Chapter 10 - Vanessa Reveals Her Real Fear
Vanessa requested a private conversation through attorneys.
Nathan refused to meet alone.
She arrived without diamonds.
For the first time, she looked frightened.
She admitted spending household money.
She admitted firing the staff.
She denied starving the girls deliberately.
“They refused meals.”
Nathan said nothing.
Vanessa became angry.
“You were gone six months.”
“Yes.”
“You left me with four children who still worship a dead woman.”
Claire.
There it was.
Vanessa had competed with a woman who had been dead four years.
Every room carried Claire’s choices.
The gold stars.
The trusts.
The girls’ names.
Nathan’s memories.
Vanessa said she wanted a family that belonged to her.
When the girls resisted, she began controlling food, clothes, rooms, and
contact.
Then Peter showed her the trust documents.
He convinced her that if Nathan’s absence could be framed as
abandonment, she might gain leverage over household control.
Vanessa insisted Peter designed the financial scheme.
Peter insisted Vanessa did.
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Nathan stopped caring which one blamed the other first.
Records would decide what could be proved.
