Chapter 5 - Unraveling the Web
Vanessa took a step back, her back pressing against the bookshelves. "You're insane! I loved Claire! I took care of Lily when she was crying her eyes out every night!"
"You took care of Lily to keep an eye on this house," Adrian said, standing up slowly. His imposing height cast a long shadow across the room. "You were selling information to Dominic Moretti. Claire caught you transferring funds, didn't she? She found out you were giving them our logistics routes."
"No!" Vanessa shouted, though tears of rage began to spill down her cheeks.
"Where were you the night Claire died, Vanessa?" Adrian’s voice was like ice. "You claimed you were at the grocery store in town. But the security logs showed your car left the north gate five minutes after Claire left. You followed her."
Margaret looked up at her daughter in absolute horror, her face turning gray. "Vanessa... tell him he’s wrong. Tell him you didn't do this!"
Vanessa looked at her mother, then back at Adrian. The delicate, sorrowful persona she had worn for eleven months dissolved entirely, replaced by a bitter, sharp sneer.
"She was going to ruin everything!" Vanessa spat, her voice dropping into a harsh venomous pitch. "I worked in this house for ten years! I cleaned up after your family, I scheduled your life, I did everything for you! And what did I get? A servant's wage while Claire lived like a queen!"
Margaret gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Vanessa, no..."
"Dominic Moretti offered me real money!" Vanessa continued, no longer hiding her contempt. "Millions! All I had to do was give him your schedule. But Claire caught me logged into your private server. She threatened to tell you. If she told you, you would have killed me, Adrian! I had no choice!"
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"So you cut her brake lines," Adrian said, his voice terrifyingly calm despite the storm raging inside him.
"I did what I had to do to survive!" Vanessa screamed. "And I would do it again!"
