Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Took Bella
Signing those papers felt like betrayal.
Bella stared at me from across the attorney’s office.
She did not cry.
That made it worse.
Vanessa’s lawyers argued that I had assaulted their client and manipulated a traumatized child.
The judge granted Vanessa temporary custody.
The courtroom exploded with outrage.
Reporters called me a reckless nanny.
Online strangers accused me of kidnapping Bella for money.
Others praised me for saving her.
No one knew the truth.
As Bella was led away, she turned back.
“Sarah?”
It was the first time she had ever said my name.
I nearly broke.
“I’m coming back for you.”
Vanessa took her to the Sterling penthouse downtown.
That night, Arthur finally contacted me.
He was alive.
He had escaped through an underground drainage tunnel before the warehouse exploded.
The body wearing his watch belonged to a corrupt board member who had been helping Richard.
Arthur had faked his death to force the conspiracy into the open.
“You used Bella as bait,” I said.
His silence confirmed it.
“You let Vanessa take her.”
“She’s surrounded by federal surveillance.”
“That doesn’t make her safe.”
“I know.”
“No, Arthur. You don’t.”
He tried to apologize.
I ended the call.
Then my phone rang again.
This time, it was Bella.
She whispered from inside a closet.
“Vanessa found Mommy’s film.”
My blood turned cold.
“How?”
“I told her.”
“Why would you do that?”
A pause.
Then Bella said something that changed everything.
“Because Daddy told me to.”
Arthur had involved his seven-year-old daughter in the operation.
And Vanessa had just discovered the microfilm was fake.
In the background, I heard the closet door open.
Bella stopped breathing.
Vanessa’s voice came through the phone.
“You really are your mother’s daughter.”
May you like
The call ended.
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