Chapter 14 - Vanessa Finally Described the Car
Vanessa agreed to speak with prosecutors the next morning.
Not because Emma persuaded her.
Because Julian had begun blaming her publicly.
His lawyers filed declarations implying Vanessa alone had administered the zolpidem.
The alliance of eight years broke in a single legal filing.
Vanessa entered the district attorney’s office wearing sunglasses and no jewelry.
Emma watched from another room.
Vanessa’s attorney sat beside her.
Detective Ortiz asked:
“What happened after the film ended?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Daniel could barely stand.”
“Was he conscious?”
“Yes.”
“Could he walk?”
“With help.”
“Whose?”
“Julian’s.”
“What did you do?”
“I followed them.”
“To the garage?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vanessa’s voice became small.
“I kept telling myself Julian was bluffing.”
“About what?”
“Staging the crash.”
Emma gripped the edge of her chair.
Ortiz continued.
“What happened in the garage?”
“Julian put Daniel in the passenger seat of Daniel’s car.”
“Not the driver’s seat?”
“No.”
“What happened next?”
“Julian told me to drive my car home.”
“And Daniel?”
“Julian said he would handle him.”
“Did you ask what that meant?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I already knew.”
Emma looked away.
“What did you do?”
“I left.”
“Did you call police?”
“No.”
“An ambulance?”
“No.”
“Security?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Because Julian said if I called anyone, he would give federal investigators the Orchid files and say I designed everything.”
“Had you committed financial crimes?”
“Yes.”
The word came without defense.
“And Emma’s forged approvals?”
Vanessa shut her eyes.
“I authorized them.”
Emma felt the room tilt.
Her mother had known.
Not suspected.
Known.
Vanessa continued.
“I used a digital signature image Daniel’s office had on file.”
“Without Emma’s permission?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the transactions needed family authorization.”
“And the post-death trust amendment?”
“Samuel handled it.”
“At your instruction?”
“Yes.”
Emma could barely breathe.
Ortiz asked the hardest question.
“When did you see Julian again?”
“About two-thirty that morning.”
“Where?”
“My house.”
“What did he say?”
Vanessa whispered:
“He said it was done.”
“Meaning?”
“Daniel’s car went over the edge.”
“Did you ask whether Daniel was alive when the car left the road?”
Vanessa began shaking.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘Not for long.’”
Silence.
Ortiz waited.
Vanessa continued.
“Julian had scratches on his hands.”
“Did he explain them?”
“He said Daniel woke up.”
Emma covered her mouth.
Her father had fought.
“What did you do then?”
“I burned Julian’s shirt.”
The words landed like stones.
“Why?”
“Blood.”
“Whose?”
“Daniel’s.”
Emma stood abruptly.
Claire followed her into the hall.
Emma pressed both hands against the wall.
“My mother burned his blood.”
Claire said nothing.
There was nothing useful to say.
Inside the interview, Vanessa continued.
She had helped Julian clean the garage entrance.
She had lied to police.
She had repeated the drinking story.
She had used Daniel’s death to secure control of Blake Horizon.
And she had spent eight years convincing herself she had not killed him because she had not touched the steering wheel.
When Vanessa emerged, Emma was waiting.
Vanessa stopped.
“Emma.”
“Did he call for me?”
Vanessa’s face collapsed.
“What?”
“When Dad woke up in the car. Did Julian ever tell you what Dad said?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Yes.”
Emma waited.
“He said your name.”
That hurt more than everything else.
Emma stepped backward.
Vanessa reached out.
Emma moved away.
“Don’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is what you say when you miss a birthday.”
“Emma—”
“You let me spend eight years believing he killed himself with a stupid decision.”
“No.”
“You told me he drank and drove.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was he.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Emma’s voice lowered.
“And you left him.”
She walked away.
Behind her, Detective Ortiz spoke with Vanessa’s attorney.
The district attorney was preparing charges.
But before any arrest occurred, another blow landed.
Crownlight’s board appointed an interim executive committee.
One member was a longtime Julian ally.
The special shareholder meeting on Stage 18 remained scheduled.
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And Julian had secured enough proxy votes to make the outcome uncertain.
If Emma wanted to stop him from taking the property her father died protecting, she had less than thirty-six hours.
