Chapter 5 - Peeling Back the Lies
The physical pain of the burns was excruciating, requiring skin grafts and endless hours of agonizing physical therapy. But the emotional pain of the betrayal vanished the moment I saw Julian led away in handcuffs. The man I had loved was a phantom; he had never existed.
During my third week in the hospital, Mr. Vance came to visit. He brought a bouquet of white lilies and a thick manila folder.
“You look stronger today, Clara,” the old attorney smiled, taking a seat beside my bed.
“I feel stronger, Arthur,” I replied, managing a tight smile. “What do you have in the folder? Good news, I hope.”
“Depends on how you look at it,” Vance sighed, opening the file. “While the FBI was digging through Julian’s personal finances, they found a secondary checking account hidden under the name of an LLC. It seems Julian was siphoning money from your joint household account for the past three years.”
“To pay the auditors?” I asked.
“No,” Vance said softly. “To pay for a luxury penthouse downtown. For a woman named Vanessa Croft. She’s a twenty-four-year-old Instagram influencer. He was paying her rent, leasing her a Mercedes, and buying her diamonds.”
I stared at the glossy photographs of Vanessa—blonde, heavily filtered, posing on yachts Julian had claimed were for corporate retreats. For a fleeting second, anger flared in my chest. But then, it morphed into a cold, tactical realization.
“Julian was trying to force me to sell my patents so he could keep up his lifestyle with her, while his company went bankrupt,” I surmised, the final puzzle piece clicking into place.
“Precisely,” Vance nodded. “And there's more. We subpoenaed Vanessa’s text messages. Julian promised her that he was going to force you into a psychiatric facility, take control of your estate via medical power of attorney, and marry her.”
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I touched the bandages on my neck. The grease wasn't just a punishment; it was supposed to be the trigger to have me declared mentally unfit due to trauma.
“Arthur,” I said, my voice hardening into steel. “I want you to subpoena Vanessa. I want her dragged into this mess. Let’s see how loyal she is when the money dries up.”
