Chapter 14 - THE LAST VIDEO
Nobody told Paige to stop.
She opened the file.
The date was October 6.
Daniel had been in Singapore.
Eleanor had been upstairs.
Vanessa and Troy stood at the kitchen island with a bottle of bourbon between them.
Troy looked tired.
Vanessa looked furious.
The recording began halfway through a conversation.
Troy said, “You can’t keep doing this.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You’re the one who needs the money.”
“I need you not to blow up your marriage before we fix the condo.”
“There is no fixing the condo.”
“We can sell at a loss.”
“With what money to cover the gap?”
Troy drank.
Vanessa paced.
“Daniel’s closing.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I saw the numbers.”
“That packet was a proposal.”
“He wouldn’t still be in Singapore if it was dead.”
Troy shook his head.
“So ask him.”
“He lies by omission.”
“You lie normally.”
Vanessa glared at him.
Troy shrugged.
“I’m serious, Ness. This thing with Eleanor is getting weird.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
Her face had gone rigid.
On screen, Vanessa lowered her voice.
“She is poisoning him against me from twelve thousand miles away.”
“She barely talks to him.”
“That’s worse.”
“What?”
“She doesn’t have to say anything. He hears her in his head.”
Troy laughed.
“You sound insane.”
Vanessa picked up the bourbon.
“My entire life, every time money disappeared, so did the man.”
Troy’s expression changed.
“This isn’t Dad.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Then stop acting like you’re fourteen.”
Vanessa slammed the bottle down.
“I will not be left with nothing.”
“You won’t.”
“If Daniel keeps the sale money separate, I have nothing.”
“You have a house.”
“His house.”
“You have a marriage.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Exactly.”
The word hung there.
Troy rubbed both hands over his face.
“So what’s the plan?”
Vanessa sat.
“Eleanor goes.”
“Where?”
“Memory care.”
Troy stared.
“She doesn’t have dementia.”
“She forgets things.”
“So do I.”
“I can document enough.”
Daniel felt Paige recoil beside him.
Troy said, “That’s messed up.”
“You want your money?”
Troy looked away.
Vanessa continued.
“If she’s gone, Daniel comes home to me. No constant little voice telling him to protect this, protect that.”
“And then?”
“We buy Hinsdale.”
“With whose money?”
Vanessa stared at him.
Troy laughed under his breath.
“You think putting both names on a deed fixes your marriage?”
“It gives me time.”
“For what?”
“To stop being temporary.”
Troy poured another drink.
“What if Daniel says no?”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he’ll feel guilty.”
Daniel’s fingers tightened against the table.
“About being gone,” Vanessa continued on screen.
“About his mother declining while he was overseas. About leaving me to handle everything. He’ll come home desperate to fix things.”
Troy stared at her.
“And Eleanor?”
“She’ll be somewhere telling nurses I stole her glasses.”
Vanessa smiled.
“They’ll call it confusion.”
The room where they were watching went completely silent.
On screen, Troy muttered, “Jesus Christ.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“You want to judge me now?”
“I’m saying slow down.”
“You asked me for eighty thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“You said if we didn’t cover the private lender by December, he’d sue both of us.”
“I know.”
“So don’t develop morals because you’re drunk.”
Troy leaned toward the camera.
“Don’t drag the old woman into our debt.”
“She dragged herself into it.”
“How?”
“She told me she’d tell Daniel about Paige’s account if I ever touched money again.”
“You did touch money again.”
“She lives in my house.”
“Daniel’s house.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
Troy realized too late.
She threw the bourbon glass.
It shattered against the wall beside him.
Paige flinched in the dining room.
The video continued.
Troy swore.
Vanessa pointed toward the hallway.
“Get out.”
“Gladly.”
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“You know what the worst part is?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“You actually think if Daniel can’t leave financially, that means he won’t leave emotionally.”
Vanessa stared at him.
Troy shook his head.
“Mom did the same thing.”
“Get out.”
“She spent fifteen years trying to make Dad too broke to go.”
“Get out!”
Troy left.
Vanessa stood alone in the kitchen.
For nearly thirty seconds she did not move.
Then she bent down and picked up a piece of broken glass.
She started crying.
Not delicately.
Not performatively.
She covered her mouth with one hand and slid down against the cabinets.
Daniel watched the woman he had loved sit alone on the kitchen floor.
For one dangerous second, pity nearly rearranged the facts.
Then the video kept playing.
Vanessa’s crying stopped.
She looked toward the staircase.
Eleanor appeared at the top.
“You broke something?”
Vanessa rose.
“Go back upstairs.”
“I heard shouting.”
“I said go upstairs.”
Eleanor descended one step.
“Was Troy here?”
Vanessa crossed the room.
The camera angle partially lost them.
But the microphone remained clear.
“You heard everything.”
Eleanor answered, “Enough.”
A long silence.
Then Vanessa said, “If you tell Daniel—”
“I will.”
Vanessa’s voice became very quiet.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You won’t.”
“Move.”
“You’re not calling him.”
Then came a sound Daniel recognized from other footage.
A phone being taken.
Eleanor said, “Give it back.”
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“You want to ruin Paige’s life?”
“Don’t use her.”
“You promised her tuition.”
“I’ll pay it.”
“With your pension?”
“If I need to.”
Another silence.
Then Vanessa said, “Fine.”
Her tone changed completely.
“You want to stay?”
Eleanor did not answer.
“Stay.”
Vanessa walked back into camera view.
She picked up the red cleaning bucket from beside the pantry.
The same bucket Daniel had seen when he came home.
She placed it on the island.
“You can earn your room.”
Paige covered her face.
Daniel felt Eleanor’s hand touch his sleeve.
The video jumped forward twenty minutes.
Eleanor was on her knees wiping broken bourbon from the floor.
Vanessa stood above her.
“Faster.”
Daniel looked at his wife.
The real Vanessa sat ten feet away from the screen.
Her face was gray.
“This was two months ago,” Daniel said.
She whispered, “I know.”
“You told me it started because she became difficult.”
Vanessa looked down.
“You told me she was confused.”
No answer.
“You told me she attacked you.”
Vanessa’s mouth moved.
Nothing came out.
Eleanor spoke.
“I want to ask you one question.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Did you ever plan to send me to Oak Haven?”
“No.”
Eleanor waited.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I called them.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I wanted options.”
“For what?”
“In case Daniel came home and chose you.”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
Daniel leaned forward.
“There was never supposed to be a choice.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“There always was.”
“No.”
“There was for me.”
“Because you created one.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“You think I don’t know that now?”
Martin touched her arm.
“We should stop.”
She pulled away.
“No.”
“Vanessa.”
“No, everybody wants truth. Fine.”
She looked at Daniel.
“I opened the packet. I saw eight-point-two million dollars. And do you know what I thought?”
Daniel waited.
“I thought, he did it.”
Her voice broke.
“I was proud of you for maybe thirty seconds.”
Daniel looked down.
“Then I thought, he can leave now.”
Paige whispered, “Mom.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
“I do,” Paige said.
Vanessa looked at her daughter.
Paige’s eyes were red.
“That’s what scares me.”
Vanessa’s face collapsed.
She covered her mouth.
For several seconds the room contained nothing except breathing.
Then Marissa spoke.
“We still need to address the HELOC.”
Martin straightened.
“My client has denied submitting Daniel’s signature.”
Marissa opened a folder.
“The bank provided updated metadata this morning.”
Vanessa looked up.
Marissa removed a printed report.
“The digital signature image was uploaded from Troy Keller’s office IP address.”
Martin nodded.
“We know that.”
Marissa continued.
“The login credentials were Vanessa’s.”
Vanessa went still.
Daniel looked at her.
“And there is a second file.”
Martin’s expression changed.
“What file?”
“First Prairie records video during identity-verification attempts.”
Vanessa’s face drained.
Marissa turned the laptop.
“The first attempt failed because Daniel wasn’t present.”
She clicked.
A still image appeared.
Vanessa sat inside Troy’s office.
Beside her was Daniel’s old driver’s license.
On the desk was a laptop.
And in Vanessa’s hand was Daniel’s passport photocopy.
Vanessa whispered, “Turn it off.”
Marissa did not.
The video began.
A bank verification prompt appeared on the laptop.
Vanessa looked off camera and said:
“Troy, once this clears, we pay off Oak Brook before Daniel ever sees the debt.”
Troy answered:
“And if it doesn’t clear?”
May you like
Vanessa held Daniel’s license closer to the webcam.
“Then I keep trying until it does.”
