Vanessa set her porcin teacup back on the saucer, her gaze lifting just as her son burst through the door,
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her expression tightening as Samuel marched into her tea room, tension rolling off him. “Samuel, you really have the guts toe in here screaming like this? Have you lost your mind?”
“You paid her off,” Samuel said. “Didn’t you?”
Vanessa’s lips parted, but she said nothing at first.
He stepped closer. “Answer me.”
She stood slowly, brushing invisible lint off her sleeve. “I didn’t have to do anything. Emery Vaughn knew she would never marry into this family. She’s smart enough to cling into a rich man, surely she’s
smart enough to know that staying would only get her in more trouble.”
“That’s not an answer,” Samuel snapped. “Stop pretending. Just tell me how much. How much did you give her to disappear?”
Vanessa’s gaze flicked over his shoulder,nding briefly on Roni, who stood behind him, silent.
Then she looked back at her son.
“So what if I did?” she said. “Doesn’t that prove who she really is? She took the money. That’s all she wanted from the start. The name. The lifestyle. The Dwight fortune. She’s a gold digger, Samuel. You were too blinded to see it.”
Samuel’s jaw clenched. “You pushed her out.”
“She was never supposed to be in,” Vanessa said. “She’s nothing. A charity case with a face.”
“I already agreed to marry Talia,” Samuel said. “Why did you interfere? Why wasn’t that enough for
you?”
Vanessa blinked. “You’re ming me? After everything I did for you? You’re angry at me for getting rid of a woman who was using you?”
“She wasn’t using me,” he said/”You don’t know anything about her.”
“I know enough!” Vanessa barked. “She asked for more money. She wanted extra-like she was negotiating a deal! I offered her a way out. She took it. That girl is greedy, selfish, andpletely unfit
12:58 Tue, 9 Sept
to be a Dwight. You should be thanking me.”
Samuel snorted. “Talia lost the baby.”
Vanessa froze.
“You…” Her voice caught in her throat.
Samuel stepped closer, lowering his voice. “She lost the baby in the ident. That means I have no legal obligation to stay with her. There’s no child. No tie. Just a hollow engagement contract.”
Vanessa’s hand moved to the edge of the table for support.
“No…” she whispered.
“Yes,” Samuel said. “You wanted a clean arrangement. You got it. The contract between our families will hold, with or without a baby.”
“You can’t do this.”
“I already have,” he said. “I’ll marry her on paper, but that’s all. No child. No family. Just enough to keep the board calm.”
Vanessa’s knees buckled. She caught herself on the back of the chair.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” she said. “That woman-Emery-she will ruin you. If she
“If shees back,” Samuel cut in. “But you made sure that she wouldn’t, right? Mother?”
“I-” Vanessa paused, her eyes flicking to Roni again. She could see it now. Roni had said something. He’d nted the seed. Samuel wouldn’t havee charging in like this unless someone pushed him.
But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
If Emery never returned, Samuel would assume she vanished for the money. No matter what Roni told him, the oue was the same. She’d be gone. Out of his life. And wasn’t that what Vanessa had wanted from the start?
She straightened her shoulders.
“No matter what you think,” she said, her tone sharper now. “You cannot be with that woman. Do you hear me? She took my money. She left. She’s out of the picture. That chapter is closed.”
She stepped forward, jabbing a finger toward him.
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“Focus on Talia. On her recovery. On your future. That’s the only thing that matters now.”
However, instead of responding, he simply snorted and marched out of the room. She quickly gestured to Roni to close the door. Thetter did.
Vanessa waved Roni toward the center of the room as the door clicked shut behind him.
“Well?” she asked, arms crossed tightly.
Roni stepped forward. “Miss Emery Vaughn has vanished. All signs indicate she left the state. Possibly the country.”
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose, but it didn’t help. Her mind went back-back to thest time she saw that girl standing in the restaurant, lips pressed together like she had the right to feel offended. The nerve. The look on her daughter’s face afterward, the crying,
the days of silence. Therapy. Medications. Her daughter still hadn’t left the estate since then.
All because of Emery Vaughn.
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
“Find her,” she said. “And when you do, let me know exactly where she is.”
Roni didn’t move. He waited.
Vanessa stepped closer, lowering her voice.
“It’s better if she doesn’te back. Do you understand what I mean?”
Roni nodded. A small smile touched his lips!”Yes, Madam.”
“And keep it clean, Roni. I don’t want any mishaps. You know Samuel very well, and if he discovers
this…”
Roni nodded. “I understand, Madam. I will do my best.”
“You better.”
She waved him off with a flick of her hand. He left without another word.
As the door shut behind him, Vanessa turned and poured herself another cup of tea. Her hand trembled only slightly. She ignored it.
12:58 Tue, 9 Sept O
Roni made his way through the estate’s hall, past therge portraits and ss-paneled doors, until he reached Samuel’s study. He knocked once, then stepped inside.
Samuel was seated behind the desk, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tie discarded on the arm of the chair. He didn’t look up.
“Well?” he asked.
Roni stepped forward. “Your mother seems very certain Miss Vaughn won’t be returning. She said she personally handed her ten million to leave the country and even made her connections change Miss Emery’s identity, so she’s almost certain that you wouldn’t be able to find her again.”
Samuel’s hand tightened around the ss he was holding. “Ten million?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Samuel’s expression darkened. “Am I only worth that much!?”
Roni said nothing more.
The crystal slipped from Samuel’s fingers and shattered against the wall behind him. ss exploded across the floor, fragments bouncing against the hardwood.
“Emery Vaughn… Very good… You really had the guts. How dare you leave me!” Samuel hissed.