Chapter 8 - The Mistress Who Wanted My Life
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Vanessa appeared at my attorney's office on Monday morning.
She arrived without an appointment, wearing a cream-colored coat, dark sunglasses, and the confident expression of a woman who expected doors to open before she reached them.
Daniel refused to meet with her privately.
Instead, he informed her attorney that any communication involving the divorce, custody arrangements, or the accident needed to go through the proper channels.
Vanessa ignored him.
She waited near the building's entrance until I arrived with Lily after a medical appointment.
“Claire.”
I stopped.
Lily pressed against my side.
Vanessa removed her sunglasses.
“I think we should talk.”
“No.”
Her smile tightened.
“You don't even know what I want to say.”
“I know you came to my lawyer's office without permission after being asked to communicate through counsel.”
“This is personal.”
“Then you should have thought about that before you became involved with my husband.”
Her face changed.
For a second, the polished mask slipped, revealing something sharp and resentful beneath it.
“You don't understand Ethan.”
“You're right. I don't think I do anymore.”
“He has spent years protecting you from things you couldn't handle.”
I almost laughed.
“Protecting me? Is that what you call keeping secrets and making me question my own judgment?”
Vanessa glanced at Lily.
“Children deserve a stable home.”
My entire body went rigid.
“Don't use my daughter to make a point.”
“I wasn't.”
“You looked at her while talking about stability. You don't get to discuss her future with me.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Ethan and I have a future too, Claire. Whether you accept that or not.”
“Then build it without me.”
I started walking.
She followed.
“You should know something. Ethan was preparing to leave you before the accident.”
“I know about the separation draft.”
“He told me he couldn't stand the way you questioned him. He said you made him feel like a prisoner.”
The words hurt because I recognized their shape. They were the same accusations Ethan had used whenever I asked why he was distant.
But I was no longer willing to let Vanessa decide what his words meant.
“If he told you that, he should have had the courage to tell me himself.”
“He didn't because he knew you would make it difficult.”
I turned.
“Of course. I might have asked questions. I might have wanted an explanation. I might have reminded him that we had a child together.”
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
“Not everyone wants to live in a marriage out of obligation.”
“Then why are you so determined to prove you won something?”
For the first time, she looked genuinely angry.
“You think you're better than me because you married him first?”
“No. I think you are responsible for your own choices, and I am responsible for mine.”
She leaned toward me.
“You should leave Chicago. Start over somewhere else. Take whatever money you can get and stop making this ugly.”
I stared at her.
“Are you threatening me?”
“I'm offering advice.”
“Then here's mine. Never approach my daughter again.”
I walked into the building before she could answer.
Daniel was furious when he learned what had happened. He documented the encounter and sent a formal notice to Vanessa's attorney.
That afternoon, Ethan called me.
“She approached you?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me immediately?”
I laughed without humor.
“Why would I report her behavior to you?”
“Because she may be dangerous.”
“And you think that makes you the person I should call?”
He went quiet.
“I can protect you.”
“You couldn't even protect our marriage from your own dishonesty.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that as if it repairs something.”
His voice broke slightly.
“Claire, I'm trying to help.”
“Then help the investigators. Give them your records. Answer their questions. Don't come to my hotel, don't send people to watch me, and don't use Lily as a reason to force contact.”
“I would never use Lily.”
“You already came to my hotel to bring me home as though I were something you owned.”
He did not argue.
After the call, I received an email from the independent investigator. The briefcase in the security footage was consistent with one Vanessa had been photographed carrying at an office event.
But the footage also showed something else.
She had not collected the SUV alone.
A man had met her outside the rental office, taken the keys, and driven away.
The investigator had identified him.
He was a former security contractor dismissed from Ethan's organization six months earlier.
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His name was Grant Mercer.
And according to company records, Ethan had personally approved his dismissal.
