“The man photographed with me was Daniel Cross.”
I watched his face.
“A private fertility specialist.”
Silence.
For eighteen months, Alexander and I had been trying to have a baby.
I had gone to the appointment alone because I wanted to surprise him if the treatment worked.
It had.
I never got the chance to tell him.
Alexander looked as though something inside him had broken.
Vanessa took one slow step backward.
I continued.
“Someone paid Daniel’s former receptionist $20,000 for my appointment schedule.”
Alexander turned toward me.
“Someone hired a photographer.”
Then I looked at Vanessa.
“Someone created fake emails.”
Her face became rigid.
“And someone instructed the Vale family’s IT administrator to block every message I tried to send Alexander afterward.”
Alexander slowly turned toward his sister.
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“You can’t seriously believe her.”
Before he could answer, the yacht’s speakers chimed.
Marcus Thorne’s voice filled the corridor.
“Would Alexander Vale and Vanessa Vale please join us in the main salon?”
Vanessa froze.
I smiled.
“Perfect timing.”
The main salon was packed.
Investors.
Attorneys.
Senior executives.
Members of the Vale family.
Marcus stood beside a large digital display.
For eighteen months, his investment company had been investigating suspicious transfers routed through shell vendors.
The missing amount was enormous.
Twenty-eight million dollars.
And the executive approving those vendors was Vanessa Vale.
She had recently become CFO of one of Marcus’s portfolio companies.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“This is absurd.”
Marcus looked toward me.
“Claire?”
