Chapter 10 - Vanessa
Vanessa Grant lived in Miami under a different last name.
Rebecca learned that on Saturday morning.
She also learned Vanessa had an eleven-year-old daughter.
Margaret placed the photograph on the table.
Rebecca stared at the child.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A familiar smile.
Her chest tightened.
“No.”
Margaret did not speak.
Rebecca looked at her.
“How old?”
“Eleven.”
Rebecca did the math.
Daniel had traveled to Miami constantly twelve years earlier.
He claimed Mercer Strategic was opening a regional division.
That division never opened.
Rebecca sat down slowly.
“Does Daniel have another child?”
“We don't know.”
Rebecca stared at the photograph.
For years, she had prepared herself for evidence of infidelity.
She had not prepared for a second family.
Thomas arrived shortly after noon.
Rebecca showed him the picture.
He swore quietly.
“Have you contacted Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Are you going to?”
Rebecca looked at Margaret.
“I want the truth.”
Margaret nodded.
“I can arrange a meeting.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No lawyers.”
“Rebecca.”
“I need to speak to her woman to woman.”
Thomas frowned.
“That may not be wise.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“I have spent twenty-three years hearing Daniel's version of every story.”
She picked up the photograph.
“I am done hearing his version first.”
Vanessa agreed to a video call that evening.
Her face appeared on Rebecca's laptop at seven.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Vanessa looked older than Rebecca remembered.
Tired.
Guarded.
“Hello, Rebecca.”
“Hello, Vanessa.”
Vanessa looked away.
“I always wondered if this day would come.”
Rebecca felt something cold move through her.
“Is Lily Daniel's daughter?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The answer was quiet.
The effect was enormous.
Rebecca did not cry.
She gripped the edge of the table.
“How long?”
“Daniel and I were involved for two years.”
“While you worked for him?”
“Yes.”
“While I was married to him?”
Vanessa nodded.
Rebecca swallowed.
“Does Lily know?”
“She knows her father travels.”
Rebecca stared.
“He visits her?”
“Sometimes.”
“How often?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Not enough.”
Rebecca looked down.
Suddenly Daniel's unexplained weekends made sense.
The Miami expenses.
The conference extensions.
The secret account.
“What was the money?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Support.”
“Three million dollars?”
“It wasn't all for us.”
Rebecca looked up sharply.
“What do you mean?”
Vanessa took a breath.
“Daniel used Cobalt for other payments.”
“What payments?”
“I don't know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
Vanessa leaned toward the camera.
“Daniel has been hiding losses for years.”
Rebecca went still.
Vanessa continued.
“He moved money through Cobalt because he didn't want the board or lenders to see where it was going.”
“Where was it going?”
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Private investments.”
Rebecca frowned.
“What kind?”
Vanessa looked frightened now.
“The kind that failed.”
Rebecca's heartbeat quickened.
“How much did he lose?”
Vanessa answered after a long silence.
“At least twelve million.”
Rebecca stopped breathing for a moment.
The company debt suddenly looked different.
Daniel had not borrowed to save Mercer Strategic.
May you like
He had borrowed to cover what he had already lost.
And if Vanessa was right, Friday's crisis had only exposed the first layer.
