Chapter 8 - VANESSA
Vanessa asked to meet. Maya said only with counsel. We met in conference room.
No burgundy dress. No smirk. She looked tired.
Then: “I didn’t know the house was in a trust at first.” When did she learn? Six months ago.
Affair already underway. Then why continue acquisition? Julian said trust would terminate routinely.
Did she know I had not approved? “He said you had.” Then email: Once Elena signs.
Vanessa looked down. “He said you’d already agreed and paperwork was formality.” Possible.
Then airport. Why say: “Go home and pack your shit”? She said she believed Julian was filing divorce and house sale would close next day.
She thought I knew. Did she know I would lose money? “No.”
Then Julian’s boast: No house, no money, nothing. She laughed at it? Video? No. I heard. She said Julian exaggerated.
Then VRS fee. She defended work. Produced reports.
Real. Overpriced maybe. Then affair.
She said Julian told her marriage was effectively over. Classic. Did she know we still slept together? She didn't ask.
Then I asked: “Why kiss him at airport?” They were traveling together after supposedly separate work itineraries. She thought no one we knew would be there.
Then: “Did you love him?” “Yes.” That surprised me.
Then: “Do you?” She did not answer. Then she handed over messages voluntarily.
Why? Redwood internal investigation. Her lawyer advised cooperation.
Also anger at Julian. Messages showed he told her: Elena will be taken care of by trust distribution. Contradicts airport boast.
So “no money” was emotional bravado, not literal plan. Important. Then another: Once sale closes, I can finally leave without her holding the house over me.
I had never held house over him because I did not know I owned beneficial interest. He had built resentment against power I did not know I had. Then Vanessa said: “He talked about you constantly.”
Not lovingly. Fearfully. He believed once inheritance settled, I would realize I no longer needed his family.
Then: “I think he started affair because he wanted someone who needed him.” That sounded plausible. Not fact.
Then she apologized. Not for falling in love. For participating in property transaction after conflict clear.
For airport cruelty. I accepted hearing. Not friendship.
Then Redwood fired her? Maybe internal review finds conflict disclosure failure. She resigned before termination after violation.
She lost bonus. VRS repaid portion of fee under settlement. No ruin.
Then she ended relationship with Julian. Not because me. Because messages revealed he lied to her too.
He had told her divorce lawyer already retained months earlier. False. Then Vanessa said one last thing: “Julian has another account.”
What? She had seen banking app once. Name: Carter Reserve Holdings.
She assumed business. Then forensic accountant searched. Entity existed in Delaware.
May you like
Owner: Julian. Balance unknown. And suddenly “no money” gained another possible meaning.
Maybe Julian had been moving money somewhere neither wife nor mistress fully understood.
