Chapter 6 - Vanessa’s Last Gamble
With Julian in federal custody, Vanessa’s legal defense crumbled overnight. Sitting in her holding cell at the Pitkin County Jail, stripped of her diamonds, her designer clothes, and her borrowed status, she grew desperate.
She demanded a face-to-face meeting with me, claiming she had information regarding Claire’s estate that I "needed to hear." Against my lawyer’s advice, I went. I wanted to see the look in her eyes when she finally realized she had lost everything.
We sat in the glass-partitioned visitation room. Vanessa looked ragged, her hair unwashed, her fake nails chipped and broken.
"Nathan," she hissed, slamming her hands against the glass. "You think you’re so righteous. But if you don't drop the charges and grant me a twenty-million-dollar divorce settlement, I will release the journal entries I found in Claire’s old desk. I’ll tell the media that Claire hated you, that she wanted to leave you before she died, and that you were an abusive husband. I’ll ruin your precious memory of her!"
I looked at her, feeling nothing but pity for the pathetic creature across from me.
"You really don't understand who Claire was, do you?" I said softly. "Claire kept a digital archive of all her journals, synchronized to our family vault. I know every single word she wrote. She loved me, she loved our daughters, and her last wish was for them to be protected from people like you."
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I leaned closer to the glass. "Furthermore, the jail has recorded this entire conversation. You just attempted to commit high-level extortion against a federal witness while awaiting trial for child abuse. Your bail has just been officially revoked, Vanessa. Enjoy the next twenty years in a state penitentiary."
She began to scream, a wild, unhinged sound, as the guards dragged her back to her cell.
