Chapter 4: The Question Vanessa Couldn't Answer
“Tell me how you got this photograph.””
Daniel's voice cut through the ballroom, louder this time.
Vanessa stood beneath the crystal chandeliers, her red designer gown catching the bright light as she stared at the ultrasound in his trembling hands. Around them, guests had stopped pretending not to watch. A photographer lowered his camera. Someone near the champagne table whispered Ava's name.
Vanessa tightened her grip on her clutch.
“Daniel, not here.””
He looked at the photograph again.
“Three months before our divorce.”” His eyes lifted to hers.
“You knew she was pregnant before I did?””
“I didn't say that.””
“Then explain what I'm looking at.””
Ava stood beside Simone, one hand resting against her belly. Her face had gone frighteningly still.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't shouting.
She was watching Vanessa with the kind of concentration that made every excuse feel dangerous before it had even been spoken.
“Answer him,” Ava said.
Vanessa turned toward her.
“Ava, I understand that you're upset.””
“Don't tell me how I feel.””
“I'm trying to keep this from becoming a spectacle.””
Ava glanced at the guests gathered around them.
“You brought my private medical photograph into a wedding ballroom. You don't get to decide when this becomes a spectacle.””
Simone stepped forward.
“She's right. Whatever game you're playing, you need to stop.””
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“This has nothing to do with you.””
“It became my business when you decided to humiliate my best friend at my wedding.””
Daniel barely seemed to hear them.
He was still staring at the date.
He remembered the final weeks of his marriage: Ava growing quieter, refusing to argue, looking at him as though she had already accepted something he hadn't yet understood.
He had mistaken her silence for indifference.
Now, holding the ultrasound, he wondered what else he had misunderstood.
He turned toward her.
“Ava, why didn't you tell me?””
She gave him a long, exhausted look.
“I tried.””
“When?””
“The night you brought the divorce papers home.””
Daniel's mouth opened slightly.
Ava continued.
“I cooked your favorite dinner. I put the ultrasound beside my plate. I waited for you to come home because I wanted you to be the first person I told.””
“I don't remember that.””
“You were too busy talking to Vanessa.””
Vanessa flinched.
Daniel looked at her.
“Were you with Vanessa that night?””
“Daniel, that's not what matters right now.””
“Were you?””
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
“Yes. We spoke on the phone.””
Ava let out a small, bitter laugh.
“I remember. You told her you'd handle everything tomorrow.””
Daniel looked back at Ava.
“I didn't know.””
“No. You didn't ask.””
“I would have listened.””
“Would you?””
The question was quiet enough that he had to lean closer to hear it.
Ava shook her head.
“You couldn't sit through dinner with me. You couldn't attend one doctor's appointment. You couldn't give me ten minutes without looking at your phone. But now that you see a baby, suddenly you have all the time in the world.””
Daniel lowered the photograph.
“I made mistakes.””
“You made choices.””
“I was under pressure.””
“So was I.””
He stared at her belly, his expression breaking for a moment.
“Is the baby mine?””
Ava's eyes filled, but she refused to let the tears fall.
“I am not discussing my child's future in front of an audience.””
“Then talk to me privately.””
“No.””
“Ava, please.””
“You don't get to demand privacy now after everyone has watched you demand answers from me.””
Simone reached for Ava's arm.
“Let's go inside the bridal suite.””
Ava nodded.
As they turned, Vanessa spoke.
“Wait.””
Ava stopped but didn't face her.
Vanessa swallowed.
“The photograph wasn't supposed to be shown like this.””
Ava slowly turned around.
“What do you mean, it wasn't supposed to be shown?””
Vanessa looked at Daniel, then at the guests.
“I didn't plan for any of this.””
“That's not an answer,” Ava said.
Vanessa's eyes flickered toward the ultrasound.
“I was trying to prevent something worse from happening.””
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Prevent what?””
Vanessa's lips pressed together.
For the first time since arriving at the wedding, she looked genuinely frightened.
“I can't explain everything here.””
“Then start with one thing,” Daniel said.
“How did you get the photograph?””
Vanessa glanced at the ballroom doors.
Daniel noticed.
“Don't walk away from me.””
“I need a moment.””
“You've had months.””
Her face changed at the word.
Months.
Ava noticed it, too.
“What does he mean?”” she asked.
“What happened months ago?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Please, Ava. Not here.””
Ava's hand moved protectively over her belly.
“You keep asking me for patience while holding something that belongs to me. You don't get any more patience from me.””
Vanessa looked down.
Then, very quietly, she said, “I didn't steal it.””
Ava's face went pale.
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“Nobody said you stole it.””
“You were thinking it.””
“How would you know what I was thinking?””
“Because you always assume the worst when you don't have control.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“And you always have an explanation when you're caught holding something you shouldn't have.””
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
“Don't speak to me as if you're innocent in all of this.””
“Then tell me what I'm guilty of.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came.
The silence stretched.
Ava felt the baby move beneath her palm. The tiny movement grounded her in a moment that seemed to have become entirely about Daniel's confusion and Vanessa's fear.
She took a breath.
“I'm leaving.””
Daniel moved instinctively toward her.
“Ava—”
“Don't follow me.””
He stopped.
She turned toward Simone, who immediately guided her away from the gathering crowd.
The ballroom doors swung shut behind them.
Daniel stood motionless, the ultrasound photograph trembling between his fingers.
Vanessa reached for his arm.
He pulled away.
“Don't touch me.””
“Daniel, listen to me.””
“How long have you known?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“Daniel—”
“How long?””
She closed her eyes.
“I can't answer that here.””
He gave a disbelieving laugh.
“You keep saying that. You keep telling me where you can't answer. When exactly are you planning to tell me the truth?””
Vanessa looked up at him.
“When I know what the truth actually is.””
Daniel stared at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he held the photograph toward her.
“Take it.””
She hesitated.
“Daniel—”
“Take it.””
Vanessa accepted the ultrasound with shaking hands and placed it inside her clutch.
Daniel looked at the ballroom doors through which Ava had disappeared.
“I need to talk to her.””
“You'll only make things worse.””
He turned slowly.
“You don't get to tell me what will make things worse anymore.””
He walked away before she could respond.
Vanessa remained beneath the chandeliers, surrounded by wedding guests who had suddenly found reasons to look elsewhere.
Her phone vibrated inside her purse.
A message appeared from the same unknown contact she had called the previous evening.
*Did he see the date?*
Vanessa stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
*Tell me you didn't show him the photograph.*
Her fingers went cold.
She typed three words.
*He saw everything.*
The reply came almost immediately.
*Then you need to get that photograph back before Ava finds out what else is missing.*
Vanessa's breath caught.
She read the message twice.
Then she looked toward the doors.
May you like
For the first time, she understood that the ultrasound wasn't the only thing someone had been keeping from Ava.
And whoever had sent that message knew exactly what was at stake.
