Chapter 8 - Why Maria Was Standing ThereAdrian finally asked the question Vanessa had used against her.
“How did you know where to stand?”
Maria took a long breath.
Because she had seen Vanessa bring Oliver upstairs.
Because Vanessa never used that balcony with the baby.
Because three days earlier Maria overheard Vanessa say:
“If Maria is gone, everything gets easier.”
And because Elena had warned her eighteen months earlier:
If anyone tries to isolate Oliver from you, do not assume it is about you.
Maria followed Vanessa.
Stayed below the balcony.
Watched.
Waited.
“I thought she was going to threaten me.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“She always thinks she’s the hero.”
Maria looked at her.
“No.”
She touched her bruised shoulder.
“I thought I was too late.”
Adrian sat.
“Why not tell me earlier?”
Maria’s answer hurt.
“Because you loved her.”
He looked at Vanessa.
“Did I?”
Vanessa flinched.
Maria continued.
“After Elena died, you could barely function. Then Vanessa appeared everywhere. Meetings. Charity events. Family dinners.”
“She helped me.”
“She controlled who reached you.”
Adrian remembered missed calls.
Elena’s brother Daniel saying he felt pushed away.
Old friends disappearing.
Vanessa explaining each one.
Too emotional.
Too intrusive.
Bad for Oliver.
He had accepted it.
Grief makes convenience look like safety.
Then security brought in a package found at the side gate.
No return address.
Inside was Elena’s original phone.
And a note:
STOP TRUSTING THE WRONG WOMAN.
Adrian looked at Maria.
Vanessa laughed.
“See?”
Maria said:
“That isn’t Elena’s handwriting.”
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Adrian recognized it too.
It was Marcus’s.
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