Chapter 4 - VANESSA’S REAL FACE
Vanessa locked the pool-house door.
The click sounded louder than Clara’s breathing.
“You spoke to Evelyn?”
Clara stepped backward.
Vanessa advanced.
“What did she tell you?”
“Everything.”
It was a lie.
Clara didn’t know everything.
But Vanessa didn’t know that.
“What does ‘everything’ mean?”
Clara remembered something her mother used to tell her.
When someone dangerous wants information, never show them what you don’t know.
So Clara said the one thing she hoped would frighten Vanessa.
“She has proof.”
Vanessa went pale.
“What proof?”
Clara shrugged.
“You’ll find out.”
Vanessa slapped her.
The sound cracked through the small room.
Clara stumbled into a chair.
Vanessa stared at her own hand.
For half a second, she seemed shocked by what she had done.
Then the softness disappeared.
“You little brat.”
Clara’s cheek burned.
“You’re going to jail.”
Vanessa grabbed her shoulders.
“Your mother is the criminal!”
“No, she isn’t!”
“She abandoned you!”
“Because you tried to kill her!”
Vanessa shook Clara.
“Your mother ruined everything!”
The door suddenly shook.
“Vanessa!”
Daniel.
Vanessa released Clara.
Daniel unlocked the door and entered.
He saw Clara’s red cheek.
“What happened?”
“She fell.”
Clara stared at him.
“She hit me.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“She’s lying.”
Daniel looked between them.
Clara waited.
This was the moment.
Her father would protect her.
He had to.
Instead, Daniel closed the door.
“Clara, who did you call?”
Something inside her broke.
“You don’t care that she hit me?”
“I care.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Answer me.”
Clara shook her head.
Daniel crouched.
“Was it Evelyn?”
Clara stared at him.
She watched fear move across her father’s face.
Not shock.
Fear.
That answered everything.
“You knew.”
Daniel stood.
“Clara—”
“You knew Mom was alive.”
“I suspected.”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You protected yourself!”
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Enough.”
Clara looked down at his hand.
He released her.
Vanessa paced behind him.
“We have to leave.”
Daniel ignored her.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Clara smiled through her tears.
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa cursed.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Get the passports.”
“What about her?”
Daniel looked at Clara.
For one horrible second, he said nothing.
Vanessa understood.
“So we take her.”
“No.”
“We can’t leave her here.”
“I said no.”
“She knows too much.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“She’s my daughter.”
Vanessa laughed.
“And Evelyn is your wife.”
Daniel slapped Vanessa.
Clara screamed.
Vanessa slowly turned her face back toward him.
“You just made a very serious mistake.”
Daniel stared at his hand.
Vanessa smiled coldly.
“You think you’re still in charge.”
She pulled out her phone.
“You haven’t been in charge for years.”
She pressed a button.
Two men entered the pool house.
Clara recognized them as security guards.
Vanessa pointed at Daniel.
“Take his phone.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Protecting what belongs to me.”
One guard grabbed Daniel.
The other took his phone.
Vanessa turned to Clara.
“And now we’re going to find your mother.”
Arthur watched everything from a camera hidden inside the greenhouse.
He immediately called Evelyn.
“They’ve taken control of the house.”
“Where’s Clara?”
“With them.”
Evelyn’s voice went cold.
“Then we stop waiting.”
Arthur swallowed.
“You said we needed the financial records.”
“I don’t care anymore.”
“Evelyn—”
“That is my daughter.”
A car engine roared outside.
Arthur looked through the window.
Vanessa’s SUV was leaving the estate.
Clara sat in the back.
Daniel was beside her.
Two guards occupied the front.
Arthur grabbed his keys.
“Where are they going?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn answered without hesitation.
“I do.”
“Where?”
“The place where Daniel tried to bury the truth the first time.”
Arthur’s blood ran cold.
“The cliff.”
“Yes.”
And twenty miles away, Vanessa turned toward Clara from the passenger seat.
“Your mother survived once.”
May you like
She smiled.
“Let’s see if she can do it twice.”
