
Noah gripped Grant’s sleeve.
Claire almost laughed at the lie.
Grant did not.
“You drugged him.”
“He remembered too much.”
“You pushed him toward the stairs.”
“I panicked.”
“You left Laura dying.”
Vanessa’s eyes closed.
Then she whispered.
“Yes.”
Every police body camera captured it.
Grant looked at her.
Whatever love he once felt was gone.
“Come down.”
Vanessa opened her eyes.
For a second, Claire thought she might jump.
Instead, Vanessa looked at Noah.
The boy looked back.
He was not lowering his eyes anymore.
Not hiding.
Not silent.
Vanessa saw that.
And something inside her seemed to collapse.
She stepped back over the wall.
Officers moved immediately.
Handcuffs closed around her wrists.
As they led her past Claire, Vanessa stopped.
“You think you saved him?”
Claire stared at her.
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“You have no idea what Grant’s company was really funding.”
An officer pulled her forward.
Grant heard the sentence.
So did Claire.
But neither responded.
Not yet.
May you like
They had Noah.
For that morning, that was enough.
