Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN AT THE FRONT DOOR|
Vanessa arrived at my apartment on a rainy Thursday evening.
I almost didn't open the door.
She stood in the hallway wearing a long coat, her face pale and her eyes swollen from crying. One hand rested over her stomach.
“I need your help,” she said.
I stepped aside but kept the chain on the door.
“With what?”
“Dominic.”
“That sounds like a problem you should discuss with Dominic.”
“He won't answer my questions anymore.”
I looked at her carefully.
“What questions?”
She swallowed.
“About the wedding. About the trust. About what happens after the baby is born.”
I removed the chain and let her enter.
Vanessa sat on the edge of the sofa, visibly uncomfortable.
“Dominic told me he would marry me after the review,” she said. “Now he says we need to wait. Then he says the lawyers have advised him not to make any promises.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
The words sounded painfully familiar.
She reached into her bag and took out a folded document.
“Margaret gave me this.”
I opened it.
It was a draft agreement prepared by a private attorney. The document discussed financial support for the child and possible arrangements for the use of the Blackwood name. It did not promise marriage. It did not establish Vanessa as Dominic’s wife.
In fact, one paragraph explicitly stated that no relationship status was guaranteed.
“He told me this was a wedding agreement,” Vanessa whispered.
“It isn't.”
“I know that now.”
She looked down at her hands.
“I thought he loved me.”
I did not offer comfort.
Not because I wanted her to suffer, but because I was tired of women being expected to soothe one another while men escaped accountability.
“What else did he tell you?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“He said you were involved in the foundation's financial problems.”
I went still.
“What?”
“He told me you had approved suspicious payments and that the divorce would become complicated if the review uncovered anything.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Did he show you evidence?”
“No. He said the lawyers were handling it.”
“Vanessa, did he tell you that before or after you signed this agreement?”
She looked away.
“Before.”
I placed the document on the table.
“He may be trying to convince you that you need him more than he needs you.”
She began to cry.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
I sat opposite her.
“Then stop believing either of us. Believe documents. Believe dates. Believe evidence.”
She nodded slowly.
“I have something else.”
She opened her phone and showed me a voice message from Dominic.
His voice was clear.
Don't discuss the trust with Emma. She has no reason to know the full details. If she keeps asking questions, remind her that her name is on the reports.
Vanessa paused the recording.
“I saved it because I thought he sounded strange.”
I listened again.
The words were unmistakable.
Dominic was not merely hiding the truth from me.
He was using my own name to keep another woman afraid.
I sent the recording to Rebecca with Vanessa's permission.
Then I looked at the woman who had once celebrated the idea of becoming Dominic's wife.
“Are you prepared to tell the truth if this becomes a legal matter?”
Vanessa looked frightened.
“Yes.”
I believed she meant it.
But as she stood to leave, she turned back.
“Emma, there's one thing you should know. Dominic has been meeting someone secretly. Someone he says can make the trust problem disappear.”
“Who?”
May you like
She shook her head.
“I don't know his name. But Dominic calls him Mr. Vale.”
