Chapter 3 - Vanessa’s Company
For several seconds Vanessa said nothing.
Allison’s words seemed to remain suspended in the office.
Daniel looked from Allison to his wife.
“Your company?”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“It is an investment vehicle.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“For what?”
“My design business.”
“You told me your design business had never launched.”
“It hadn’t.”
“Then why did my mother send it fifty-five thousand dollars?”
“She invested.”
Margaret stared at Vanessa.
“No, I didn’t.”
Vanessa looked directly at her.
“Yes, you did.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“I would remember giving someone fifty-five thousand dollars.”
“You agreed to help me.”
“I agreed to nothing.”
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“This is exactly why I took over the paperwork.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
“Don’t threaten me.”
“That wasn’t a threat. It was advice.”
Allison backed into the hallway.
The other guests had begun collecting their purses.
Nobody was laughing now.
Vanessa followed them into the kitchen.
“You’re all overreacting.”
Brooke Ellis, a neighbor Daniel recognized, put down her untouched wine.
“You told us Margaret was your first private investor.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
Vanessa closed her eyes briefly.
Brooke continued.
“You said she believed in the concept.”
“What concept?”
No one answered.
Daniel looked at Allison.
She seemed embarrassed.
“Vanessa has been talking about opening a private home-and-lifestyle studio.”
“A what?”
“A membership space. Interior design consultations, private events, luxury staging services.”
Daniel stared at his wife.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“I was waiting until it was real.”
“And my mother’s money made it real?”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“It was a loan.”
Margaret said, “No.”
Vanessa turned.
“You told me you wanted to help our family.”
“That doesn’t mean you take my savings.”
“I didn’t take anything.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“Then let’s call the bank.”
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“Don’t.”
One word.
Too fast.
Too frightened.
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
“Because once you involve a bank’s fraud department, they freeze everything. It becomes a nightmare.”
“If everything is legitimate, they’ll confirm it.”
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“Daniel, think.”
“I am.”
“You’re humiliated.”
“I’m not the one who should be humiliated.”
“This is your mother manipulating you.”
Margaret flinched.
Daniel saw it.
He remembered the rules.
Remain upstairs during gatherings.
No guests without Vanessa’s approval.
No banking without Vanessa.
He wondered how many tiny restrictions he had mistaken for household routines.
Daniel called Margaret’s bank.
Because he was not an account holder, the representative could tell him nothing.
Margaret took the phone.
Vanessa watched her.
Margaret noticed.
She straightened.
“My name is Margaret Reed,” she said.
Daniel heard the tremor in her voice disappear by degrees.
“Yes. I want to speak with someone regarding unauthorized transfers.”
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
“I’m not doing this.”
Daniel blocked the doorway.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere people aren’t accusing me of stealing.”
“No one needs to accuse you. The statements exist.”
“I’m calling my lawyer.”
“Good.”
Margaret continued speaking to the bank.
The representative asked verification questions.
Margaret answered all of them.
Her address.
Her date of birth.
The amount of her most recent Social Security deposit.
Vanessa stopped near the front door.
For someone who had claimed Margaret was confused, she seemed remarkably irritated by how clearly Margaret remembered everything.
“Yes,” Margaret said into the phone. “I authorized a power of attorney, but I believe I was misled regarding what it allowed.”
She listened.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Daniel moved closer.
Margaret sat down.
“Yes, I’m still here.”
Another pause.
“I did not authorize that.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
“What happened?”
Margaret held up one finger.
Then she asked the bank employee to repeat something.
When the call finally ended, she placed the phone on the table.
“What did they say?” Daniel asked.
Margaret’s eyes were fixed on Vanessa.
“There were more transfers.”
Vanessa’s hand tightened around her purse.
“How many?”
“Not on the statements in your office.”
Daniel felt cold.
Margaret spoke slowly.
“Another nineteen thousand dollars.”
“Where?”
“V House.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“And,” Margaret continued, “someone tried yesterday to transfer one hundred forty-six thousand.”
Daniel stood.
“What?”
“They stopped it because it triggered additional review.”
Allison covered her mouth.
Vanessa looked toward her.
That movement told Daniel something.
“Why yesterday?”
Vanessa said, “I have no idea.”
Allison lowered her hand.
“I might.”
Vanessa snapped, “Stop talking.”
Daniel turned to Allison.
“What happened yesterday?”
Allison looked miserable.
“Vanessa signed a lease.”
Vanessa shut her eyes.
“For the studio?” Daniel asked.
Allison nodded.
“How much?”
“Five years. Nearly twelve thousand a month.”
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“You signed a seven-hundred-thousand-dollar commercial obligation?”
“It has exit clauses.”
“With what money?”
“My money.”
“You don’t have that kind of liquidity.”
“I have investors.”
Allison shook her head.
“No, Vanessa. You told us Margaret’s contribution was two hundred and fifty thousand.”
Margaret made a quiet sound.
Daniel looked at her.
She appeared physically sick.
“You told people Mom gave you a quarter million dollars?”
Vanessa’s face reddened.
“She said she wanted to leave something meaningful behind.”
Margaret whispered, “I never said that.”
Daniel stepped toward his wife.
Vanessa retreated.
Then Allison reached into her handbag.
“There’s something else.”
She removed a glossy presentation booklet.
Its cover read:
V HOUSE — PRIVATE LIVING, PERFECTED.
Allison opened it.
Near the back was a page titled FOUNDING CAPITAL.
A photograph of Margaret appeared beside a quotation.
Daniel read it.
“My daughter-in-law gave me a reason to believe in the future again.”
Margaret stared at the page.
Her eyes filled.
“I never said those words.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
But Allison turned another page.
The next line was worse.
MARGARET REED — FOUNDING FAMILY INVESTOR: $250,000 COMMITTED.
Daniel’s voice went quiet.
“You weren’t trying to take one hundred forty-six thousand.”
He calculated rapidly.
Fifty-five thousand six hundred.
Another nineteen thousand.
Plus one hundred forty-six thousand.
Almost exactly two hundred twenty-one thousand.
Add the so-called household contributions.
It would approach Vanessa’s promised quarter million.
“You were trying to finish the amount you already told everyone she gave you.”
Vanessa said nothing.
Daniel understood.
This was not an impulsive transfer.
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It was a plan.
And judging by the printed booklet in Allison’s hands, it had existed for months.
