Chương 16
Vanessa wore navy.
Not white.
Her hair was shorter.
She looked smaller without the expensive armor of office life, though Madison knew that might simply be because courtrooms made everyone look like paperwork.
Vanessa saw her.
For one second, her expression broke.
Then she looked toward her attorney.
Madison felt almost nothing.
That frightened her more than anger would have.
During the plea, the judge asked Vanessa whether she understood the rights she was giving up.
Vanessa said yes.
Whether anyone had forced her.
No.
Whether she admitted helping falsify corporate documents and facilitating unauthorized access to Madison’s medical account.
Yes.
Each answer was small.
No speeches.
No dramatic confession.
The clerk shuffled paper.
Someone coughed.
A lawyer’s phone vibrated.
Madison had imagined this moment many times, and reality kept refusing to behave like imagination.
Afterward, Vanessa’s attorney approached Simon.
Vanessa wanted to speak to Madison.
Simon said no before asking her.
Madison heard and said, “Wait.”
He looked annoyed.
Five minutes later, Madison and Vanessa stood in a courthouse conference room with attorneys present.
Neither sat.
Vanessa looked at Madison’s face.
The swelling had been gone for months. A thin scar remained beneath her jaw, mostly invisible.
“You look well,” Vanessa said.
Madison nearly laughed.
“Don’t.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Right.”
Silence.
Madison had rehearsed questions.
When did you start hating me?
Did you ever love me?
Why did you introduce Ethan?
Why didn’t you wake me?
Instead she asked, “Was Caroline funny?”
Vanessa’s eyes changed.
“What?”
“Was she funny?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
Vanessa looked toward the table.
“Mean, sometimes.”
Madison almost smiled.
“She hated people who walked slowly in airports. She once missed a flight because she stopped to complain about people walking slowly.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Vanessa’s mouth trembled.
Madison hated seeing it.
“She loved Ethan?” Madison asked.
“For a while.”
“And you?”
Vanessa looked up.
“What about me?”
“Did you introduce us because I looked like her?”
The question filled the room.
Vanessa could have lied.
Maybe she did anyway.
“No.”
Madison waited.
Vanessa continued.
“I noticed the resemblance. I thought Ethan would too. But I didn’t think…” She stopped.
“What?”
“I thought he had moved on.”
“You didn’t answer.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“No. I did not introduce you because of Caroline.”
“Why did you?”
“Because he made you laugh.”
Madison felt anger rise so fast it nearly embarrassed her.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Vanessa struggled.
For once, words did not arrive polished.
“You were lonely.”
Madison looked away.
“So were you,” Vanessa said.
Madison’s eyes snapped back.
Vanessa swallowed.
“You acted like you weren’t. You had the company. You had people around all the time. But you went home alone and worked until midnight and complained about couples at restaurants even though nobody asked.”
Madison almost laughed.
Vanessa continued.
“Ethan was charming. He was ambitious. He understood money. I thought you would be good for each other.”
“And Caroline?”
“I thought that part was over.”
Madison leaned against the table.
“When did you know it wasn’t?”
“Too late.”
“That answer is convenient.”
“I know.”
“When did you know?”
Vanessa looked at her.
“When he started editing photographs.”
“And you said nothing.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because by then he knew what I had done with the company accounts.”
There it was.
Not friendship.
Leverage.
Vanessa wiped beneath one eye angrily.
“He didn’t force me to steal,” she said. “I did that. I told myself it was temporary. I told myself I was protecting the company from what would happen if his fund collapsed and your relationship exploded publicly.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It made sense at the time.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know.”
Madison looked at her.
“Why didn’t you wake me that night?”
Vanessa’s face emptied.
The attorneys became very still.
Vanessa could not use privilege now. She had already admitted much of the conduct.
“I was afraid.”
“Of Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Of prison?”
“Yes.”
“Of losing your career?”
“Yes.”
“Of me?”
Vanessa looked surprised.
Madison continued.
“Were you afraid I’d know what you’d done?”
“Yes.”
“So you left me asleep.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
Madison felt no satisfaction.
“You found his death letter.”
“Yes.”
“You saw the searches.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he had my phone.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he changed the surgery form.”
“Yes.”
“And you left.”
Vanessa whispered, “Yes.”
Madison looked at the wall.
A framed print hung crookedly.
She had the absurd urge to straighten it.
“You know what I kept trying to figure out?” she said.
Vanessa waited.
“I kept trying to decide whether you wanted me dead.”
Vanessa’s face crumpled slightly.
Madison held up a hand.
“Don’t.”
Vanessa stopped herself.
“I don’t think you did,” Madison said.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I think that’s worse in some ways.”
She opened them.
Madison continued.
“I think you wanted not to be responsible. You wanted not to know. You wanted morning to come and for everything to be fine so you could tell yourself you had been scared for no reason.”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
Madison shook her head.
“You don’t get to turn that into a nicer story.”
“I’m not.”
“You always do.”
Vanessa looked down.
Madison suddenly felt tired.
Not triumphant.
Not healed.
Just tired.
She picked up her bag.
Vanessa said, “Madison.”
Madison stopped.
“I am sorry.”
There was no reason to doubt she meant it.
That was the cruelty.
Madison nodded once.
“I know.”
Then she left.
Ethan’s case took longer.
He fought everything.
His attorneys argued the altered surgical consent was intended to pressure Madison into cosmetic changes, not kill her. They argued the insurance amendment was financial fraud but not evidence of homicidal intent. They argued the draft death letter was an anxiety exercise, prepared in case of a rare complication.
The explanation was ugly enough to be plausible in pieces.
Prosecutors built the case through accumulation.
Search history.
Financial desperation.
The insurance change.
The falsified continuity plan.
May you like
The surgical alterations that would have extended anesthesia significantly.
Messages showing he used Madison’s phone after she took prescribed sleep medication.
