Chapter 7 - Vanessa's Bargain
Two weeks after Maya’s birth, the autumn chill swept through the brick courtyard of the Suffolk County House of Correction.
I sat inside a glass-partitioned visitor booth wearing a thick cashmere sweater, with Gabriel standing silently behind my chair like an armored sentinel.
Across the scratched glass, Vanessa was led in by a female corrections officer, wearing a dull orange prison jumpsuit.
Her blonde hair was unwashed and pulled into a messy ponytail, her skin was pale and sallow without makeup, and dark circles shadowed her swollen eyes.
She sat down heavily, picking up the black telephone receiver with shaking, handcuffed wrists.
I lifted my receiver, keeping my expression neutral and calm.
"Claire..." Vanessa wept, pressing her forehead against the glass.
"Please. You have to tell the district attorney to drop the charges. They're charging me with second-degree assault and conspiracy! The bail is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"
"You pushed me into a concrete wall when I was thirty-four weeks pregnant, Vanessa," I said, my voice steady through the earpiece.
"You helped Daniel forge medical records to have me committed to a mental facility. Why would I drop the charges?"
"He lied to me, Claire!" Vanessa sobbed frantically, tears dripping onto the metal table.
"Daniel told me you had fallen out of love with him! He said your marriage was just a business arrangement, and that you were miserable! He told me he loved me from the day we met at the country club!"
"And you believed him?" I asked, feeling a sad, distant pity for my sister's foolishness.
"Or did you just want my life, Vanessa? You wanted my house, my trust fund, and my husband."
Vanessa dropped her head, her shoulders shaking violently as the truth hung heavy between us.
"I was jealous," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"You always had Thomas and Marcus and Gabriel protecting you. Mom and Dad always called you the sensible one, the successful one. When Daniel started paying attention to me, I thought... I thought I was finally winning."
"You didn't win, Vanessa," I said softly.
"You threw away your family for a man who didn't even put up your bail money. Daniel fled to New York three days ago trying to hide his remaining personal vehicles."
Vanessa’s head snapped up, her eyes wide with fresh, agonizing horror.
"He left? He didn't send his lawyers for me?"
"You were just an instrument to him, Vanessa. A weapon to break my spirit before the trust transfer," I explained, leaning closer to the glass.
"The district attorney offered you a plea deal this morning. Full testimony against Daniel Pierce regarding the trust conspiracy in exchange for a suspended sentence and five years of probation."
Vanessa stared at me through the glass, her hands trembling around the receiver.
"Will you... will you ever forgive me, Claire?"
I looked at my younger sister—the girl I had shared a bedroom with, the girl I had tucked in during thunderstorms when we were children.
"I forgive you for being weak, Vanessa," I replied quietly.
"But you will never see my daughter, and you will never enter my home again. Take the plea deal, serve your probation, and find out who you are when you aren't trying to steal someone else's life."
May you like
I hung up the receiver, stood up from the stool, and walked out into the crisp autumn sunlight with Gabriel at my side.
The past was finally buried in the cold earth where it belonged.
