Chapter 14 - The Confession
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Claire’s hidden recording continued.
“You’re threatening me?” Claire asked.
“I’m giving you a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Leave Ethan. Leave Noah. Take money and disappear.”
“He’s my son.”
“He is not your son.”
“He is the child I carried. The child I fed. The child I love.”
Vanessa’s recorded voice turned cold.
“He has my blood.”
Claire answered quietly.
“Blood doesn’t make you his mother.”
The recording crackled.
Then Vanessa said:
“You should be careful driving home tonight.”
Silence filled the boardroom.
Vanessa reached for the memory card.
Maya slapped her hand away.
“Don’t.”
Vanessa’s mask finally broke.
“You stupid little maid.”
“There she is.”
“You think Claire loved you?”
Maya stepped closer.
“She trusted me.”
“She used you.”
“No.”
“She knew you’d protect her secrets because people like you are desperate to feel important.”
Maya’s voice stayed calm.
“You tried to murder a baby just to frame me.”
“I never wanted Noah hurt!”
Ethan froze.
So did Vanessa.
Maya stared at her.
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa realized what she had said.
Her lawyer whispered, “Stop talking.”
Maya took another step.
“You never wanted him hurt?”
Vanessa looked at the recorder clipped to her jacket.
Too late.
“You loosened the stroller brake.”
“No.”
“You jammed the cameras.”
“No.”
“You packed my suitcase.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“I needed you gone!”
There it was.
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“Why?”
Vanessa turned toward him.
“Because she had Claire’s evidence!”
Her attorney stood.
“Ms. Hart, do not say another word.”
But years of control were collapsing at once.
Vanessa pointed at Maya.
“She was always there! Claire trusted her. Noah trusted her. You trusted her more than me!”
Ethan stared.
“So you framed her.”
“I gave you a reason to remove her.”
“You pushed my son into a pool.”
“The stroller was supposed to stop at the edge!”
Maya felt sick.
“You loosened the brake.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
The boardroom doors opened.
Officer Randall walked inside.
Vanessa looked at Ethan.
“You set me up.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Maya looked toward the recording device on Vanessa’s jacket.
“You set yourself up.”
Vanessa ran.
She shoved a lawyer into Randall and sprinted through the conference-room doors.
Brooks chased her.
She reached the elevator.
Locked.
She turned toward the stairs.
Ethan followed.
“Vanessa!”
She ran upward instead of down.
Toward the roof.
By the time they reached her, she stood near the edge.
Wind whipped through her hair.
Police spread out.
“Stay back!” Vanessa screamed.
Ethan stopped.
“This is over.”
“No.”
“It is.”
Vanessa looked at him.
For the first time, she looked truly terrified.
“I’m Noah’s mother.”
Ethan’s voice was calm.
“No. You are his biological parent.”
Her face crumpled.
“You can’t erase me.”
“I won’t erase the truth.”
“I created him.”
“And Claire gave him love.”
Vanessa cried.
“I loved him too.”
Maya stepped forward.
“Then why was he underwater?”
Vanessa looked at her.
No answer.
Police moved closer.
Vanessa backed toward the edge.
Then she whispered one final thing.
“You still don’t know who pushed Claire’s car.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
May you like
Vanessa smiled through her tears.
“I wasn’t driving the other car.”
