Chapter 3: The Missing Money
The family gathering ended without anyone saying goodbye.
Relatives collected their coats in silence, avoiding Nathan’s eyes as they left.
The little girl’s mother carried her out, but not before the child looked back at Vanessa with confusion.
Vanessa had frightened her.
Somehow, that seemed to bother Nathan almost as much as the fake pregnancy.
By midnight, only four people remained in the house.
Nathan.
Vanessa.
Ethan.
And Margaret.
The fake belly still lay on the dining room floor.
No one wanted to touch it.
Nathan sat at the table with his laptop open.
His hands shook as he examined bank statements.
“How much?” Margaret asked.
Nathan did not answer.
Ethan stood behind him, reviewing the transactions.
Vanessa sat across the room with her arms folded.
She had refused to leave.
The house was legally in both their names, and she reminded Nathan of that twice.
Finally, Nathan looked up.
“One hundred and eighty-seven thousand dollars.”
Margaret sank into a chair.
Vanessa’s face remained blank.
Nathan turned the laptop toward her.
“Money disappeared from our savings, my private account and the company emergency fund.”
“I didn’t take all of it.”
Nathan stared at her.
“That is not a defense.”
“I moved some money.”
“To where?”
Vanessa looked away.
Ethan pointed to a series of transfers.
“Three shell companies. All opened within the last six months.”
Vanessa said nothing.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Six months.
That was when their marriage had started changing.
Vanessa became secretive.
She began sleeping with her phone beneath her pillow.
She stopped attending appointments with him and claimed pregnancy fatigue.
The lies had overlapped perfectly.
Nathan opened another file.
“What is Lucent Consulting?”
Vanessa’s shoulders stiffened.
Ethan noticed.
“Who owns it?”
“No one you know.”
Nathan studied the registration document.
“The authorized representative is Adrian Cole.”
Margaret inhaled sharply.
Nathan looked at his mother.
“You know that name?”
Margaret hesitated.
Vanessa rose from her chair.
“This conversation is over.”
Ethan blocked the doorway.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Move.”
“Who is Adrian Cole?”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“My brother.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You told me you were an only child.”
“I lied.”
The simplicity of her answer shocked him.
Margaret gripped the edge of the table.
“Adrian Cole was arrested twelve years ago.”
Nathan turned toward her.
“For what?”
“Fraud. Identity theft. Blackmail.”
Vanessa’s face grew hard.
“My brother made mistakes.”
“He stole from elderly people,” Margaret said. “He took their homes.”
“He served his time.”
Nathan looked back at the transactions.
“Why did my money go to him?”
Vanessa did not answer.
Ethan walked toward the window.
Outside, a dark car was parked across the street.
Its engine was running.
“Someone has been sitting out there for twenty minutes.”
Vanessa rushed to the window.
The car immediately pulled away.
Nathan watched her reaction.
“That was him, wasn’t it?”
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
Nathan caught her arm.
“Not until you tell me what is happening.”
She pulled away.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“You were never supposed to discover the pregnancy was fake tonight.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“I wasn’t.”
Margaret stared at her.
“What did you think would happen when nine months passed?”
Vanessa looked at Nathan.
“I was going to lose the baby.”
Silence.
Nathan’s face collapsed.
Vanessa continued before he could speak.
“There would have been bleeding. An emergency. A private hospital visit. I would tell everyone the baby didn’t survive.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
Nathan looked sick.
“You planned a funeral for a child who never existed?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears, but Nathan no longer trusted them.
“I needed time.”
“For what?”
“To get enough money.”
“Enough for what?”
May you like
Vanessa looked toward the dark street outside.
“To disappear before Adrian destroyed all of us.”
