Chapter 5 - The Unraveling of Vanessa Cole
"It’s a fabrication!" Vanessa shrieked, her perfect face contorting in ugly, desperate rage as she pointed a manicured finger at me. "She’s a gold-digger trying to extort us! Adrian, tell them! Tell them she’s lying!"
Adrian didn't look at Vanessa. He was staring at the screen, his face pale, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscles pulsing.
He slowly turned to his mother. "Mother... did you do this?"
Victoria drew herself up to her full, haughty height, though her hands were shaking. "I did what was necessary to protect the Mercer legacy, Adrian! She was a nobody from the suburbs! She was holding you back! Vanessa is the daughter of an empire!"
"An empire of lies," Adrian whispered, his voice cracking with a deep, crushing realization. He turned to Vanessa, his eyes cold as ice. "You told me she blocked my number. You told me she took the two million dollars and went to France."
"Adrian, I did it for us!" Vanessa cried, reaching for his arm. "I love you! We have a life planned—"
"Get away from me," Adrian growled, flinging her hand off his sleeve. He turned to his security team. "Escort Miss Cole and my mother out of this building. They are no longer associated with Mercer Global. And their access to any corporate accounts is terminated, effective immediately."
The security guards, realizing the wind had shifted, immediately stepped forward, taking a sobbing Vanessa and a furious, shouting Victoria by their arms and leading them out of the grand ballroom under a barrage of flashing camera lights.
Adrian stood alone on the stage, the weight of five years of guilt and manipulation crashing down on his shoulders. He looked down at me, his eyes pleading.
May you like
"Claire... please," he whispered. "Let me make this right."
"You can't make five missed years right in a ballroom, Adrian," I said softly, turning my back on him. "I'll see you in court."
