Chapter 18 - THE FALSE VICTORY
Dominic arrived twenty minutes later.
Rebecca placed the payment list before him.
He went pale.
“It isn’t what you think.”
I almost laughed.
“That sentence should be engraved on your tombstone.”
He closed his eyes.
“I paid her.”
“For what?”
He looked at Chloe.
She looked away.
“Dominic.”
I leaned forward.
“What did your mother know?”
He remained silent.
Then he said,
“I had an affair.”
The words hit strangely.
Not like a knife.
More like the final brick falling from a ruined building.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“How long?”
“Six weeks.”
“With who?”
He looked toward Chloe.
My sister-in-law whispered,
“Amanda.”
I stared at her.
Then at him.
Amanda.
The woman who tried to plant the ring.
The woman who claimed Chloe ordered everything.
The woman investigators believed had turned against the family.
Dominic’s eyes filled.
“It ended.”
“Before or after I got pregnant?”
“Before.”
“How long before?”
“Ten months.”
I laughed softly.
One month before we began trying for a baby.
Perfect.
“My mother found out.”
He continued.
“She took photos.”
“Of course she did.”
“She threatened to tell you unless I helped with the family debts.”
“So you paid her.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Almost two million over eighteen months.”
My breath caught.
“Where did you get two million dollars?”
His face answered before his voice did.
“The development account.”
The missing money.
The failed project.
The debt.
Everything connected.
He had not simply made a bad investment.
He had drained his own company to buy his mother’s silence.
Then borrowed more.
Then needed my assets.
Then tolerated the plan to pressure me.
A chain of cowardice leading directly to that ballroom.
I stood.
“We’re done.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I looked into his eyes.
“I mean there is nothing left for you to explain.”
He cried silently.
“I know.”
Chloe wiped her face.
“There’s another problem.”
I turned.
“Amanda recorded them.”
“Recorded who?”
“Dominic and Mom.”
Dominic’s head snapped toward her.
“What?”
Chloe nodded.
“She told me after the wedding.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Against the family.
Against Dominic.
Against anyone who tried to blame her.
Amanda had claimed she was merely following Chloe’s instructions.
But she had known more.
Much more.
Investigators searched her apartment.
They found nothing.
Amanda had been staying at a hotel.
Gone.
Phone off.
Passport gone.
Rebecca immediately called the prosecutor.
By evening, Amanda was officially considered a material witness at risk of flight.
Then Eleanor’s attorney filed an emergency motion.
His claim was simple.
Amanda was the only witness directly connecting Eleanor to the ring conspiracy.
Amanda had vanished.
Without her, Eleanor argued the prosecution had fabricated the story.
For several hours, it looked like a small victory for Eleanor.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I nearly ignored it.
Something stopped me.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Amanda whispered,
“Vivienne?”
I sat straighter.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Police are looking for you.”
“I know.”
“Then come back.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
She started crying.
“Because Eleanor knows I recorded her.”
My pulse quickened.
“Recorded what?”
Amanda’s breathing shook.
“Not the wedding.”
A pause.
“Your mother.”
I stopped breathing.
“You weren’t alive when my mother died.”
“I know.”
“The recording isn’t mine.”
“Whose is it?”
Amanda whispered,
“Dominic’s father.”
May you like
Richard.
Then the call disconnected.
