Chapter 4 - The Drive in Vanessa’s Purse
Vanessa made it six steps.
Security caught up before she reached the back hallway, but Dad lifted one hand.
“Don’t touch her unless she becomes violent.”
Vanessa spun around, breathing hard. “You people can’t search me.”
“No one said we could,” Miriam replied. “But if that bag contains Vale Meridian property, Mr. Vale may have a duty to preserve it.”
Adrian looked sick.
“Vanessa,” he said. “Give me the bag.”
Her eyes flashed. “You’re choosing them now?”
“I’m choosing not to go to prison.”
The room changed.
Until that second, I had thought the money transfers were vanity, maybe secret gifts or payments for some side deal. Adrian’s words told me he feared something worse.
Vanessa slowly opened the purse.
Inside was a company laptop, two phones, and a silver flash drive.
Miriam held out an evidence bag from her briefcase.
Vanessa laughed. “What is this, a raid?”
“No,” Miriam said. “A preservation request. You may refuse. If you do, we’ll note it before filing for an emergency order.”
Adrian grabbed the drive from Vanessa’s hand.
She slapped him.
“You idiot.”
He stared at her.
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Dad guided me toward the sitting room where a physician waited. While the doctor examined my back, voices rose in the foyer.
Vanessa was crying now.
Adrian was shouting.
Miriam was talking about audit logs.
Dad stood near the window, silent.
“You knew?” I asked him.
“That Adrian was overleveraged? Yes.”
“That he was cheating?”
“No.”
“That he was hitting me?”
His face tightened. “If I had known that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in his house.”
I lowered my eyes.
Dad crouched in front of me. “Claire, I promised to stay out until you asked. I hated that promise every day.”
“I made you give it.”
“Yes.”
The doctor whispered that I had deep bruising but no obvious fracture. Dad’s hands curled into fists anyway.
Miriam entered carrying the flash drive.
“We opened it on an isolated machine.”
Adrian followed her, pale.
“What’s on it?” I asked.
Miriam looked at Adrian first.
“Copies of internal contracts, investor communications, and a folder named C.H.”
My initials.
My stomach dropped.
“What’s in the folder?”
Miriam’s expression changed.
“A private investigator’s report on you.”
Adrian whispered, “Claire, I can explain.”
May you like
Miriam looked at me.
“The report is dated six months before your wedding.”
