Chapter 6: Vanessa Fights Back
Graham confronted Vanessa that night.
Naomi knew because Eleanor called her at half past nine.
"She's not denying the recording," Eleanor said.
"She's saying I manufactured it."
"Of course she is."
"She told Graham I've never approved of her, that I've been looking for a reason to destroy their marriage since the wedding, and that the recording is a fabrication I put together with you to push her out of the family."
"What did Graham say?"
"He asked her to explain the text messages.
The ones to Holloway about spacing out the incidents." A pause.
"She said Holloway sent those to her.
That she was forwarding them to me as evidence of how aggressive he'd become, and that I had deliberately misread the direction of the conversation."
Naomi sat down.
"She's good."
"She's very good," Eleanor said, without admiration.
"Graham is shaken but he hasn't walked out.
She's crying now.
She's been crying for forty minutes."
"He'll doubt himself."
"Yes.
Which is why we cannot wait." Eleanor's voice was careful and precise.
"There is something else.
Something I didn't give you yet because I wasn't sure it was relevant.
I am sure now."
"What is it?"
"Before Graham, there was another man.
A man named Patrick Osei.
They were together for two years.
He has a daughter from a previous relationship.
A little girl named Cora." Eleanor paused.
"Vanessa pursued custody of Cora through Patrick.
Built a case against the mother over eight months.
The mother's name is Renata.
I have her phone number."
The line was quiet.
"Naomi," Eleanor said.
"This is not the first time."
Naomi stood up and walked to Maisie's bedroom door.
It was open.
The nightlight was on — a small yellow star casting a pale circle on the ceiling.
Maisie was asleep on her side, one arm around a stuffed rabbit with a worn ear.
"Give me Renata's number," Naomi said.
She called Renata the next morning.
Renata picked up on the second ring, as if she'd been expecting a call she'd been waiting years to receive.
"I wondered when someone would finally call me about her," Renata said.
"How long did it take before you understood what she was doing?"
"Six months.
By the time I understood, I'd already lost four months of regular contact with my daughter." Renata's voice was steady in the way that comes from having already done all the crying.
"She used Patrick the same way.
Made him believe I was unreliable.
Documented things that didn't happen.
She even had a lawyer."
"Holloway?"
A sharp silence.
"How do you know that name?" Renata said.
"Because he's building the same file against me right now."
Renata didn't say anything for a moment.
Then: "What do you need from me?"
"I need you to be willing to say, in writing, what happened to you.
What she did.
What Holloway's role was." Naomi kept her voice steady.
"I need a pattern.
Not just my word against hers."
"You'll have it," Renata said.
"I've had a folder ready for three years in case anyone ever asked."
Naomi ended the call and stood in her kitchen in the morning quiet.
Vanessa had done this before.
Same method.
Same lawyer.
May you like
Same target — a mother and her child.
And she had nearly gotten away with it again.
