CHAPTER SIX #2
Alyssa looked at the window. The restaurant’s red awning striped the sidewalk below.
“It exists.”
“Good. Send copies of every new incident to my office. Use an account Damian cannot access through estate systems. Change your personal passwords from a device outside the house.”
“You believe he would monitor me?”
“I believe Vanessa has already reached material she should not possess. I don’t need to accuse your husband to recommend caution.”
Martin opened the fertility screenshots. “Who knew these details?”
Alyssa gave him the list.
“Ask Dr Levin’s office for an access audit,” he said. “Quietly. I’ll contact the foundation’s insurer and determine whether prior administrators retained credentials.”
“Without naming Vanessa?”
“For now.”
The qualification settled badly.
Everyone required proof. Martin differed only because he helped her obtain it.
When Alyssa returned to the estate, Damian’s mother sat in the library drinking tea with Vanessa.
Elena Vader had arranged herself on the center sofa in ivory silk and pearls. Her silver hair remained perfectly smooth despite the humidity. She treated age as a negotiation she had no intention of losing.
Vanessa sat beside her with Sophie on the rug near their feet.
“Alyssa,” Elena said. “You look exhausted.”
“Good afternoon to you too.”
“I have been dealing with the press.”
“That would explain the improvement.”
Elena ignored the remark. “I told them the family is united.”
“Which family?”
Damian entered from the terrace before his mother answered.
He had changed into a dark suit for a board dinner. Alyssa had forgotten the event until she saw the tie she had selected for him that morning.
“Alyssa,” he said. “Where were you?”
“At the foundation.”
The lie came easily enough to frighten her.
Vanessa poured tea into an empty cup. “Elena was telling Sophie about Damian as a boy.”
“He kept frogs in the bathtub,” Elena said.
“One frog,” Damian replied.
“Five.”
“They escaped from the same bucket.”
Sophie laughed.
Alyssa set her handbag on the desk. “I’m going upstairs.”
“Stay for dinner,” Elena said. “We’ve barely seen you.”
The invitation sounded generous in Alyssa’s own library.
“I have work.”
“Work can wait.”
“Mine rarely does.”
Damian’s eyes followed her. “We should eat together.”
Alyssa considered refusing. Vanessa would translate the decision into isolation, instability or cruelty toward Sophie. Damian would call dinner an opportunity to lower the temperature.
“Fine.”
The dining room table seated sixteen. Carmen set five places at one end to avoid making the meal resemble a board meeting.
Elena occupied Damian’s right. Vanessa sat opposite his mother. Alyssa found herself beside Sophie, which may have been Carmen’s attempt to protect the child from adult conversation.
For most of the first course, Elena discussed press strategy.
“The story will disappear after the weekend,” she said. “People have limited attention.”
“Unless another family statement revives it,” Alyssa replied.
Vanessa lowered her fork. “I apologized.”
“I heard.”
Elena looked between them. “Vanessa was defending you.”
“She published private details.”
“Already published details.”
Damian put down his glass. “Mother.”
“I’m merely saying intent matters.”
“It mattered more before the fifth headline,” Alyssa said.
Elena’s lips tightened. “Pain makes people ungenerous.”
Vanessa touched the stem of her water glass. “Please don’t blame Alyssa. I cannot imagine how exposed she feels.”
Alyssa looked at her plate.
The fish had been served with fennel and lemon. She had chosen the menu last month because Elena complained about garlic.
Vanessa continued in a softer voice. “There was a time when I thought Damian and I would have children.”
Damian’s hand stopped beside his glass.
Sophie looked at her mother. “With Damian?”
“No, darling. Long before you were born.”
Elena reached for her wine.
Alyssa waited for her to stop the conversation.
She did not.
Vanessa smiled at Sophie. “We were engaged. We made foolish plans because we were young.”
“What plans?” Sophie asked.
“A house near the water. Children. A dog Damian didn’t want.”
“I like dogs,” Damian said.
“You hated my spaniel.”
“Your spaniel ate one of my shoes.”
“He had excellent taste.”
Elena laughed.
The sound loosened an old memory among them. Vanessa’s face warmed. Damian looked briefly younger, surprised by a past detail he had forgotten.
Alyssa placed her napkin beside the plate.
“Excuse me.”
Damian pushed back his chair. “Alyssa.”
“I have work.”
Vanessa’s expression changed to concern. “Did I upset you?”
“You discussed expecting my husband’s children at dinner after releasing my fertility history.”
Elena drew herself upright. “That is an unfair connection.”
“Of course you think so.”
“Do not speak to me in that tone.”
Damian stood. “Mother, stop.”
Vanessa looked stricken. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“You have spent days proving that,” Alyssa said.
Sophie’s fork struck the plate.
Alyssa regretted the remark at once. The girl’s eyes had fixed on her mother.
Vanessa noticed too.
She reached for Sophie’s hand. “Mrs Vader is angry with me. Adults sometimes say harsh things when they’re hurting.”
The explanation recast Alyssa’s criticism as a symptom.
Damian walked around the table. “Come with me.”
“I know where the door is.”
“Alyssa.”
His hand remained at his side. The authority came from his voice and everyone else’s silence.
She left the dining room without him.
Upstairs, Alyssa unlocked her office and checked the medical cabinet.
The lowest drawer stood open by half an inch.
She had closed it after photographing the folders that morning.
Alyssa pulled the drawer out.
The files appeared undisturbed. Her fertility records sat beneath a folder of insurance claims, edges aligned. Nothing had been removed.
A pale crescent marked the dust on the brass handle.
Foundation staff used the office during weekday meetings. Carmen entered to clean. Damian had access.
Vanessa’s temporary card did not open the door.
Alyssa examined the lock. No scratches. No damage.
Footsteps crossed the outer room.
She closed the drawer and moved behind the office door.
Vanessa entered holding a water glass.
The woman stopped when she saw Alyssa.
“I thought this was the bathroom.”
“The bathroom is beside the family room.”
Vanessa looked around. “I’m sorry.”
“You said that about the library.”
“I get turned around.”
“You photographed my records.”
Vanessa’s hand tightened around the glass. “What?”
“The fertility files.”
Shock arrived first. Hurt followed.
“You think I leaked them?”
“I think you knew the number of treatment cycles before your statement.”
“It was online.”
“Which article?”
“I deleted the post. I can’t find it now.”
“The post included details from a paper consultation note.”
Vanessa backed toward the door. “I shouldn’t be in here.”
“No.”
Alyssa took out her phone and opened the recorder.
Vanessa watched the screen.
Her expression altered so quickly that Alyssa nearly missed it. Fear disappeared. Calculation took its place.
“Tell me what you did,” Alyssa said.
Vanessa looked toward the outer room.
“Photographed the files,” Alyssa continued. “Used Damian’s security code. Planted my bracelet.”
Vanessa’s shoulders lowered.
“You cannot prove what happened in this room.”
The answer was quiet.
Alyssa kept the phone between them. “What happened in this room?”
“You leave more open than you realize.”
“You photographed my medical records.”
Vanessa glanced at the screen.
A smile touched one corner of her mouth. “I saw a folder. That is all you can prove.”
“Did you send the records to the anonymous account?”
“Private information remains private only while everyone around you wants to protect it.”
Alyssa’s grip tightened on the phone. “Why?”
“You have spent eleven years inside a life built for me.”
“Damian built this life with me.”
“He built the house before he met you.”
“I designed half of it.”
“You changed the finishes.”
“I changed the plans.”
Vanessa came closer. “You believe that matters to people outside this room?”
“It matters to Damian.”
“Does it?”
The question struck with more precision than anger.
Alyssa held her ground. “You will leave today.”
“Damian will ask for proof.”
“I’m recording you.”
Vanessa looked at the phone.
Her face crumpled.
“Please,” she said loudly. “Don’t threaten Sophie.”
Alyssa stared at her.
Vanessa backed into the outer office, raising both hands. “I’ll leave. I promise. Please don’t take her from me.”
Footsteps came fast from the corridor.
Damian entered.
He saw Vanessa pressed against the desk, tears on her cheeks. He saw Alyssa holding the phone.
“What happened?”
Vanessa shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Alyssa?”
“She admitted photographing the medical records.”
“No.” Vanessa’s voice broke. “I said I saw files because the cabinet was open. She told me she could make sure I lost Sophie.”
Alyssa looked at the recording timer.
Seventeen seconds.
Vanessa had waited until the useful words were spoken before changing the scene.
“Play it,” Damian said.
Alyssa stopped the recording.
The file ended with Vanessa begging her not to threaten Sophie.
The admission had come before Alyssa pressed the button.
She checked the screen, though she already knew.
Damian held out his hand. “Let me hear it.”
Alyssa did not give him the phone.
Vanessa covered her face.
“Please don’t make this worse,” she whispered.
Damian stepped between them.
For the first time since Vanessa arrived, he positioned his body as though Alyssa were the threat.