Chapter 6 - THE ACCUSATION
“She claims you’re emotionally unstable following your wife’s death.”
Adrian stared across the dining table at the investigator.
Sophie was upstairs with her nanny, Rosa.
Marcus remained nearby.
The investigator, Thomas Bell, looked uncomfortable.
“She also claims you’ve isolated Sophie from outside relationships and encouraged unhealthy attachment to her deceased mother.”
Adrian gave a short, humorless laugh.
“She said that?”
“There’s more.”
“Of course there is.”
“She alleges you became physically aggressive yesterday at the cemetery.”
“With Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“I never touched her.”
“She says you threatened her.”
“I ended an engagement.”
Thomas looked at him carefully.
“Mr. Mercer, I’m not here to assume guilt.”
“Good.”
“But because a child is involved, I have to investigate.”
Adrian stood.
“I want to show you something.”
He opened the security footage.
Forty-three minutes.
The locked closet.
The missing jewelry.
Vanessa grabbing Sophie’s arm.
Thomas’s expression changed.
“Do you have copies?”
“Yes.”
“Send them to me.”
“I’ll send everything.”
Thomas closed his notebook.
“This changes things.”
“It better.”
“It doesn’t automatically end the investigation.”
“I understand.”
“But I will be contacting Ms. Cole again.”
Adrian sat back down.
“And I’ll be contacting the police.”
Thomas nodded.
“That would be appropriate.”
After he left, Adrian went upstairs.
Sophie was sitting on the floor drawing.
“What did the man want?”
Adrian sat beside her.
“He wanted to make sure you’re safe.”
Sophie’s pencil stopped moving.
“Did Vanessa tell him you’re bad?”
Adrian stared at her.
“How did you know?”
“She said she could make people take me away.”
His skin went cold.
“When?”
“A while ago.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Sophie looked scared again.
“She said if I kept being mean to her, she would tell people you were crazy, and then I’d have to live somewhere else.”
Adrian’s throat tightened.
“She told you that?”
Sophie nodded.
“And she said you would blame me.”
He pulled her against him.
“I will never blame you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
That afternoon, the police took Adrian’s statement.
Then Daniel called.
“We traced one of the attempted foundation transfers.”
“To where?”
“A holding company.”
“Whose?”
“That’s the interesting part.”
Adrian waited.
“It belongs to a man named Lucas Cole.”
“Cole?”
“Vanessa’s brother.”
Adrian frowned.
“She told me she was an only child.”
“She lied.”
Daniel continued.
“And Lucas Cole has a record.”
“For what?”
“Fraud. Identity theft. Financial crimes.”
Adrian stood slowly.
“How long has he been out?”
“Fourteen months.”
Fourteen months.
Adrian had met Vanessa eighteen months ago.
His voice lowered.
“Find out exactly when she first contacted him.”
Daniel was silent for a moment.
Then he said,
“Adrian… I already did.”
“And?”
“The same week you proposed to Vanessa, Lucas started searching public records connected to Sophie’s trust.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
Sophie’s trust.
Not his money.
His daughter’s.
May you like
And suddenly, the cemetery wasn’t the beginning of Vanessa’s plan.
It was the moment she lost control of it.
