Chapter 7 - WHAT VANESSA REALLY WANTED|
Vanessa called me the following morning.
I almost ignored the number, but something in me wanted to hear what she would say without Dominic or Margaret speaking for her.
“Emma,” she began, “I think we need to clear the air.”
“Then clear it.”
She sighed.
“I know this is painful.”
“You know I discovered that my husband has been lying to me for three years. You know he has been sleeping with you. And you know you’re carrying his child. What exactly do you think needs clarification?”
“I didn’t plan for things to happen this way.”
“That doesn’t mean they happened by accident.”
She was silent.
Then she said, “Dominic told me your marriage was over.”
“Did he tell you that before or after you became pregnant?”
“Before.”
“Did he tell you he was pretending to be deaf?”
Another silence.
“No.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course not.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“You don’t understand our relationship.”
“You’re right. I don’t understand how a woman can hear a man describe his wife as a household employee and still believe she has found a loving partner.”
“He said you were cold.”
“He said that?”
“He told me you stopped trying to connect with him. That you spent more time organizing his mother’s life than being his wife.”
I closed my eyes.
I had spent more time caring for Margaret because Dominic insisted that his work was too demanding. I had managed the appointments because he said his mother became overwhelmed when he was unavailable. I had stopped asking for conversations because I believed his hearing loss made communication exhausting.
He had taken my sacrifices and presented them as evidence that I was emotionally distant.
“What did he tell you about the fertility treatments?” I asked.
Vanessa hesitated.
“He said you both decided to stop.”
“We never decided that together.”
“He said you didn't want children anymore.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
I had cried in Dominic’s arms after every failed treatment. I had asked him whether we could consider another specialist, another option, another chance.
He had held me and told me that our marriage mattered more than becoming parents.
Apparently, he had been saying something different to Vanessa.
“Did he tell you about the trust?” I asked.
Her silence lasted long enough to answer.
Finally, she whispered, “Margaret said the baby would protect Dominic’s inheritance.”
I stood up.
“Protect it from what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa, you’re carrying a child. If you know something that could affect that child’s future, you need to tell me.”
She began to cry.
“Dominic said that if the trust review went badly, the family could lose control of the company. He said having a legitimate heir would make everything easier.”
“Legitimate?”
“He said the lawyers would arrange the details.”
I felt a chill run through me.
Dominic had not merely hidden a relationship.
He had apparently discussed legal and financial arrangements involving a child who had not yet been born.
“Did he promise to marry you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After the divorce.”
I let the words settle.
“He hasn’t filed for divorce.”
“I know.”
“Has he told you why?”
Vanessa’s voice became very small.
“No.”
For the first time, I heard something other than confidence in her voice.
Fear.
I could not forgive her for helping destroy my marriage. But I was beginning to suspect that Dominic had deceived her, too.
“Vanessa,” I said, “if you want the truth, stop asking him what he plans to do.”
“What should I do?”
“Ask him what he has already done.”
I ended the call.
That afternoon, Rebecca received a formal request from Dominic’s attorneys asking me to preserve every record relating to the Blackwood family trust.
May you like
It was the first document from his side that acknowledged I might know something important.
And I had a feeling the family was finally beginning to worry.
