Chapter 7 - The Call From Vanessa
Helen was missing.
Her car remained at home.
Her phone was turned off.
Police searched the mansion.
No sign of her.
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Vanessa.
“Where is she?”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“Who?”
“Helen.”
“Careful, Ethan. Accusing people without evidence can make you look unstable.”
“You threatened her family.”
“Can you prove that?”
Ethan clenched his fist.
Vanessa’s voice softened.
“You have a beautiful little boy.”
Ethan went cold.
“If you ever mention my son again—”
“There it is.”
Vanessa laughed.
“That temper.”
Ethan realized she was recording him.
So he changed instantly.
His voice became calm.
“What do you want?”
For the first time, Vanessa paused.
She preferred angry Ethan.
Calm Ethan frightened her.
“Resign as trustee,” she said. “Withdraw your challenge. Publicly apologize for attacking me.”
“And Helen?”
“Maybe people who stop causing problems stop having problems.”
The call ended.
Naomi had listened from across the room.
“That was almost a confession.”
“Almost isn’t enough.”
Then Ethan received another call.
A hospital.
Helen had been found unconscious beside a rural road twenty miles away.
She was alive.
Hours later, Ethan sat beside her hospital bed.
Helen opened her eyes.
“She took the book.”
“Vanessa?”
Helen nodded.
“But she doesn’t understand it.”
“What do you mean?”
Helen struggled to speak.
“Arthur knew.”
“Knew what?”
“About the money.”
Ethan leaned closer.
Helen whispered four words.
“Eleven point eight million.”
Then she closed her eyes.
Ethan looked at Naomi.
May you like
This was no longer only about inheritance.
Somewhere inside Arthur’s blue ledger was evidence Vanessa was desperate enough to terrorize a child, threaten a witness, and destroy her own family to hide.
