CHAPTER 7: Vanessa Chooses a Side

Vanessa tried to recover first.
She smoothed the front of her gold dress and walked toward Evelyn with the fragile confidence of someone who had survived on performance for years.
'This has nothing to do with me,' she said.
Evelyn looked at her for a long moment.
'It has everything to do with you if you signed the invoices.'
Vanessa stopped.
Her face changed before she could hide it.
Julian saw that change and finally understood the danger had more than one direction.
'Vanessa,' he warned.
She turned on him, no longer elegant, no longer loyal. 'You said the accounts were clean.'
There it was.
Not an apology.
Evidence.
Evelyn's attorney stepped forward from the bar, phone already in hand. He did not need to interrupt. The cameras, the guests, and Vanessa's own panic had done more than any speech could.
Vanessa glanced toward the exit again. The closed gates showed through the trees, black against the valet lights.
She had arrived as a secret. She would leave as a statement.
Evelyn felt no satisfaction.
Only a cold release, like taking off jewelry that had been fastened too tightly.