Chapter 6 - The Rival
Daniel Reece arrived with lawyers the next morning.
He did not come willingly.
Rachel had contacted his company after finding confidential Cole documents on Vanessa’s drive.
Daniel denied paying Vanessa.
Then forensic records found transfers.
Money moved from Reece Strategic Consulting to Brighton Advisory.
Brighton Advisory sent “event consulting” fees to a trust controlled by Vanessa’s mother.
Adrian stared at the transactions.
Vanessa’s mother, Patricia Sterling, called them legitimate.
“For what work?” Rachel asked.
“Brand introductions.”
“To whom?”
“I don’t remember.”
Six hundred forty thousand dollars made memory surprisingly weak.
Daniel finally stopped pretending.
He admitted Vanessa had supplied “market intelligence.”
He insisted he did not know it had been stolen.
“The board negotiation ranges were marked confidential.”
Daniel’s lawyer ended the interview.
Before leaving, Daniel looked at Adrian.
“Your fiancée came to us. Not the other way around.”
“Liar!”
Betrayal rarely looked dramatic when it finally became undeniable.
Mostly, people got quieter.
Adrian asked:
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
Adrian and Vanessa had been engaged for less than three.
The leaks started before the proposal.
Naomi found another thread.
Someone had accessed Elena Alvarez’s payroll credentials repeatedly after midnight.
The logins originated from a guest-suite laptop.
The suite belonged to Patricia Sterling whenever she stayed at the estate.
Patricia denied using the device.
Vanessa denied knowing the password.
Then Elena remembered something.
“Mrs. Sterling asked me to print her boarding pass from that laptop in January.”
“Did you log into payroll afterward?” Naomi asked.
“Yes. She said she needed help changing a staff breakfast order.”
Twenty-three years of trust turned into an entry point.
Adrian looked at Elena.
“I’m sorry.”
“For believing her?”
“For letting this happen in your workplace.”
That distinction mattered.
Then Rachel found a new document on the drive.
A draft prenuptial amendment.
It was not the version Adrian had signed.
This one added language granting Vanessa a Foundation board seat immediately upon marriage.
“I rejected that clause.”
Rachel compared signatures.
The page carried Adrian’s signature anyway.
“Is it yours?”
“It looks like mine.”
“It’s copied.”
“I’m leaving.”
Adrian said:
“No.”
“You can leave the house.”
“But the engagement is over.”
For one second, Vanessa looked genuinely stunned.
“You think this ends with me?”
Naomi watched her carefully.
Vanessa picked up her purse.
“Ask your sister what happened at Ashford House.”
Adrian’s face went white.
Naomi had never heard that name.
But Evelyn had.
May you like
And the old woman whispered:
“Oh, God.”
