“Yes.”
Miriam spoke.
“Vanessa, anything regarding the financial investigation should go through counsel.”
“I’m not here about money.”
She looked at me.
“I’m here because my sister wanted to watch me break.”
The words landed.
“Partly,” I said.
Miriam closed her eyes briefly.
Vanessa laughed in disbelief.
“At least you admit it.”
“You wanted me absent.”
“I wanted one peaceful day.”
“With the man who was engaged to me when you began seeing him.”
“He left you.”
“After sleeping with you.”
Her face changed.
“He said you were finished.”
“He slept in our apartment the week you were together in Aspen.”
“He said he was collecting things.”
“He came home, ate dinner with me, and slept in our bed.”
Vanessa looked toward the floor.
For the first time, I saw uncertainty.
“What else did he lie about?” she whispered.
“Ask Lena.”
Her mouth tightened.
“She sent that video.”
“Yes.”
“Did you meet her?”
“Yes.”
“Does she hate me?”
“She didn’t know you existed until recently.”
Vanessa sat in the hallway chair.
Miriam looked at me.
I stepped aside.
Vanessa entered but remained near the door.
She stared around my apartment.
“This is where you’ve been?”
“Yes.”
“Mother said you were living badly.”
“I live quietly.”
“She said you had no clients.”
“I have enough.”
“She said you were obsessed with us.”
“I investigated missing company assets.”
Vanessa laughed weakly.
“You always make everything sound professional.”
“You always make everything personal when documents become uncomfortable.”
Her eyes flashed.
Then faded.
“Was Adrian using me?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“He wrote that the marriage would make my fraud allegations look jealous.”
She began crying.
“Did he love me?”
“I don’t know.”
“You knew him longer.”
“That does not mean I understood him.”
“He said you were cold.”
“He said you understood ambition.”
“He said Mother believed I was a better match.”
“She did.”
Vanessa covered her face.
I watched my sister cry in the apartment she had never bothered to visit.
For years, I imagined this moment.
She would finally understand what she had taken.
I expected power.
