Chapter 5 - THE BRIDE WHO COULDN’T SLEEP
Vanessa did not sleep beside her new husband that night.
She waited until Daniel’s breathing deepened, took his phone from the charger, and entered the code she had watched him use. Most messages were gone. One encrypted thread remained under a single initial: R.
The Bennett woman is contained, Daniel had written before the fire.
The reply came two minutes later.
She was supposed to be gone before Vanessa saw her.
Vanessa’s hand began to shake.
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Looking for something?”
She nearly dropped the phone. “Why did you call Claire the Bennett woman?”
“Because that’s her name.”
“Who is R?”
He sat up slowly. “Give me the phone.”
“Why did someone want her gone before I saw her?”
Daniel’s expression changed—not to guilt, but calculation. “You’re letting a stranger frighten you.”
“She isn’t—” Vanessa stopped herself.
“Isn’t what?”
He held out his hand. The new wedding ring he had placed on her finger three days earlier suddenly felt like a locked door.
Vanessa returned the phone.
“Nothing.”
Daniel smiled. “Good.”
The next morning, Claire found Vanessa alone in the hotel conservatory. White orchids surrounded her like wedding flowers refusing to die.
Vanessa spoke without turning. “That necklace. Where did you get it?”
“I’ve always had it.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Vanessa faced her. “Take it off.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t belong to you.”
Claire felt a pulse of anger. “You recognized it.”
“It was mass-produced.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Vanessa’s composure fractured. “I am not afraid of you.”
“You should be afraid of Daniel.”
The words landed. Vanessa looked toward the doorway.
Claire told her about the shell companies, the forged signature, and Daniel’s visit to the state archives before their engagement. She did not mention the photograph or the message about the fire.
Vanessa recovered enough to sneer. “You expect me to believe my husband married you as part of some twelve-year plan?”
“Our husband,” Claire said. “Legally, he may still be mine.”
Vanessa slapped her.
The conservatory went silent.
Claire’s cheek burned, but she did not move.
Vanessa stared at her own hand as though horrified by what it had done. Then her gaze caught the pendant again.
“She wore it the night she died,” Vanessa whispered.
“Who?”
Vanessa backed away.
Daniel entered before she could answer.
He looked from Claire’s reddened cheek to Vanessa’s face and understood that something had shifted.
“The board reconvenes tomorrow,” he said. “Until then, neither of you speaks to the other.”
Claire almost laughed. He still believed command was the same as control.
May you like
But as he led Vanessa away, Vanessa looked over her shoulder and silently formed two words.
Room 1904.
