The Woman in Red
Chapter 02 - The Woman in Red
Nurse Maya Bennett arrived within seconds, followed by the estate physician. They moved Olivia onto a padded stretcher and checked the baby’s heartbeat in the private suite. The steady rhythm filled the room, and Adrian finally released the breath he had been holding. Olivia was bruised and shaken, but the baby appeared stable.
Vanessa waited outside, still performing the role of a frightened witness. She told security that Olivia had become emotional, accused her of stealing Adrian, and lunged first. It was a polished story, detailed enough to sound rehearsed.
Adrian listened without interrupting. Then he asked Daniel Price, his head of security, to pull the footage from the front hall.
Daniel returned ten minutes later with a troubled expression. “The camera was active,” he said, “but the recording is corrupted. There’s a gap from 3:14 to 3:21.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes, hiding what looked almost like relief.
Olivia heard the news from her bed and felt a colder fear than the pain in her side. The attack had happened at 3:17. Someone had known exactly which minutes to erase. Vanessa had not come to the mansion in a moment of anger. She had come with a plan.
Adrian ordered the gates locked and every employee interviewed. Vanessa protested that she was being treated like a criminal, then reminded him that her family still held shares in Cole Meridian. She warned that detaining her would create a scandal before the company’s upcoming merger vote.
“You walked into my home without an appointment,” Adrian replied. “My wife was injured three minutes later. I’m not worried about appearances.”
His words should have reassured Olivia, yet she noticed the tension in his shoulders. Cole Meridian’s board had been divided for months, and Vanessa controlled enough votes to threaten the merger that would protect thousands of jobs. She had chosen the perfect moment to make herself dangerous.
Before leaving under escort, Vanessa paused at Olivia’s doorway. Adrian was speaking with the doctor and did not see the look she gave Olivia.
It was not fear. It was a promise.
That night, Olivia could not sleep. She remembered Vanessa mentioning the foundation and the missing money. Two weeks earlier, while reviewing grant reports, Olivia had found several transfers to a medical charity she had never heard of. She had planned to show Adrian after the merger vote.
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Now she understood that the attack was connected to more than jealousy.
She reached for her laptop, but the folder containing the financial reports was gone.
