Vanessa Chooses a Side
Chapter 09 - Vanessa Chooses a Side
Vanessa entered Reed Development before sunrise.
She had worked in the building since she was twenty-two.
Everyone knew her as Richard Reed's daughter.
That morning, she wanted to be something else.
She used her executive access card to enter the archive floor.
Hundreds of boxes waited for destruction.
Caleb arrived minutes later.
Together, they photographed everything they could.
Inspection reports.
Invoices.
Internal memos.
Then alarms sounded.
Richard appeared with security.
“Vanessa.”
His voice carried more disappointment than anger.
That hurt her more.
“You're helping him destroy this family.”
Vanessa looked at her father.
“No.”
She held up an old safety report.
“You destroyed it years ago.”
Richard ordered security to remove Caleb.
Vanessa stepped between them.
“If anyone touches him, I've already scheduled every file I copied to go to three newspapers.”
It was a bluff.
Richard didn't know that.
Security stopped.
Richard's face changed.
For the first time, Vanessa saw fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
That was when she knew the documents were real.
Richard stepped closer to his daughter.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed for you.”
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“Did you sacrifice Luke Mercer too?”
Richard slapped his palm against the desk.
“I did not kill Luke!”
The words echoed.
Caleb watched him carefully.
“No one accused you of killing him.”
Richard realized his mistake.
Too late.
Vanessa slowly reached into her coat pocket.
Her phone was recording.
Richard looked at her.
“You wouldn't.”
Vanessa's tears finally fell.
“You taught me never to enter a negotiation without leverage.”
May you like
She pressed stop.
And walked away from her father.
