Chapter 4: The Man on the Phone
Vanessa kept her voice low.
The study door was closed.
She stood with her back to it, facing the window, watching the garden where the whole thing had started less than an hour ago.
"He saw the video," she said.
"The housekeeper had a notebook.
Dates, notes, a photograph.
He took all of it."
A pause.
Then a man's voice on the other end.
Calm.
Unhurried.
"How bad is the photograph?"
"Bad enough."
"Does he know about the account?"
Vanessa's eyes moved to the painting on the far wall.
Behind it, a small wall safe.
"No.
He doesn't know about that."
"Then you still have room to move.
Don't panic.
Don't apologize.
Apologizing is the same as confessing."
"He walked out of the room.
He wouldn't even look at me."
"Let him cool down.
Tonight you go to him.
You cry.
You tell him you've been under enormous stress.
You tell him Lily has been difficult since her mother passed and you've been trying your best and it's been breaking you.
You make him feel like he failed to notice how much you were struggling."
Vanessa was quiet for a moment.
"And if he doesn't believe me?"
"Then we move to the next step.
But don't jump there yet.
Do the soft play first."
She exhaled.
"And Mrs.
Chen?"
"She's staff.
She can be replaced."
"She has a notebook with thirty-one entries."
A longer pause this time.
"Then she becomes a problem we deal with separately.
I'll make some calls.
There are ways to question a person's reliability.
History of grievances, emotional instability, a grudge against an employer.
It can be built."
Vanessa nodded slowly.
"What about Olivia?"
"She's a teenager with a phone.
Her father will want to believe you over her.
That's human nature.
Work with it."
"She has the video."
"Videos can be disputed.
Angles, context, editing.
You said it yourself in the garden.
Plant the seed and let it grow."
Vanessa turned away from the window.
Her expression had settled.
The panic from the garden was gone.
"And James?" she asked.
"Fire him.
Today.
Adrian is emotional right now but he's also a businessman.
Give him a reason.
Insubordination.
Inappropriate contact with a minor.
Something that muddies the water."
"Adrian apologized to him.
In front of everyone."
A short silence.
"Then that's a problem.
How long has James worked there?"
"Nineteen years."
"Nineteen years." The voice on the phone went quiet for a moment.
"Who hired him?"
Vanessa's hand tightened around the phone.
"Adrian's father."
"Does Adrian know that?"
"Of course he knows.
James practically raised him."
The voice on the phone was quiet for longer this time.
"Then don't touch James," he finally said.
"Not yet.
You go after James and you lose Adrian completely.
Focus on the notebook.
Focus on Olivia's video.
Those are the two things that can actually hurt you."
Vanessa looked at the wall safe behind the painting.
"There's something else," she said.
"Tell me."
"The account.
The transfers.
If he starts looking — really looking — at the household finances, he'll find the withdrawals."
The silence on the other end was different this time.
Heavier.
"How much?" the man asked.
Vanessa told him.
He didn't respond immediately.
"That changes things," he said at last.
"That changes things considerably."
Down the hallway, a door opened.
Vanessa heard footsteps.
She moved quickly to the desk and sat down, placing the phone face-down on her knee.
Adrian appeared in the doorway.
He looked at her for a moment without speaking.
"Who were you talking to?" he asked.
"No one," Vanessa said.
"I was about to call my sister."
Adrian looked at the phone face-down on her knee.
Then back at her face.
"Come to the sitting room," he said.
"My lawyer is on his way."
Vanessa's expression didn't change.
But her hand pressed harder against the phone.
"Your lawyer," she said carefully.
"Why?"
Adrian looked at her the way you look at something you no longer recognize.
May you like
"Because I need a witness," he said.
"For what happens next."
