Chapter 3 - Vanessa’s Past Catches Up
While Daniel was fighting security,
Vanessa was sitting in her luxury apartment downtown.
Checking her phone.
Expecting a notification
about her monthly allowance transfer.
Instead,
her banking app flashed red.
Account blocked.
Insufficient funds.
Transaction declined.
Vanessa frowned.
She tapped the screen again.
Declined.
She dialed Daniel’s number.
It went straight to voicemail.
She tried his private line.
Busy.
Panic set in.
Vanessa was a woman built on borrowed money,
expensive dresses,
and wealthy men.
She had spent the last three years
embedding herself in high society.
Using Daniel as her golden ticket.
Now,
the ticket was burning.
She grabbed her designer bag.
Rushed out the door.
Planning to confront Daniel at his office.
As she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby,
two men in dark suits were waiting.
Ms. Cole?
one of them asked,
flashing a badge.
Vanessa froze.
What is this about?
You are being served
with a civil lawsuit
for intentional alienation of affection
and fraudulent enrichment,
the second man said,
handing her a thick stack of papers.
Filed by the estate of Claire Mercer.
Every gift Daniel had bought her,
every designer handbag,
every leased sports car,
every cent of rent paid for this apartment,
was documented.
Tracked.
Itemized.
And demanded back in full.
Vanessa’s knees weakened.
She dropped the papers.
They scattered across the marble floor.
Just like her carefully constructed life.
She wasn't a winner.
May you like
She was a footnote in a disaster
she had brought upon herself.
