Chapter 16 - The First Payment
Vanessa hadn't stumbled into Adam's scheme when Mom grew frail. She'd taken money from him before my father died. The wire memo showed thirty-five thousand dollars marked CONSULTING. Another transfer arrived a month after Dad's funeral.
"She was helping him back then?" Sofia asked.
Chen said only that the records showed payments; investigators still needed to prove what they were for. But I remembered how Vanessa had urged me to stop calling Daniel after his disappearance. She'd said grieving families needed peace. I'd mistaken her desire for silence for tenderness.
I confronted her through our lawyers. She sent back a statement claiming the money compensated her for event-planning work. Then Daniel found an old calendar invitation on his drive. Adam had scheduled a private meeting with Vanessa the day Dad discovered the missing investment funds. The subject line read: ELENA FILES - NEXT STEPS.
"You knew," I whispered into my empty office. "You knew before he died."
Ruth appeared at the door with more bad news. The bank had frozen our hotel's remaining credit while reviewing the altered guarantees. Payroll was due Friday. I sold a personal investment and arranged short-term financing without the disputed condo. It cost me more than I wanted to admit, but employees would be paid.
Sofia watched me wire the money. "Are you trying to show me you're good now?"
"I'm trying to fix one thing I actually can."
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"Then don't make Grandma your proof. She isn't a project."
That evening a package arrived at Priya's office. Inside was a USB drive and a note in Vanessa's handwriting: GIVE ME A DIVORCE AND I WILL TELL YOU WHICH ONE OF THEM LIED ABOUT YOUR FATHER'S DEATH.
