Chapter 7: The Last Bargain
“Call emergency services!” the venue manager shouted.
Ruby grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran toward the office.
Daniel followed her while Lena led the guests toward the front doors.
I caught Vanessa near the service stairs.
“Did you start that fire?”
She jerked her arm away.
“Get away from me.”
“You’re destroying the recordings.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“I finally do.”
Vanessa leaned close.
“Then listen carefully.
Tell Mr.
Hale the transfer was your mistake, or I send every private message Daniel ever wrote about your family to his board.”
Daniel returned as the alarm stopped.
“What messages?” I asked.
He looked at Vanessa.
“The ones I sent Marcus after your mother asked us for money last year.”
My mother stepped forward.
“I never asked Daniel for money.”
Vanessa’s eyes shifted.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“You used her email account too.”
“I was protecting her.”
“From what?” I demanded.
“From knowing her own mother preferred me.”
My mother’s hand rose, then stopped in the air.
She lowered it without touching Vanessa.
“I protected you,” she said.
“That is not the same as preferring you.”
Vanessa’s voice cracked.
“It should have been.”
Ruby returned with soot on her sleeve.
“The fire was in a wastebasket.
We contained it.”
Mr.
Hale opened his laptop.
“And the recordings were already backed up off-site.”
Vanessa turned to him.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“No.
What do you want to make this disappear?”
I stared at her.
“Are you offering him money?”
“I’m offering everyone a way out.” She looked at Daniel.
“Unfreeze one account.
Give me one hundred thousand dollars and a car.
I’ll return the rest.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“There is no rest.
You moved your share this morning.”
Reece stepped closer.
“Where did you move it?”
Vanessa reached into her purse.
“Keep your hands visible,” he said.
“It’s only my phone.”
She held it up, but the screen showed a progress bar.
Mr.
Hale slammed his laptop closed.
“She’s wiping the cloud account.”
Lena snatched the phone from Vanessa’s hand and passed it to Reece.
“You cannot take that!” Vanessa shouted.
Reece placed it in an evidence bag.
“You attempted to destroy financial evidence in front of six witnesses.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Tell them to stop.”
“No.”
“I am your sister.”
“You remembered that only when you needed protection.”
Two officers entered from the lobby.
Reece quietly showed them the messages, Ruby’s video, and the transfer records.
One officer faced Marcus.
“Sir, remain where you are.”
Marcus pointed at Vanessa.
“She planned it.
She copied the signatures.”
Vanessa snapped, “And you approved the shell companies.”
Daniel looked between them.
“You both used Claire because you thought she would stay quiet.”
Marcus lowered his head.
Vanessa turned to our mother.
“You’re really going to let them take me?”
My mother walked to my side.
“I’m going to tell them everything.”
The officer asked Vanessa to turn around.
She resisted long enough to look directly at me.
“You’ll never enjoy this marriage,” she said.
“Every time Daniel keeps something from you, you’ll wonder if I was right.”
The words landed harder than I wanted them to.
Daniel reached for my hand, but I could not take it.
As Vanessa and Marcus were escorted through the ballroom, the guests moved aside.
Nobody spoke to them.
At the door, Vanessa looked back one last time.
“You always win, Claire.”
I met her eyes.
“No.
Today I stopped losing for you.”
The doors closed behind her.
Daniel waited until the room was quiet.
“There is one more thing about the hotel,” he said.
May you like
I looked at the ivory gown, the waiting guests, and the man I had planned to marry.
“Then tell me before I decide whether there will still be a wedding.”
