Chapter 13 - EMILY KNEW
Police recovered one journal near the tree line.
Vanessa had dropped it while running.
Adrian sat inside Margaret’s kitchen and opened it with shaking hands.
Emily’s handwriting filled the pages.
The entry was dated three years earlier.
The woman from Sophie’s school approached me today. Her name is Vanessa Cole. She pretended we had met before, but we hadn’t.
Adrian read faster.
She asked strange questions about Adrian’s business, our estate plan, and Sophie’s grandparents. When I told her I was uncomfortable, she smiled and said she was “just curious.”
Another entry.
Vanessa was outside the hospital today. I don’t know how she knew I had an appointment.
Another.
I told Adrian I thought someone was following me, but I couldn’t bring myself to explain everything. He already has so much on his shoulders.
Adrian’s eyes filled.
He turned the page.
Then found the entry that made his heart stop.
Vanessa approached me in the parking garage. She said something I can’t stop thinking about: “You should appreciate what you have. There are women who would give anything for your life.”
Adrian looked at Margaret.
“She wanted Emily’s life.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“She wanted yours.”
The final recovered entry was written two weeks before Emily died.
If I don’t get better, I’m afraid Vanessa will come after Adrian. Not because she loves him. Because she wants the life around him. I need to warn him properly.
Adrian closed the journal.
His grief turned into something harder.
Not rage.
Resolve.
By evening, police found Vanessa hiding inside an abandoned maintenance shed near the interstate.
She was arrested without resistance.
In her backpack were Emily’s remaining journals.
The sapphire necklace.
Three fake IDs.
Twenty thousand dollars in cash.
And a flash drive.
The flash drive contained Vanessa’s entire plan.
Financial records.
Edited audio clips.
Draft complaints against Adrian.
A fake psychiatric evaluation.
Documents naming herself as Sophie’s proposed guardian.
She had prepared everything.
All she needed was Adrian to marry her.
Then slowly lose control of his own life.
The next morning, Detective Bell called.
“She wants to talk to you.”
Adrian stared through his office window.
“No.”
“She says she’ll confess to everything if you come.”
“No.”
“She specifically asked for Sophie too.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“That will never happen.”
“She says there’s something Sophie needs to hear.”
Adrian’s voice became cold.
“My daughter has heard enough from her.”
He hung up.
But Vanessa had one final move left.
Before her arrest, she had scheduled an email.
At exactly noon, it went out to Adrian, Daniel, the foundation board—
and every major newspaper in the city.
The subject line read:
May you like
THE TRUTH ABOUT ADRIAN MERCER
And attached to it was a video that appeared to show Adrian threatening to kill Vanessa.
