Chapter 9 - The Engagement Ring Came Off
Vanessa stared at the receipt.
Her face remained remarkably calm.
“That proves I paid for medication.”
Nathan shook his head.
“It proves your card paid for medication associated with Elena’s admission.”
“I bought things for her all the time.”
Logan stepped closer.
“Did you know she had been hospitalized?”
Vanessa hesitated.
That hesitation cost her.
“No.”
“You just said you bought things for her.”
“I meant generally.”
Logan removed something from his pocket.
A small velvet box.
Vanessa recognized it.
Her engagement ring box.
“Give me your hand.”
She stared at him.
“Logan.”
“Give me your hand.”
“No.”
He did not touch her.
He simply waited.
Eventually Vanessa removed the diamond herself.
She held it tightly.
“You’re ending our engagement because of a confused housekeeper?”
“I’m ending it because my son is terrified of you.”
Her eyes hardened.
“So that’s it?”
“No.”
Logan looked toward Marina.
“That’s just the part I no longer need evidence to understand.”
Vanessa placed the ring on the table.
The small click echoed.
“You will regret this.”
“Maybe.”
Logan looked at her.
“But Noah won’t.”
For the first time, Vanessa stopped pretending to be hurt.
Her voice became flat.
“You think she’s going to restore your perfect family?”
Logan said nothing.
“She left you once.”
Marina stiffened.
Vanessa smiled.
“She was planning to leave before the accident.”
Logan looked at Marina.
“Is that true?”
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Of course she doesn’t.”
She walked toward the door.
“She found out what you were really like.”
Logan blocked her path.
“What was I really like?”
Vanessa leaned closer.
“Ask her why she had divorce papers in her purse.”
Marina’s face went blank.
Logan remembered.
Police had found no divorce documents.
But Vanessa had just revealed she knew what had been inside Elena’s purse.
Nathan noticed too.
“You said earlier you had nothing to do with her disappearance.”
Vanessa stopped.
Nathan continued.
“So how did you know what Elena was carrying that night?”
Vanessa realized her mistake.
Her eyes flicked toward the exit.
Marcus moved closer.
Vanessa smiled slowly.
“You all want a villain so badly.”
“No.”
Logan answered.
“I want the truth.”
Vanessa looked at Marina.
“Then ask your dead wife why she was afraid of you.”
That sentence struck harder than anything else.
Marina closed her eyes.
Another memory surfaced.
Documents.
A lawyer’s office.
Her signature.
Then someone switching folders.
The divorce papers had not been for Logan.
They were evidence.
A petition requesting emergency protection.
But not from her husband.
From Vanessa Cruz.
Marina opened her eyes.
“I wasn’t leaving Logan.”
May you like
Vanessa’s smile vanished.
“I was trying to get you away from my son.”
