Chapter 3 — The Woman Vanessa Tried to Humiliate
Chapter 3 — The Woman Vanessa Tried to Humiliate
Vanessa stood across from me with the folder pressed against her chest.
For the first time since I had known her, she wasn't smiling.
Behind her, Richard looked as though he wanted to disappear.
I stared at the document she had just placed on my desk.
EDWARD VALE — $10,000,000
The date was yesterday.
The authorization code was my father's.
And the recipient account was active.
I looked at Vanessa.
“You said the money wasn't stolen.”
“It wasn't.”
“Then what was it?”
She hesitated.
“A payment.”
“To my father?”
“Yes.”
“My father has been dead for two years.”
Vanessa's eyes flickered toward Richard.
“That's what I was told.”
I noticed.
That tiny movement.
That hesitation.
She knew more than she was saying.
I walked around the desk.
“Who else did Richard use?”
Her face hardened.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I was just following instructions.”
“Whose?”
“Richard's.”
I turned toward him.
“Is that true?”
Richard didn't answer.
“Richard.”
He looked at me.
“I never asked her to hurt you.”
I felt my anger rise.
“You didn't answer the question.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
“So Vanessa wasn't the only person.”
“No.”
“How many?”
He said nothing.
I looked at Vanessa.
“How many women?”
Her face changed.
“Women?”
“People Richard recruited. People he paid. People he manipulated.”
She swallowed.
“Five.”
Richard snapped:
“Vanessa.”
She turned toward him.
“What?”
“You promised.”
“I don't care anymore.”
I stared at her.
“Five?”
She nodded.
“Five that I know about.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Richard.
“Who are they?”
He finally spoke.
“I didn't use them.”
“You paid them.”
“Yes.”
“You gave them instructions.”
“Yes.”
“You made them lie to me.”
He didn't answer.
“That is using them.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I walked toward the window.
Five women.
Vanessa had been the loudest.
The cruelest.
The one who had put a chain around my neck in front of hundreds of people.
But apparently—
she had only been one piece of something much larger.
“Where are the others?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Some left.”
“Some?”
“Some disappeared.”
My stomach tightened.
“Disappeared?”
She nodded.
“Richard told us not to ask questions.”
I looked at him.
“What did you do to them?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did they disappear?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“I swear to you, Amelia, I didn't hurt anyone.”
“Then who did?”
He looked at the floor.
“I don't know.”
Again.
That phrase.
I was beginning to hate it.
The first woman was named Claire Donovan.
The second was Maya Reed.
The third was Sophie Bell.
The fourth was Naomi Carter.
The fifth—
Vanessa stopped.
I stared at her.
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at me.
“Her name was Elise.”
“What happened to Elise?”
Vanessa's voice became quieter.
“She found something.”
“What?”
“About the accounts.”
I felt a chill.
“What did she find?”
“She found the transfers.”
“How much?”
“More than we did.”
“How much?”
“Hundreds of millions.”
I stared.
“Hundreds?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Money was moving through companies that didn't officially exist.”
“Who owned them?”
She looked at Richard.
“That's what Elise wanted to know.”
“And?”
“She told Richard she was going to report it.”
I turned to him.
“What happened?”
Richard looked sick.
“I told her to stay quiet.”
“And?”
“She wouldn't.”
“What happened to her?”
“I don't know.”
Vanessa stepped in.
“She vanished three days later.”
I felt a cold knot form in my stomach.
“Did you report her missing?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard told us she had left.”
“And you believed him?”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“We were afraid.”
I ordered security to find every record associated with the five women.
Employment contracts.
Visitor logs.
Bank transfers.
Room reservations.
Phone records.
Everything.
The resort's internal system produced thousands of documents.
But one thing became obvious almost immediately.
Richard hadn't recruited these women randomly.
They had one thing in common.
They were all close to me.
Claire had been my former personal assistant.
Maya had worked in my father's foundation.
Sophie had been a financial analyst for the resort.
Naomi had been my mother's caregiver.
And Elise—
Elise had been my childhood friend.
I sat back.
“Why?”
Vanessa answered.
“Because Richard wanted people around you.”
“To spy on me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He was afraid you'd come back.”
I stared at her.
“He knew I was coming?”
“He suspected.”
“How long?”
“Almost two years.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
Two years.
While I was away caring for my family, Richard had been preparing for my return.
He had placed people around me.
People I trusted.
People I knew.
People who smiled at me while secretly reporting to him.
But then I noticed something.
“Vanessa.”
“Yes?”
“You said you were one of five.”
“Yes.”
“You were married to Richard.”
She nodded.
“So why did he need to recruit you?”
She looked away.
“Because I owed him.”
“What did you owe him?”
“My husband.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Vanessa's voice broke.
“Richard saved my husband.”
I waited.
“From what?”
“Prison.”
She looked at me.
“My husband was involved in a fraud case. Richard made the evidence disappear.”
“So you became indebted to him.”
“Yes.”
“And he used you.”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“Why did you humiliate me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because he told me you were dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“He said you were unstable. That you'd destroy everything. That if you came back, hundreds of employees would lose their jobs.”
I stared at her.
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
“Because believing him made what I was doing feel necessary.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I told myself I was protecting people.”
I shook my head.
“You were hurting someone.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You don't know.”
She looked at me.
“You put a chain around my neck.”
Her face crumpled.
“I know.”
“You dragged me across the lobby.”
“I know.”
“You watched people film it.”
“I know.”
“And you laughed.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
I turned away.
“I don't forgive you.”
“I don't expect you to.”
“But if you want to make things right…”
She looked up.
“Tell me everything.”
By evening, Vanessa had given us a list.
Names.
Accounts.
Dates.
Messages.
Payment records.
Instructions from Richard.
And one photograph.
A photograph of six women standing together.
Vanessa.
Claire.
Maya.
Sophie.
Naomi.
And Elise.
They were standing inside the resort.
The date was three months before I returned.
I studied their faces.
Something bothered me.
“Why is Elise holding that folder?”
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
“I don't know.”
“Zoom in.”
The security technician enlarged it.
The folder had a symbol on the front.
A circle.
Three intersecting lines.
I recognized it.
It was the same symbol from my father's private documents.
I stood abruptly.
“Where did she get that?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
The technician searched the archive.
Seconds later, he found a match.
The symbol appeared in one of the oldest resort files.
VALE FOUNDATION — PRIVATE PROJECT 07.
I stared at the screen.
“What is Project 07?”
Nobody answered.
Then Richard spoke.
“You don't want to know.”
I turned.
“That's becoming a very bad sentence to say to me.”
He looked at me.
“Project 07 wasn't about the resort.”
“Then what was it about?”
He hesitated.
“Your father.”
That night, we found Claire.
She was living in a small apartment outside the city.
When she opened the door and saw me, she froze.
“Amelia?”
“Yes.”
She started crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Richard told us you were dead.”
I felt a chill.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“But I wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
“Why did he tell you that?”
“Because he wanted us to keep working for him.”
“Doing what?”
“Watching your family.”
I looked at her.
“Did you know about the money?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about the forged ownership documents?”
“No.”
“Did Elise?”
Claire's face changed.
“Yes.”
“What did she find?”
Claire hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“She discovered the accounts weren't being used to steal from you.”
I waited.
“They were being used to pay someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Elise?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Claire looked terrified.
“She said the person receiving the money was not your father.”
My heart stopped.
“Then who?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Tell me.”
“She only told me one thing.”
“What?”
“She said…”
Claire looked directly into my eyes.
“…the person controlling Richard wasn't a man.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She said it was a woman.”
I returned to the resort at midnight.
The entire property was under lockdown.
I walked into the lobby.
The place looked completely different.
The same marble floor.
The same chandeliers.
The same champagne tower.
But now I could see what had been hiding underneath.
Every smiling employee.
Every quiet conversation.
Every locked office.
Every restricted hallway.
Every door I had once trusted.
I walked toward the private elevator.
The doors opened.
Inside, a woman was waiting.
I stopped.
She turned.
She was around fifty.
Elegant.
Calm.
Silver hair.
She wore a black dress.
I had never seen her before.
“Who are you?”
She smiled.
“My name is Evelyn.”
“Do you work here?”
“No.”
“Then how did you get inside?”
She held up a keycard.
It belonged to the founder's private floor.
My blood ran cold.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your father.”
“He's dead.”
“I know.”
“Then who gave it to you?”
She stepped out of the elevator.
“Your father did.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
I stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She walked past me.
“I expect you to ask the right question.”
I turned.
“What question?”
She stopped.
“Why did Richard need five women to watch you?”
I waited.
She smiled.
“Because he was never watching you.”
“Then who?”
She looked directly at me.
“He was watching them.”
“Why?”
“To find out which one would betray him first.”
My heart pounded.
“Why would he care?”
“Because one of them discovered the truth.”
“Elise.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn's smile disappeared.
“She is alive.”
I froze.
“Where?”
“Underground.”
My blood ran cold.
“The vault?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father didn't build that vault to store money.”
“Then what is inside?”
She looked toward the floor.
“Evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
She stepped closer.
“Evidence that Richard was never the person in control.”
I stared at her.
“Then who is?”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“The woman who has been financing him.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Who?”
Evelyn looked toward the dark lobby.
Then she whispered:
“Vanessa.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“She isn't Richard's partner.”
“Then what is she?”
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“She is his handler.”
My mind raced.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
“Vanessa was being used.”
“She wanted you to believe that.”
“But she gave us the evidence.”
“Some of it.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“It means the woman you dragged into this investigation isn't the victim you think she is.”
I felt a chill.
“What did Vanessa hide?”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“The fifth account.”
“What fifth account?”
“The one Elise discovered.”
“Where is it?”
“Inside the vault.”
I looked toward the elevator.
“Then open it.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the vault requires two founders.”
I remembered the blueprint.
Two founders.
My father.
And someone else.
I looked at her.
“Who is the second founder?”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she took a small key from her pocket.
Then she placed it in my hand.
Engraved on the metal were two initials.
A.V.
I stared.
“Who is A.V.?”
Evelyn walked away.
“You.”
I looked up.
“What?”
She stopped at the lobby entrance.
“Amelia Vale.”
Then she smiled.
“Now ask yourself why your father needed your signature to open a vault he built before you were born.”
The doors closed behind her.
I stood alone.
The key was cold in my hand.
And suddenly—
I understood.
Richard hadn't been stealing the resort.
Vanessa hadn't been helping him steal it.
They had been protecting something.
Something my father had hidden beneath the property.
Something worth hundreds of millions.
Something that required my blood, my signature, and my return.
May you like
And the woman Vanessa had tried to make me hate—
might be the only person who knew why I had been brought home.
