Chapter 8 - Sarah Heard Something She Was Never Meant To Hear
Once the legal packet and the hotel receipt were on the table, the whole story stopped looking like jealousy alone.
Vanessa hadn’t just been unstable.
She had been strategic.
Sarah sat very straight when she finally told us what she had overheard.
“Three nights ago,” she said, “I woke up because I was nauseous. I went downstairs for water, and I heard Vanessa in the sunroom. She thought I was upstairs asleep.”
She looked at the hotel receipt.
“She was on speaker with Victor.”
Ethan swore under his breath.
“What did she say?” I asked.
Sarah’s fingers tightened over the edge of the chair.
“She said, ‘If Ethan signs after the wedding, Harold can’t undo it without a fight. Once the girl delivers, we move her quietly and make it sound like she wants space.’”
I felt my pulse in my throat.
“And Victor?”
“He told her to be careful. He said bruises would make questions.” Sarah paused. “She told him not to worry. She said she could still keep me in the guest wing until the ceremony.”
My hands curled into fists.
Ethan stood so abruptly that his chair nearly tipped.
“She kept you upstairs?”
Sarah nodded. “Every time I tried to leave, she’d say the dress fittings weren’t done, or guests were arriving, or I needed rest.” Her mouth trembled. “This morning I told her I was giving you the ultrasound and everything else before the ceremony.”
“And then she hit you,” I said.
“No. First she grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me into the wardrobe. Then she said if I ruined her wedding, she’d ruin my life. At the ballroom, when the photo fell out…” Sarah shut her eyes. “She thought I was about to expose all of it in front of everyone.”
Ethan looked like he might be sick.
At that moment, a nurse from the clinic called Sarah’s phone.
She answered on speaker before any of us could stop her.
The nurse sounded rushed.
“Miss Whitmore, I’m sorry to bother you tonight, but there was an attempted request to alter your next appointment record. Someone called claiming to be family and asked that your emergency contact be changed immediately.”
My blood ran cold.
“To who?” Sarah asked.
The nurse answered without hesitation.
May you like
“To Mrs. Vanessa Whitmore.”
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