Chapter 6: The Woman in the Blue Coat
The monitor flickered, showing the bank lobby three months earlier.
A woman in a blue coat approached the notary’s desk beside Vanessa.
“That isn’t me,” I said.
Mr.
Sloan leaned closer.
“The face is unclear.”
Caleb pointed at the woman’s hand.
“She’s wearing Mom’s emerald ring.”
Vanessa covered the ring on her own finger.
“Hundreds of women own green stones.”
Ms.
Patel froze the image.
The woman signed my name while Vanessa held the paperwork flat.
Angela faced her.
“Who did you bring here?”
“I don’t answer to you.”
“You will answer to the bank,” Ms.
Patel said.
“The account and transfer are now frozen.”
Vanessa’s chair scraped backward.
“We are leaving.”
Mr.
Sloan did not move.
“Did you know about this footage?” he asked.
“Of course not.”
“Did you arrange for someone to impersonate Maya?”
Vanessa picked up his folder.
“You work for me.”
“Not if you lied to me.”
She dropped the folder on the desk.
Outside the bank, I pressed both hands against the brick wall.
Angela stopped several feet away instead of touching me.
“Tell me about the agreement,” I said.
Dad stepped beside her.
“I should tell you.”
“You’ve told enough lies.”
“This one belongs to me.”
He took a folded letter from his jacket.
“Angela was offered money from the sale of our first home.
Vanessa prepared the papers because she worked for my attorney at the time.”
Angela’s voice shook.
“Robert told me the payment would secure supervised visits and rebuild your education fund.”
“And you signed without reading it?” I asked.
“I read every page I was given.
The surrender page was inserted later.”
Dad nodded.
“I saw two versions.”
My breath caught.
“You knew?”
“Not at first.
Vanessa showed me the altered agreement months later.”
“And you stayed silent.”
“I was afraid the court would discover I had lied on the custody petition.”
I pushed away from the wall.
“So you protected yourself while I waited for a mother you told me didn’t care.”
Dad reached toward me.
“Maya—”
“Don’t.”
Vanessa emerged through the bank doors.
“There it is,” she said.
“The grand reunion cracking already.”
I turned on her.
“You forged the agreement.”
“Prove it.”
“You brought someone to the bank to pretend she was me.”
“The video shows a coat and a ring.”
Caleb came outside holding a printed still.
“It also shows the woman’s face when she turns toward the camera.”
Vanessa looked at the photograph and went pale.
I recognized the woman.
“That’s Aunt Diane.”
Vanessa’s younger sister had attended every Christmas dinner since I was six.
“She needed money,” Caleb said.
“You paid her two thousand dollars the next morning.”
Vanessa stepped close to him.
“If you hand that photograph to anyone, I will tell the police you stole jewelry from my safe.”
Caleb took a velvet pouch from his pocket and placed it in her hand.
“I found this beside the letters.
I brought it so you couldn’t make that claim.”
Her fingers closed around the pouch.
“You ungrateful boy.”
“You taught me to keep receipts,” he replied.
“So I kept this too.”
He played another recording.
Vanessa’s voice filled the sidewalk: Diane only has to sign Maya’s name once.
By the time the girl notices, she’ll be away at college.
Vanessa reached for the phone, but Caleb pulled it back.
“You recorded your own mother?” she hissed.
“I recorded the person asking me to distract Maya while she emptied her account.”
My legs finally gave way.
Angela caught me before I reached the pavement.
“I don’t know who I’m supposed to trust,” I sobbed.
“You don’t have to trust me today,” she whispered.
“Just let me stay while you decide.”
I buried my face against her shoulder.
She held me without asking for forgiveness.
Dad wiped his eyes.
“Maya, I will tell the bank and the court everything.”
Vanessa laughed.
“No, Robert.
You’ll tell them what I tell you—or I’ll make sure you lose your house, your job, and your daughter.”
Dad looked at me, then at the woman he had obeyed for twelve years.
“You already helped me lose my daughter.”
A car stopped at the curb.
Aunt Diane stepped out, clutching an envelope.
“Vanessa,” she called, “you promised my name would never appear anywhere.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
May you like
Diane held up a second phone.
“And I recorded what you promised.”
