Chapter 7 - Desperation at the Doorway
I stood up from the kitchen island and walked slowly toward the foyer, with Daniel following closely behind me.
Vanessa stood just inside the threshold, looking entirely unlike the polished socialite who had walked out of our home days earlier.
Her expensive white dress was rumpled, her hair was tied back in a messy, frantic bun, and her makeup was smeared around her eyes.
Two large security guards stood near her, having escorted her past the front gates.
"Get your hands off me!" Vanessa screamed at the guards, wrenching her arm away from one of them.
She spotted Daniel and me walking toward her, and her face contorted into a desperate, frantic grimace.
"Daniel!" she cried out, rushing forward before the guards could stop her.
She dropped to her knees right at Daniel's feet, clutching the fabric of his trousers.
"Daniel, please, you have to listen to me!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"It was all a misunderstanding!"
Daniel looked down at her with cold, immovable detachment.
He didn't step back, but he didn't offer her a hand either.
"Get up, Vanessa," Daniel said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion.
"How did you even get past the security gate?"
"I walked!" she sobbed, looking up with pathetic desperation.
"Uber dropped me down the road because the paparazzi are still camped outside!"
"My apartment lease was canceled because the landlord saw the news!"
"My bank accounts are frozen!"
"People are throwing rocks at my windows!"
"My life is completely ruined!"
I crossed my arms over my chest, watching her perform with clinical detachment.
"You built that house of cards yourself, Vanessa," I pointed out smoothly.
"You can't blame the wind for blowing it down."
Vanessa snapped her head around, glaring at me with raw, undisguised hatred.
"This is all your fault!" she hissed, her voice dropping its tearful act for a fraction of a second.
"You set me up! You trapped me!"
"If you had just let me play my part, we could have all been happy!"
"Happy?" Daniel asked, letting out a dry, incredulous laugh.
"By treating everyone around you like garbage when you thought no one important was watching?"
"Is that your definition of happiness?"
Vanessa realized her slip-up and instantly tried to pivot back to her sobbing routine.
"No, Daniel! I was just stressed!" she pleaded, grasping at straws.
"People make mistakes!"
"I love you!"
"I can change! I'll go to therapy!"
Daniel looked down at the woman he had planned to spend the rest of his life with.
The last remaining thread of sympathy in his heart snapped completely.
"You don't love me, Vanessa," Daniel said quietly.
"You loved my last name. You loved my mother's money. You loved the status."
"You didn't even love me enough to be a decent human being to the people who worked for us."
Vanessa stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
May you like
She realized that no amount of tears, lies, or manipulation was going to work this time.
The golden ticket was gone forever.
