CHAPTER 6: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE PERFECT SMILE
CHAPTER 6: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE PERFECT SMILE
I spent the rest of the morning pretending nothing had changed.
That was the only way I could survive.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I needed time.
People like Vanessa didn’t make mistakes because they were careless.
They made mistakes when they believed they were winning.
And right now, Vanessa still believed she had complete control.
I walked back into the house with the same calm expression I had worn for years during billion-dollar negotiations.
Nobody would see fear.
Nobody would see anger.
Nobody would see the storm building inside me.
The first person I saw was Vanessa.
She was sitting in the breakfast room.
A cup of coffee rested beside her.
She looked up as I entered.
“Good morning.”
Her voice was soft.
Almost affectionate.
I smiled.
“Good morning.”
She looked at me carefully.
“You’re awake early.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
She tilted her head.
“Your ears bothering you again?”
There it was.
The question.
The reminder.
She wanted me focused on the illness.
On my weakness.
On the idea that my body was failing.
I walked toward the table.
“A little.”
Her expression immediately changed into concern.
“Oh, Alexander.”
She reached for my hand.
“I hate seeing you suffer.”
I let her hold it.
But this time, I studied her.
The way her fingers wrapped around mine.
The way she looked into my eyes.
The way she performed compassion perfectly.
A person could spend their entire life studying human behavior and still be fooled by someone who truly mastered deception.
“I made you something,” she said.
My eyes moved toward the cup beside my plate.
Tea.
The same tea.
My chest tightened.
“I thought coffee might make the ringing worse.”
She smiled.
“So I prepared your herbal blend.”
For months, that sentence would have comforted me.
That morning, it terrified me.
I picked up the cup.
Vanessa watched.
Not obviously.
Just enough.
A normal person might miss it.
I didn’t.
She was waiting to see if I drank it.
I smiled.
Then placed it back down.
“I’m not thirsty.”
A small silence appeared.
Only a second.
But it was enough.
Her smile became slightly weaker.
“You always drink it.”
“I know.”
“Are you upset with me?”
The question came quickly.
Too quickly.
I looked at her.
“Why would you ask that?”
She laughed softly.
“I don’t know.”
Then she touched my arm.
“You’ve just seemed distant since last night.”
I leaned back.
“Have I?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes searched mine.
“You’re keeping something from me.”
The irony almost made me laugh.
Because she was right.
I was.
But she had no idea how much.
“I’m tired.”
She nodded slowly.
“Of course.”
Then she smiled.
“Maybe you should take a break from work.”
I looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve spent years building your company.”
She moved closer.
“Maybe it’s time to slow down.”
That sentence sounded harmless.
But it wasn’t.
Because I remembered something.
Three weeks earlier, Vanessa had said almost the exact same thing.
Two weeks earlier.
One week earlier.
She had been planting the same idea.
That I was tired.
That I was overwhelmed.
That I needed someone else to handle things.
Someone like her.
I suddenly understood.
This was never only about making me sick.
It was about making me dependent.
A weaker version of myself.
A man who would eventually hand over control.
I changed the subject.
“Where is Ethan?”
Her expression shifted.
Just slightly.
“My assistant?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I need to speak with him.”
She picked up her coffee.
“He’s been busy.”
“Doing what?”
She shrugged.
“Business matters.”
I watched her.
“You seem to know a lot about his schedule.”
She stopped moving.
Only for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Because I care about your company too.”
That answer bothered me.
Not because it was impossible.
Because it sounded rehearsed.
After breakfast, I went upstairs to my office.
I needed to know who Ethan really was.
For years, I had considered him family.
He was there when I started my company.
He worked late nights.
He protected my schedule.
He handled problems nobody else knew existed.
If he was involved, the betrayal would hurt more than anything Vanessa could do.
My computer was already open.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
“Stop looking at Ethan.”
I stared.
Another message followed.
“He is not the person you should fear.”
My fingers moved quickly.
Then who is?
This time, the answer took longer.
Almost a minute.
Then:
“The person who made you trust her.”
I froze.
Vanessa.
The answer was obvious.
But something bothered me.
Why would someone keep warning me without revealing themselves?
What were they hiding?
Before I could think further, there was a knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Ethan entered.
He looked nervous.
That immediately caught my attention.
Ethan was rarely nervous.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He closed the door behind him.
“Alexander, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
He hesitated.
Then reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a folder.
“I found something yesterday.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What?”
He placed the folder on my desk.
“I think someone has been accessing company accounts.”
I opened it.
Inside were financial records.
Transfers.
Payments.
Hidden transactions.
My face became serious.
“Where did you get this?”
Ethan looked away.
“I was investigating.”
“Why?”
“Because I noticed something strange.”
“What?”
He pointed to one transaction.
A private consulting company.
The name meant nothing.
But the amount did.
Almost two million dollars.
“Who received this?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
I looked at him.
“Then why show me?”
His voice lowered.
“Because the money came from an account connected to Vanessa.”
Silence.
The room felt smaller.
Ethan looked terrified.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I stared at the documents.
Another piece of the puzzle.
Another secret.
But before I could ask more, my office door suddenly opened.
Vanessa stood there.
Her expression was calm.
But her eyes were not.
“What are you two doing?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at the folder.
Then at Ethan.
Then at me.
For the first time since I met her…
Vanessa looked afraid.
Only for a moment.
Then she smiled.
But I had already seen the truth.
She wasn’t worried about being discovered.
She was worried because she realized something.
May you like
The people she thought she controlled…
Were starting to turn against her.
