Chapter 6 - THE ENGAGEMENT RING
Vanessa did not deny it.
Her father, Charles Whitmore, had served as attorney to the Cross family for thirty years.
He built the charity network.
He ordered Thomas taken.
Vanessa had spent eleven years trying to prove it.
“Why marry Adrian?”
I asked.
Her face crumpled.
“At first?”
She looked at him.
“To get close enough to the records.”
Adrian's expression went blank.
“And later?”
Vanessa began crying.
“That became the problem.”
She loved him.
Actually loved him.
But the engagement had begun as an investigation.
Adrian removed his ring.
Placed it on the table.
Not angrily.
That somehow hurt Vanessa more.
“I would have helped you.”
“You would have protected your family.”
“Maybe.”
He looked at her.
“But you never gave me the chance to choose.”
Vanessa nodded.
There was no dramatic reconciliation.
Some betrayals could be understood without being repaired.
Then Pierce called.
Charles Whitmore wanted to meet.
He had Owen.
And Thomas Bennett.
Alive.
My father was alive.
After eleven years.
May you like
I almost dropped the phone.
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