Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS NEVER THE MISTRESS
Vanessa sat at my kitchen table.
For the first time, she looked nothing like the confident woman from the gala.
She looked thirty-two.
Tired.
Frightened.
Human.
“My father told me Daniel was hiding something,” she said.
“What did you believe?”
“That he was stealing from Northstar.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
She looked at Daniel.
“He was trying to protect the shares.”
Daniel nodded.
“I couldn't tell you.”
“You could have.”
“I thought your father was watching you.”
Vanessa looked down.
“He was.”
I studied her.
“Why did you agree to become involved with my husband?”
Her face tightened.
“Because I thought he could lead me to the trust.”
“Did you sleep with him because of that?”
She didn't answer immediately.
Then she whispered, “At first, no.”
Daniel looked away.
Vanessa continued.
“I did fall for him.”
That hurt.
Not because I wanted Daniel anymore.
Because I knew what betrayal felt like.
“And then?”
“Then I realized he was lying to both of us.”
I asked, “What did your father want?”
“The shares.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to sell Northstar to a private equity group.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“That would have shut down the children's research program.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Vanessa.
“Why help me now?”
She reached into her purse.
She removed a small silver locket.
“My mother gave me this.”
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my grandmother and a woman.
The same woman from the old picture.
On the back was a handwritten note.
IF RICHARD EVER COMES FOR THE TRUST, FIND CLAIRE.
My heart stopped.
“She knew me?”
“She knew you were the beneficiary.”
I looked at Daniel.
He whispered, “I didn't know this existed.”
Vanessa continued.
“My mother believed your grandmother protected her.”
“From what?”
“From my father.”
She looked down.
“He wasn't always violent.”
Her voice became softer.
“He was charming. Generous. Everybody loved him.”
I understood.
People like that often looked nothing like villains.
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“My mother found out he was diverting research money.”
“And he threatened her?”
“She disappeared.”
I looked at the locket.
“Where is she now?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His face changed.
“What?”
He handed me the screen.
A message from the foundation's accountant.
THE FEDERAL AUDIT TEAM IS HERE.
I looked at him.
“How long?”
“They're downstairs.”
We went to the foundation office the next morning.
Investigators had already secured the records.
The audit revealed something unexpected.
The missing money hadn't gone to Daniel.
It hadn't gone to Vanessa.
It had gone into an account controlled by Richard Hale.
But there was another transfer.
A small one.
$18,000.
Paid to a private school in Chicago.
For Ethan.
I stared.
“Why would Hale pay Ethan's tuition?”
Daniel looked confused.
“I paid his tuition.”
The investigator shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He handed me the receipt.
The payer was listed as:
M. MERCER.
My initials.
But I had never made the payment.
Someone had been using my identity.
The investigator said, “This is more extensive than financial fraud.”
“What is it?”
“Someone has been creating a false paper trail around your family.”
I looked at Ethan's school records.
There were medical forms I hadn't signed.
Emergency contacts I didn't recognize.
A note about a potential relocation.
I felt sick.
“Someone has been planning to take my son.”
The investigator nodded.
“That's our concern.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who?”
“We don't know yet.”
Then Ethan walked into the office.
He had his backpack over one shoulder.
He looked at the adults surrounding his mother.
“Am I in trouble?”
I immediately knelt.
“No.”
“Are we moving?”
“No.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Dad?”
Daniel crouched beside him.
“No.”
Ethan studied his face.
“Are you still married to Mom?”
Daniel looked at me.
I wasn't ready to answer.
Ethan noticed.
He took my hand.
“Please don't fight.”
I pulled him close.
“We won't.”
That was the moment Daniel made a decision.
He stood.
“I'll sign whatever is necessary.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Full financial disclosure.”
He placed his wedding ring on the desk.
“And I'll step away from the company.”
“You don't have to do that for me.”
“I know.”
He looked at Ethan.
“I have to do it for him.”
Then the investigator entered with another document.
“Mrs. Mercer, we found the person who created the false records.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
He placed a photograph on the table.
It was a security image from the foundation office.
The woman in the photograph was opening my locked cabinet.
I knew her.
She had been working for our family for twelve years.
Our nanny.
May you like
Evelyn.
And in the photograph, she was handing the documents to Richard Hale.
