The Night Vanessa Returned
Chapter 10 - The Night Vanessa Returned
Vanessa came to the house ten days after the gala. Her belongings had been moved to her apartment, and the staff had been instructed to let me know if she arrived. I met her in the library.
She looked tired and frightened. “My father isn't speaking to me,” she said.
I asked her to sit. “Why?”
“Because the deal has collapsed. He thinks I ruined it.”
For a moment, I saw the vulnerable person I'd once wanted to protect. I wondered what it must have been like to grow up believing approval depended on helping her father's plans succeed.
Then she said, “Maybe if you explained that Emily overreacted, people would stop treating me like a criminal.”
And the moment was gone.
“Emily didn't overreact,” I said. “She was injured.”
Vanessa pressed her lips together. “I didn't mean for her to fall.”
“Then why lie afterward?”
She looked toward the window. “Because everyone would have judged me. Because your mother was already glaring at me. Because if you knew about the folder, you'd ask questions.”
I waited.
She finally admitted she'd been instructed by her father to persuade me to support the transfer. She said she had believed the project legitimate and had not understood all the financial arrangements.
“Will you give that account to the independent investigators?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “You'd make me testify against my own father?”
“No one is making you do anything. But responsibility means telling the truth when it costs you.”
She stood. “You've changed.”
May you like
I thought about how she'd used that accusation before, whenever I tried to disagree.
“Yes,” I answered. “I hope so.”
