Chapter 11 - The Betrayal Nobody Expected
Vanessa entered the study with two security guards behind her.
Her face was pale, but her voice was steady.
“You need to leave,” she said.
Alex stepped in front of Elena.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Richard sent me.”
Elena stared at her.
“You're working for him?”
“I was.”
Vanessa looked toward the metal case.
“Give him the documents. He'll leave you alone.”
Alex laughed in disbelief.
“You called him after I ended our engagement. You told him where we were going.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“My father is in debt. Richard promised to erase everything if I helped him.”
“So you sold us out?”
“I didn't know what he intended to do!”
Elena studied her carefully.
Vanessa seemed genuinely frightened. Her hands were shaking, and she kept glancing toward the hallway.
“Where is Richard?” Elena asked.
“At the estate gate.”
“Then why haven't you brought him here?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because he told me to keep you occupied until his men arrived.”
A sharp sound echoed outside.
One of the guards turned toward the window.
Vanessa suddenly grabbed the metal case.
“Run!”
Alex seized the cassette recorder while Elena snatched the ledger. They raced through a narrow passage behind the study, following Vanessa into a servants' corridor.
“Why are you helping us?” Alex demanded.
“Because I finally saw what your father is willing to do.”
“Richard isn't my father in any way that matters.”
Vanessa stopped at a cellar door and turned to him.
“There's something you need to know. Richard ordered my father to arrange an accident for Elena.”
Elena froze.
“When?”
“Tonight. During the drive back to Manhattan.”
Alex's face twisted with fury.
“You knew this and still came here?”
“I came to stop it!”
She opened the cellar door.
Beyond it lay a tunnel that led to the old carriage house.
They escaped moments before Richard's men entered the study.
Outside, Alex called Margaret and arranged for the documents to be copied and sent to federal investigators.
But before they could reach the road, a black SUV blocked the driveway.
Richard stepped out.
He held a gun.
“Put the case down,” he ordered.
Alex moved in front of Elena.
“It's over.”
Richard laughed.
“Nothing is over until I say it is.”
“You're going to prison.”
“Perhaps. But not before I settle this family matter.”
He aimed the weapon at Elena.
“Your grandfather should have let you remain a nobody.”
Alex raised his hands.
“Take me instead.”
Richard's eyes flickered.
For one brief second, something almost like regret crossed his face.
Then he pointed the gun at Alex.
“You were always my greatest disappointment.”
A shot rang through the night.
Elena screamed.
Alex collapsed.
And as she dropped beside him, Richard turned toward the guards.
“Get the case,” he ordered.
But Vanessa stepped into his path, holding a second weapon.
“Not another step.”
Richard stared at her.
Then he smiled.
“You really are your mother's daughter.”
Vanessa's hands shook.
“Don't move.”
Richard lowered his gun.
“Ask her what happened to your mother, Alex.”
Alex lay bleeding on the ground, struggling to breathe.
Vanessa's face crumpled.
May you like
Because she knew the answer.
And she had been hiding it for years.
