Chapter 3 - The mansion was sealed before midnight.Every door was locked.
Every vehicle was searched.
The staff were separated and questioned.
Vanessa sat in the library beside Adrian, wrapped in a blanket, pretending to be traumatized.
“I can't believe she accused me,” she whispered.
Adrian sat beside her.
“She was injured.”
“She hates me.”
Adrian looked toward the doorway.
“Vanessa...”
“What?”
“Why did she mention a doctor?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Adrian stared at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
A knock interrupted them.
Detective Ruiz entered.
He placed a small evidence bag on the table.
Inside was the missing gold button.
“Is this yours?”
Vanessa looked at it.
“No.”
Ruiz smiled faintly.
“Then you won't mind if the laboratory compares the fibers.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“I already told you what happened.”
“Then tell me again.”
She did.
Every detail.
Elena had confronted her.
Elena had accused her of sleeping with Adrian.
Vanessa claimed Elena lunged first.
She stepped backward.
Elena lost her balance.
“I tried to catch her.”
“You didn't.”
Ruiz's statement was flat.
“What?”
“You didn't try to catch her.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Ruiz opened a tablet.
Security footage appeared.
Vanessa stared.
The camera showed the upper staircase.
Elena and Vanessa were arguing.
Vanessa reached toward Elena.
Then the footage cut out.
Black screen.
Vanessa smiled nervously.
“There. You see?”
Ruiz shook his head.
“No.”
He tapped the screen.
“The camera wasn't damaged.”
Adrian frowned.
“What happened?”
“The system was manually disabled.”
Vanessa immediately looked at him.
Adrian looked back.
“Why would you shut off the camera?”
“I didn't.”
Ruiz leaned forward.
“Then who did?”
Silence.
He played another clip.
A hallway camera.
Vanessa appeared.
Twenty minutes before the fall.
She walked alone toward the security room.
Adrian stood.
“That doesn't prove anything.”
“No.”
Ruiz switched to another file.
A bank transfer.
$75,000.
Transferred two days earlier to a private medical consultant.
Adrian stared.
The name beneath the transfer was Vanessa's.
She suddenly began crying.
“It wasn't for what you think.”
Ruiz looked at her.
“Then explain it.”
Vanessa turned toward Adrian.
“You weren't supposed to see that.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
Vanessa realized what she had said.
Her mouth snapped shut.
Ruiz smiled slightly.
“That's interesting.”
Adrian stood.
“Vanessa?”
She reached for him.
“Adrian, please.”
He pulled his hand away.
“Who did you pay?”
Vanessa whispered:
“No one.”
Ruiz placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a doctor entering a private clinic.
Dr. Leonard Cross.
Adrian knew the name.
He had been Elena's obstetrician.
His face changed.
“No.”
Ruiz watched him carefully.
“Dr. Cross received $75,000 from Vanessa.”
Adrian's voice trembled.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Then the library doors opened.
One of Ruiz's officers stepped inside.
“Detective.”
Ruiz turned.
“What?”
“We found something in the security room.”
He handed over a small envelope.
Ruiz opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Elena.
Pregnant.
Taken from across the street.
Written on the back were six words:
She must die before the birth.
Adrian stared at the photograph.
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Ruiz slowly looked at her.
“Now tell me why someone wanted your lover's wife dead.”
May you like
Vanessa's tears disappeared.
And for the first time, Adrian saw fear in her eyes that had nothing to do with Elena.
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