Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BEHIND VANESSA
Evelyn denied everything.
“I didn't give Vanessa anything.”
Graham placed the photograph on the table.
“You were in the parking garage.”
“I went outside to make a call.”
“Your car was there.”
“I told you, I made a call.”
“Who was she meeting?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“I don't know.”
“Mom.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You've always been too trusting.”
Graham frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father and I learned long ago that people marry into this family for a reason.”
“You think Naomi married me for money?”
“I think Vanessa understands what she's protecting.”
“What?”
Evelyn remained silent.
Graham left.
The investigator found something.
Vanessa had not merely married into the Mercer family.
She had quietly acquired shares in a company connected to the Mercer investment portfolio.
The purchases occurred six months before the wedding.
More troubling was the source of the money.
A private trust.
The beneficiary was Vanessa.
But the trustee was a man named Daniel Cross.
Graham recognized the name.
Daniel Cross had once been his father's business partner.
He had disappeared after a financial scandal fifteen years earlier.
Now he was back.
The investigator traced several payments.
Money moved from Cross to Vanessa.
Then to wedding vendors.
Then to a private security firm.
The amount wasn't enormous.
But the pattern was clear.
Someone was financing Vanessa.
Graham returned home.
Vanessa was sitting in the living room.
She looked exhausted.
“Where were you?”
“Working.”
“Why are you investigating the wedding?”
She looked at him.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Who is Daniel Cross?”
Her face changed.
Just for a second.
But Graham saw it.
“Who?”
“Daniel Cross.”
“I don't know anyone by that name.”
“Then why have you received payments from his company?”
She stood.
“You've been spying on me?”
“No.”
“Then you're violating my privacy.”
“This isn't about privacy.”
“You've already chosen Naomi.”
Graham stared.
“This isn't about Naomi.”
“It always is.”
“No.”
He walked closer.
“This is about my daughter.”
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“She isn't your whole life.”
Graham froze.
“That is exactly where you're wrong.”
Vanessa started crying.
“I tried.”
“You tried what?”
“To become your family.”
“You never had to replace anyone.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother told me I had no choice.”
Graham's expression changed.
“My mother?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She said if I married you, I had to make Naomi disappear from your life completely.”
Graham stepped backward.
“What?”
“She said Naomi was dangerous.”
“She said Naomi would take the family apart.”
“And she promised me protection.”
“From whom?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Daniel Cross.”
Graham's blood ran cold.
“Why would he care about Naomi?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then tell me everything.”
She stared at him.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I do, he'll come after me.”
Graham looked at her.
Then he understood.
Vanessa wasn't the mastermind.
She was part of something.
May you like
But someone else was controlling her.
And that person apparently knew exactly what would happen if Naomi remained close to Graham.
