Chapter 7 - THE WEDDING THAT NEVER HAPPENED
The wedding was supposed to take place on Saturday.
The venue had been booked for months. The flowers had been ordered. Invitations had gone out to two hundred guests.
Vanessa had chosen ivory roses and pale gold decorations.
She had even selected a special chair for Lily near the front.
I canceled everything.
The venue manager was sympathetic. The florist offered to redirect the flowers to a hospital. I told them to donate them to a children's ward.
Then I received a message from Vanessa's lawyer.
She wanted to meet.
Thomas advised against it.
“You don't owe her a conversation.”
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
“Because I want to hear what she says when she can't hide behind a text message.”
The meeting took place in a law office with Thomas and Detective Morgan present.
Vanessa entered wearing a cream coat and no engagement ring.
She looked tired.
For one brief second, I remembered the woman who had sat beside my hospital bed after my accident, reading to me when I couldn't sleep.
Then I remembered the video.
She sat opposite me.
“Daniel.”
I said nothing.
She looked at my wrist brace.
“Are you healing?”
“Why do you care?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because I loved you.”
Detective Morgan watched her carefully.
I leaned forward.
“You pushed my wheelchair toward the stairs after I told you to stop.”
“I panicked.”
“You checked the hallway first.”
“I was trying to get you downstairs safely.”
“You put a tracking device under my chair.”
“I was worried you might fall when I wasn't there.”
“You photographed Emily's will.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
She looked at Thomas.
“This is ridiculous. Daniel is being influenced by people who don't understand our relationship.”
I almost smiled.
There it was again.
The same old trick.
Make me sound confused.
Make everyone question what I remembered.
I looked directly at her.
“I have the video.”
She swallowed.
“I know.”
“I have the messages with Peter.”
Her lips parted.
“I can explain those.”
“Then explain this. Why did you tell him that if I got worse, you wouldn't need my signature?”
She looked down.
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Then she whispered, “I was desperate.”
“For what?”
“To secure a future.”
“You had a future. I was going to marry you.”
“You were never going to let me make decisions.”
“I was not going to let you control my daughter's trust.”
Her head snapped up.
“That's what this is about? Money?”
“No. It's about you trying to hurt me because you couldn't get what you wanted.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
“You think you're innocent? You made me feel like a nurse. Like a servant. Everything was about your injury, your daughter, your dead wife.”
I stared at her.
“You were free to leave.”
“You made me promise I wouldn't.”
“I asked you to love us. I never asked you to push me down a staircase.”
Her eyes filled again, but I no longer trusted the tears.
Detective Morgan closed her notebook.
“That's enough for today.”
Vanessa stood.
At the door, she turned toward me.
“You'll regret this.”
May you like
I looked at her.
“No. I regret not seeing you sooner.”
