Chapter 7 - THE TESTIMONY THAT BROKE HIS STORY
The investigation moved forward.
Vanessa was interviewed.
Ryan was interviewed.
Both initially maintained that I'd fallen during an argument.
Then investigators confronted them with the security footage.
Their accounts changed.
Vanessa claimed she had reached toward me to stop me from leaving.
Ryan said he hadn't seen the actual shove.
But the recording showed enough to contradict the version they'd given at the scene.
Vanessa was arrested and charged in connection with the assault.
The case would still need to move through the courts.
I knew that.
But the truth was no longer trapped inside my memory.
It existed outside me.
Recorded.
Preserved.
Impossible to dismiss as jealousy.
Ryan's attorney contacted Natalie.
He wanted to discuss a private settlement.
Natalie told me during our afternoon meeting.
I stared.
"A settlement?"
"He wants to resolve the divorce and business disputes."
I looked down at the folder.
"What does he want in exchange?"
Natalie hesitated.
"He wants you to stop making public statements about the incident."
I almost laughed.
"I haven't made any."
"I know."
I looked at her.
"Then he wants me to promise silence."
Natalie nodded.
I thought about the hospital.
The monitor.
Sophie's heartbeat.
Ryan standing over me while Vanessa pretended to cry.
"No."
Natalie smiled faintly.
"I thought you'd say that."
I took a breath.
"I don't want revenge."
"I know."
"I want the truth."
She nodded.
"And I want my daughter safe."
May you like
Natalie closed the folder.
"Then that's what we focus on."
