Chapter 6 - The Three Women Were Not Who They SeemedThe next morning, the three women from the ceremony returned.
Not together.
One at a time.
Vanessa arrived first.
Without makeup.
Without jewelry.
Without her usual polished smile.
“I need to speak to Emma.”
Alexander refused.
Vanessa pushed past security.
“I know what your mother is doing.”
Alexander stopped.
“What do you know?”
Vanessa looked directly at me.
“Your mother contacted my father six months ago.”
“For what?”
“She wanted access to the Calder Foundation.”
Alexander frowned.
“Why?”
Vanessa’s hands shook.
“Because the foundation owns thirty percent of a company currently investigating Sterling International.”
I stared.
“So this marriage ceremony was business.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You think I wanted to marry Alexander?”
Alexander looked offended.
She continued.
“Your mother told my family that if I married you, we would receive a controlling interest in three Sterling properties.”
Alexander’s face went dark.
“And Noah?”
“She said your son had to publicly accept me.”
I looked at him.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“But there was another reason.”
“What?”
“Your mother wanted Noah photographed choosing me.”
Alexander said nothing.
“Why?”
“To make a trust clause activate.”
That stopped everything.
Vanessa looked at me.
“The trust requires Noah to publicly identify a future maternal guardian before he turns six.”
I felt cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn't.”
Alexander’s face had gone rigid.
“Who told you?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Your father's lawyer.”
“The dead one?”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“He changed his name.”
Before Alexander could question her, Madeline appeared at the doorway.
“I can confirm it.”
Vanessa looked annoyed.
Madeline entered.
“I was told the same thing.”
Then Claire arrived.
She closed the door behind her.
“And I was told something worse.”
Alexander looked at all three women.
“What?”
Claire stared at me.
“Your mother believed Emma would disappear before the ceremony.”
Silence.
I felt a chill.
“She knew about me?”
“She knew exactly who you were.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Why?”
Claire replied:
“Because she had Emma investigated.”
I remembered the strange phone calls.
The anonymous messages.
The feeling of being watched.
It all made sense.
But then Madeline placed a thin folder on the table.
“This is what I found.”
Inside was my employment application.
Except it wasn't mine.
The signature had been forged.
The employment agency listed on the form didn't exist.
The references were fabricated.
Alexander looked at me.
“You weren't hired.”
“No.”
“Then how did you enter this house?”
I looked down.
“I received a letter.”
“From whom?”
“I didn't know.”
“What did it say?”
I remembered.
Three sentences.
A child needs you.
A woman is watching.
Do not trust the housekeeper.
Alexander stared at me.
“The housekeeper?”
I nodded.
A strange silence followed.
Then the door opened.
Mrs. Bell, the household housekeeper, stood there carrying a tray.
Her face was expressionless.
She had worked for the Sterlings for twenty-eight years.
Alexander looked at her.
“Did you hire Emma?”
Mrs. Bell smiled faintly.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
She put the tray down.
“You don't want to know.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“I think I do.”
Mrs. Bell looked at me.
Then she quietly said:
“Your wife did.”
Alexander froze.
“But you said she died.”
“She did.”
“Then how?”
Mrs. Bell pulled a key from around her neck.
A small brass key.
“Because she gave me instructions before she died.”
She handed it to me.
“This belongs to you.”
I stared at the key.
“What does it open?”
Mrs. Bell's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother's room.”
My blood ran cold.
“My mother died when I was eleven.”
Mrs. Bell nodded.
“I know.”
May you like
Then she whispered:
“She didn't.”
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