Chapter 5 - The Missing Fiancée

Vanessa was gone.

Her car was gone.

So was the black leather folder from my office safe.

I called security at the gate.

No answer.

The guardhouse cameras were offline.

Maria sat at the kitchen table wrapped in a blanket while Emma stayed beside her.

Noah slept in his bassinet.

I wanted to chase Vanessa.

Instead, I stayed.

For once, I stayed where my children needed me.

Maria drank water with trembling hands.

“She fired me at eleven thirty,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because I confronted her.”

“About Emma?”

“About a lot more.”

She pulled a tiny memory card from inside the hem of her uniform.

“I copied this before she took my phone.”

I inserted it into my laptop.

The first video opened.

Vanessa in the nursery.

Emma beside the crib.

Vanessa handed her a bottle.

“You feed him. I’m late.”

Emma shook her head. “Miss Maria said I’m too little.”

Vanessa leaned down until their faces were inches apart.

“If you love your brother, you’ll help. If your father thinks you can’t handle having a baby in the house, he might send him away.”

The video ended.

I could barely breathe.

Maria touched my arm. “There’s more.”

The second clip showed Vanessa opening my office safe.

The third showed her photographing documents.

The fourth showed her talking to a man I recognized.

Graham Cole.

My older brother.

We had not spoken in four years.

In the video, Graham said, “Once Adrian signs the revised trust, we’re done.”

Vanessa replied, “He won’t read it. He never reads anything I put in front of him.”

My stomach turned.

“What revised trust?”

Maria shook her head. “I don’t know.”

I ran to my office.

The safe stood open.

Inside were property deeds, investment papers, and one empty space.

The family trust binder.

Gone.

My phone rang.

Unknown number.

I answered.

Graham’s voice came through.

“Don’t call the police.”

I went still.

“Where is Vanessa?”

“With me.”

“Put her on.”

“No.”

“Graham—”

“Listen carefully. This is bigger than your fiancée making your daughter clean.”

I looked at Emma across the hall.

“What did you do?”

He laughed without humor.

“You really still think this started with Vanessa?”

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Then he said the one thing that made my legs feel weak.

“Ask yourself why Emma’s mother died the week she changed her will.”