Chapter 12 - THE PILLS
Grant answered that question.
He told police Vanessa wanted Dad's medication removed during the wedding.
Not to poison him.
To force a medical emergency if he tried to stop the ceremony.
No pills.
Chest pain.
An ambulance.
My parents gone.
The wedding continues.
Vanessa whispered, "Nobody was supposed to get hurt."
Mom looked at her bruised wrist.
"You keep saying that after hurting people."
Dad stared at Vanessa.
"You were going to use my heart condition to get me out of the way."
She said nothing.
Then Margaret found one more clause in the Northline deal.
If the company sale failed after execution, I could owe a five-million-dollar breakup fee.
I stared at her.
"I never signed a company sale."
Margaret turned to the signature page.
The signature was real.
Mine.
Then I remembered.
Vanessa had brought me a stack of papers during a basketball game.
"Just wedding vendor guarantees," she had said.
I signed every yellow tab without reading.
Vanessa looked at me.
"If the deal fails, you could lose millions."
I finally understood.
She had created the trap.
May you like
I wanted to blame Vanessa for the signature. I could not. The deception was hers, but the carelessness was mine. That realization was ugly, because it meant escaping her would not be enough. I would also have to change the man she had learned to use.
And now she wanted me to believe only she could save me from it.
