Chapter 6 - THE SECOND MARRIAGE
Nobody spoke.
Then Noah said the word all of us were thinking.
“What?”
Derek laughed.
It was a terrible laugh.
Too loud.
Too fast.
“Vanessa has lost her mind.”
Vanessa backed toward the wall.
“You told me Elena was your wife.”
“She’s not.”
“You showed me the pictures!”
Daniel raised one hand.
“Stop. One at a time.”
I looked at Derek.
“We’re married.”
“Yes.”
“For eleven years.”
“Yes.”
“So who is Elena Ward?”
“A former client.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Derek turned on her.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know you have a house with her in Scottsdale.”
Marcus immediately pulled out his phone.
Derek went still.
That was all the confirmation we needed.
“Arizona?” Marcus asked.
Vanessa nodded.
“North Scottsdale. Big place. White stone. Pool.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stared at Derek.
“Are you legally married to Elena?”
“No.”
“Were you ever?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Vanessa you were?”
“No.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Wow.”
Then she looked at me.
“He told me you were the fake wife.”
The sentence landed harder than anything else that night.
I almost didn’t understand it.
“What?”
“He said you two were basically separated. He said you stayed married because of Sophie and because your family had connections.”
Derek shook his head.
“She’s making this up.”
“He told me Elena was his real relationship.”
My chest tightened.
Vanessa continued, almost angrily now.
“And he told Elena that I was his assistant.”
Luke rubbed his forehead.
“This is getting complicated.”
“No,” Daniel said. “It’s getting documented.”
Marcus had found something.
He turned his phone around.
A property record.
A home in Scottsdale purchased eighteen months ago by an LLC.
The registered manager was Elena Ward.
The mailing address?
Derek’s company headquarters.
I felt dizzy.
“How much is the house?”
Marcus searched.
“Roughly two million.”
Derek pointed at him.
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“No,” Marcus agreed.
“But this might.”
He enlarged another record.
A mortgage document.
The co-borrower line contained Derek’s full legal name.
My husband had signed it.
Sixteen months ago.
On the same weekend he told Sophie and me he was attending a conference in Denver.
Sophie looked up at me.
“Mommy, are we going home?”
Her question almost broke me.
Because she was standing inside our house.
And she already didn’t feel safe.
I crouched beside her.
“We’re going somewhere safe tonight.”
Derek’s head snapped up.
“You’re not taking her.”
“I am.”
“I’m her father.”
“And I’m her mother.”
“You walk out that door with her and I’ll call the police.”
Luke finally lost his calm expression.
Not anger.
Something colder.
“You are allowed to report whatever you want, Derek.”
Derek swallowed.
Luke continued.
“But if officers arrive, they are going to see the mark on Sophie’s wrist. They are going to see the video of Vanessa grabbing her. They are going to hear that you threatened an eight-year-old with removal from her home.”
“I never touched her.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
Derek looked trapped.
Then his phone rang.
Nobody moved.
He checked the screen.
And for the first time all evening, I saw genuine panic.
He declined the call.
Three seconds later, it rang again.
Daniel looked at him.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
The phone buzzed a third time.
This time a message appeared on the lock screen.
I was close enough to read it.
DEREK, WHY IS CLAIRE AT THE HOUSE?
My blood turned cold.
He quickly flipped the phone over.
Too late.
I looked around the room.
Nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa whispered something that made my skin crawl.
“That’s Elena.”
I stared at her.
“How would Elena know I’m here?”
Vanessa looked toward the ceiling.
Toward the cameras.
May you like
Then slowly back at Derek.
“Because those aren’t the only cameras in this house.”
