Chapter 13 - WHY DANIEL CHOSE VANESSA
Aaron Pike agreed to speak only after my attorney contacted him.
He sounded terrified.
Not of Daniel.
Of being dragged into litigation.
According to Aaron, Daniel had approached him the previous spring.
He asked about Vanessa.
Was she dating anyone?
Was she financially stable?
How bad was the custody dispute?
At first, Aaron thought Daniel was simply curious because the three had gone to high school together.
Then Daniel asked him to arrange a casual dinner where Vanessa would be present.
Aaron did.
Weeks later, Daniel paid Aaron’s consulting company.
Aaron insisted the payment was for legitimate marketing work.
Maybe some of it was.
But the timing was impossible to ignore.
Why would Daniel deliberately reconnect with Vanessa?
The answer emerged from DNB records.
Vanessa’s family owned property.
Her father had passed away three years earlier, leaving her and her sister partial ownership of two small apartment buildings in Indiana.
Vanessa had never considered herself wealthy because the properties were tied up in a family partnership.
Daniel knew.
He had researched them.
We found a spreadsheet titled POTENTIAL CAPITAL SOURCES.
Robert.
Mark.
Me.
Vanessa.
Her family.
Daniel had not simply fallen into an affair with a vulnerable woman.
At some point, he had started viewing her as another possible source of money.
Vanessa cried when I told her.
“He said he loved me.”
I did not know how to answer.
Maybe he did.
People are capable of loving someone and using them at the same time.
That was something I had learned the hard way.
Then Vanessa remembered a conversation.
Daniel had repeatedly encouraged her to sell her share in one of the apartment buildings.
“He said property management was too stressful.”
“What did he want you to do with the money?”
“Invest with him.”
Of course.
She never did.
Her sister refused.
That refusal may have saved her.
The case against Daniel’s financial behavior expanded.
The trust estate demanded repayment.
Mark filed suit.
Robert sought recovery of family funds.
My divorce attorney pursued my share of marital assets and protections for my premarital home.
DNB collapsed.
Within months, Daniel was forced to sell almost everything associated with the business.
The furniture.
The vehicle.
His investments.
Even the charcoal coat disappeared from his closet.
I never asked where it went.
Then one evening, Daniel called.
I almost ignored it.
Something made me answer.
“Emily.”
He sounded different.
Tired.
Small.
“What do you want?”
“I’m outside.”
I looked through the window.
His car was parked across the street.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
“Then leave.”
“I found something.”
I said nothing.
“It belongs to you.”
“What?”
“Come outside.”
“No.”
He paused.
Then said:
“It’s from your grandmother.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
My grandmother had died six years earlier.
And Daniel had never mentioned possessing anything of hers.
