Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE DRESS
Vanessa Crowe was waiting for us in the hotel ballroom.
That should have frightened me.
Instead, the first thing I noticed was her dress.
White.
Perfect.
Expensive.
She looked as though she were attending a winter charity gala rather than holding my brother hostage.
Ethan sat at a table beside her.
No restraints.
No visible injuries.
But the moment he saw me, he stood.
“Claire.”
I started toward him.
Adrian caught my wrist.
Vanessa smiled.
“How touching.”
“Let him go,” I said.
“He came willingly.”
Ethan looked furious.
“She told me Mom is alive.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
Vanessa lifted her champagne glass.
“There it is.”
“Where is Rebecca?”
“Give me the ledger.”
“Where is she?”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“I am.”
Vanessa’s gaze shifted.
Something old and poisonous moved between them.
“You always did have a weakness for strays, Adrian.”
“And you always mistook cruelty for intelligence.”
Her eyes hardened.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“Your sister lied to you.”
Ethan’s face changed.
I moved toward him.
“Ethan—”
“She isn’t my sister, is she?”
The question hurt more than I expected.
“I’m your sister in every way that matters.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No.”
His eyes filled with confusion.
I continued quickly.
“Your mother asked mine to protect you.”
“From who?”
Vanessa smiled.
“From him.”
She pointed toward Adrian.
Ethan looked at Adrian.
I saw the family resemblance then.
The shape around their eyes.
The jaw.
How had I missed it?
Adrian said quietly:
“My brother Michael was your father.”
Ethan stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“For years.”
“Then why didn’t you find me?”
The question hit Adrian harder than anything Vanessa had said.
“I tried.”
“You didn’t try very hard.”
Vanessa interrupted.
“Enough family therapy.”
She extended one hand.
“The ledger.”
I had brought a flash drive.
Not the real ledger.
A copy containing enough truth to look convincing.
I placed it on the table.
Vanessa reached for it.
Then every light in the ballroom went dark.
Adrian pulled me against him.
A crash.
A shout.
Someone ran.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Ethan was gone.
So was Vanessa.
Adrian cursed.
His security team flooded the corridor.
Then I saw something on Ethan’s chair.
A folded cocktail napkin.
Three words written in hurried ink.
CLAIRE, TRUST ADRIAN.
Below that:
MOM ISN’T WITH VANESSA.
I looked at Adrian.
“Ethan wrote this.”
He took the napkin.
His face changed.
“What?”
Adrian slowly turned it over.
There was another message.
One sentence.
ASK HIM WHY HE VISITS REBECCA EVERY SUNDAY.
My eyes lifted.
May you like
“You know where she is.”
Adrian didn’t deny it.
