Chapter 4 - The Fall of Vanessa Vale
While Julian was being escorted out of his corporate headquarters in handcuffs in front of thirty financial news cameras, Vanessa Vale was lounging beside the outdoor heated pool at the Blackwood estate.
She was wearing a silk robe, scrolling through luxury real estate listings in St. Barts, humming a cheerful tune.
"Excuse me, Miss Vale?"
Vanessa looked up, annoyed by the interruption. The estate's head housekeeper, Mrs. Gable—a woman who had worked for Evelyn for five years—was standing near the patio doors, holding a large silver tray.
"What is it, Mrs. Gable?" Vanessa snapped, adjusting her sunglasses. "I told you I wanted fresh raspberries with my champagne, not frozen ones."
"I don't have raspberries, Miss Vale," Mrs. Gable said quietly. "I have your luggage."
Vanessa blinked, lowering her sunglasses. "My what?"
Two heavy leather suitcases hit the stone patio with a loud thud.
Behind Mrs. Gable, four men in black tactical uniforms stepped onto the patio. Leading them was Evelyn Hart.
She was no longer wearing the torn satin gown from the night before. She wore a bespoke dark velvet pantsuit, her dark hair pulled back into a flawless, razor-sharp bun. Her face was completely calm, though the deep purple bruise on her left cheek stood out like an unbroken vow.
Vanessa jumped out of her lounge chair, her glass of champagne spilling onto the white marble floor. "Evelyn! How... how did you get out of the basement?! Security!"
"The security team you paid off with my husband's money has already been arrested for conspiracy to commit kidnapping," Evelyn said smoothly, stepping onto the patio. She pulled a pair of dark leather gloves from her pocket and began pulling them on, finger by finger. "As for you, Vanessa... you have five minutes to leave my home."
"Your home?" Vanessa sneered, trying to recover her composure. She stepped forward, pointing a manicured finger at Evelyn’s face. "Julian owns this place! He’s divorcing you! By next month, I will be Mrs. Blackwood, and you will be sitting in an asylum!"
Evelyn didn't flinch. She simply looked down at Vanessa’s hand.
"Take off my mother's diamond earrings," Evelyn said.
"No!" Vanessa shrieked. "Julian gave them to me! They belong to me!"
Evelyn nodded once to the security team behind her.
Two broad-shouldered men moved forward instantly. Before Vanessa could scream, one man caught her wrists, immobilizing her completely, while the second man reached up with gloved fingers, unclipped the heavy diamond earrings from her earlobes, and placed them gently into Evelyn’s open hand.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Vanessa screamed, thrashing against the guards. "I’ll sue you! I’ll call the police! Julian will destroy you!"
Evelyn closed her hand over the diamonds, feeling the cold, reassuring weight of her family’s legacy.
"Julian is currently in central booking being processed for felony domestic assault, money laundering, and corporate fraud," Evelyn said softly, stepping closer to Vanessa until her dark eyes burned into the mistress's terrified face. "Blackwood Capital is bankrupt. His personal bank accounts have been frozen. His luxury cars have been impounded. And the apartment on 5th Avenue he bought for you? It was seized by Hart Meridian twenty minutes ago."
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Vanessa froze. Her chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths. "You... you're lying..."
"I don't lie, Vanessa," Evelyn said, her voice dropping into a razor-thin whisper. "Arithmetic doesn't lie. You traded your dignity for a man who didn't even own the watch on his wrist. Now, take your suitcases and walk out of my gate before I have you arrested for receiving stolen property."
