Chapter 9 - VANESSA'S SECRET
Vanessa walked into the room.
She looked nothing like the confident woman I remembered.
Her makeup was gone.
Her hands were shaking.
Ryan stared at her.
“What are you doing here?”
She looked at me.
“I came to tell you the truth.”
I crossed my arms.
“What truth?”
She handed me the envelope.
“Before I met Ryan, I was working for Charles.”
Ryan's jaw dropped.
“What?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“I was sent to get close to you.”
“Why?”
“Your family wanted information.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Ryan.
Me.
Our house.
My medical appointments.
My fertility treatments.
My conversations with doctors.
I felt sick.
“They were spying on me.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I was.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles believed you were hiding your mother's inheritance.”
Ryan looked furious.
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew Mariana was pregnant?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I found out before the wedding.”
Ryan stared.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
I looked at her.
“You wanted to marry him.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I fell in love with him.”
Ryan looked away.
She continued.
“Then I discovered what Charles had done.”
“What?”
“He wasn't just stealing money.”
She opened the envelope.
“People disappeared.”
My heart stopped.
“People who knew too much.”
Vanessa pointed to one photograph.
A woman.
“Who is she?”
“Your mother's sister.”
I froze.
“My aunt?”
“She disappeared twenty-five years ago.”
Vanessa handed me another photograph.
My aunt was standing beside Victor.
Alive.
Recently.
I looked at Alexander.
He looked shocked.
“This changes everything.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Victor is working with her.”
Ryan asked:
“Why?”
“Because she believes your grandfather destroyed her family.”
I sat down.
Another family member.
Another secret.
Another revenge.
Then Vanessa looked at me.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
She hesitated.
“Victor isn't planning to attack you.”
“Then who?”
She looked at Ryan.
“He wants Ryan.”
Ryan went still.
“Why?”
“Because Ryan is the legal heir to the Montgomery side of the company.”
I understood.
If Victor controlled Ryan, he could force a transfer.
But there was more.
Vanessa pulled out a final document.
“Your marriage agreement.”
I looked at it.
Ryan's signature.
Mine.
The document contained a clause I had never seen.
If Ryan died without a recognized heir, control transferred to another Montgomery branch.
But if he died with children, the children inherited.
My children were the perfect target.
I closed my eyes.
Victor wanted the children.
Vanessa whispered:
“He's planning to take them.”
I stood.
“No.”
Ryan looked at me.
“Mariana…”
“No one takes my children.”
Vanessa stared at me.
“What will you do?”
I looked at all of them.
“My father.”
“My mother.”
“Alexander.”
“Ryan.”
“Vanessa.”
Everyone waited.
“We're going to expose all of them.”
Ryan asked:
“How?”
May you like
I smiled.
“Publicly.”
