Chapter 7 - HE HAD PLANNED TO ERASE ME
For almost a minute, nobody spoke.
I stared at the admission form.
My name.
My date of birth.
My home address.
Emergency contact: Julian Mercer.
The form even listed symptoms.
Paranoia.
Aggression.
Delusional beliefs about corporate ownership.
I felt physically ill.
“He was going to tell people I was crazy.”
Diane’s voice softened.
“Yes.”
“And when I said the resorts belonged to my family…”
“He’d call that evidence.”
My father turned away.
His fists were clenched.
I had seen him furious before.
Never like this.
“He knew,” I whispered.
Diane frowned.
“What?”
“Maybe he didn’t know the exact ownership structure. But he knew enough to realize I could challenge him.”
My father nodded.
“That would explain why he was building a competency case.”
Everything suddenly rearranged itself in my mind.
Julian telling friends I was exhausted.
Julian insisting I take time away from work.
Julian telling our CFO, “Elena’s been under pressure lately.”
Little comments.
Tiny seeds.
Planted everywhere.
He had been writing a story about me while I was still living inside it.
My phone rang.
Vanessa.
I stared at the screen.
Diane said, “Answer.”
I did.
“Where’s Claire?”
Vanessa was crying.
“Elena, I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Julian lost it.”
“Where are you?”
“I left him.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Then I’m hanging up.”
“No! Wait.”
I waited.
Vanessa breathed hard.
“He took Claire because she stole something.”
“She copied evidence.”
“He said she could destroy everything.”
“Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Exactly?”
“There’s an old service property.”
My father leaned toward the phone.
“Which property?”
Vanessa recognized his voice.
“Oh, God.”
“Vanessa,” I said. “Listen to me. If Claire is hurt, every minute matters.”
“I didn’t touch her.”
“You helped Julian steal millions.”
“I moved money because he told me it was tax planning.”
“You wore stolen jewelry.”
“He told me you gave it back.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course he had.
Men like Julian survived by telling each woman a different version of the same lie.
“Where is Claire?”
Vanessa whispered, “Blackwood Lodge.”
My father’s face changed.
Blackwood was an unfinished mountain resort we had purchased years ago.
Construction had stopped after a wildfire damaged the access road.
Mostly empty.
Isolated.
Perfect place to hide someone.
I handed the location to the police.
Then Vanessa said, “Elena?”
“What?”
“There’s something you need to understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
Her voice dropped.
“Julian wasn’t planning to leave with me.”
I frowned.
“You had two tickets to Geneva.”
“He bought them.”
“Yes.”
“Both tickets were in our names.”
“Yes.”
She started crying harder.
“But Phoenix has another ticket.”
My stomach tightened.
“For who?”
“Just him.”
I looked at Diane.
Vanessa continued.
“He was going to use me as the person who moved the money.”
Silence.
“He was setting me up too.”
I should have enjoyed hearing that.
I didn’t.
Vanessa was cruel.
Arrogant.
She slept with my husband and wore my grandmother’s necklace while I was thrown into the rain.
But Julian had used her exactly the way he used me.
Different scale.
Same method.
“Turn yourself in,” I said.
“What?”
“Go to the police.”
“I’ll be arrested.”
“Maybe.”
“Elena, please.”
“You want me to save you?”
Silence.
“No.”
She swallowed.
“I want to help you destroy him.”
Before I could answer, my father’s phone rang.
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“They found Blackwood Lodge.”
My heart jumped.
“And Claire?”
His expression told me the answer before he spoke.
“No sign of her.”
May you like
Then he added:
“But there’s a body in the basement.”
