Chapter 5: The Man Who Died Twice
For several seconds, Richard couldn't understand the sentence.
He stared at Vanessa, waiting for her to correct herself.
She didn't.
“Your father died ten years ago,” he said.
“I know.””
“You just told me someone said he was still alive.””
“I said Victor told me that.””
“Before or after the funeral?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“After.””
Richard felt his stomach turn.
“That's impossible.””
“I know how it sounds.””
“No. You don't. You have no idea how it sounds.””
He walked toward the bedroom door, then stopped. His father's photograph was still on the dresser, a framed picture Richard had brought from Connecticut because Vanessa said it would make the villa feel more personal.
Edward stood in the photograph wearing a charcoal suit, one hand resting on Richard's shoulder.
The man had been dead for a decade.
Richard had watched the coffin lowered into the ground.
He had signed the documents.
He had inherited the company.
What exactly was Vanessa suggesting?
“Tell me everything,” he said.
She sat down slowly.
“In 2019, after I started working for the consulting company, Victor contacted me. He said your father had left instructions for me to follow. He also said there were people who wanted access to your trust.””
“My father had been dead for years.””
“That's what I believed.””
“Then why would you follow his instructions?””
“Because Victor showed me letters. Handwritten letters, Richard. They had your father's signature. They contained information about your family that I couldn't have known otherwise.””
Richard thought of the handwritten note in the envelope.
Your father didn't die because of bad weather.
He wanted to dismiss it as a cruel joke.
But the more he tried to force the pieces into place, the less they fit.
“What did Victor ask you to do?””
“Meet you. Learn about your plans. Find out whether you intended to move the trust money.””
“And when you fell in love with me?””
Vanessa looked down.
“I stopped reporting everything.””
Richard laughed without humor.
“You stopped reporting everything, but you kept the money?””
She looked up sharply.
“I never said I kept the money.””
“Then where did it go?””
“I don't know.””
“You signed documents. You controlled the company. You told me it was an investment.””
“Because I was told that's what it was!””
Richard slammed the envelope onto the dresser.
“By whom?””
Vanessa flinched.
“By Victor.””
Richard turned away.
He needed air. He needed distance. Most of all, he needed one person in his life to tell him something that wasn't a lie.
He stepped onto the balcony and called his older sister, Margaret.
They hadn't spoken properly in months. Margaret had never approved of Vanessa, and she had refused to attend the family dinner where Richard announced his divorce.
He had called her bitter.
She had called him a fool.
Neither had apologized.
Margaret answered on the fourth ring.
“Richard?””
“I need to ask you something about Dad.””
A pause followed.
“What happened?””
“Did Dad ever tell you he was afraid someone might hurt him?””
Silence.
Then Margaret said, “Why are you asking me that?””
“Just answer the question.””
“I asked him once whether he was worried about the company. He told me that if anything happened to him, I should make sure you never signed anything Victor Shaw put in front of you.””
Richard closed his eyes.
“Did he explain why?””
“No. He said some things were too dangerous to discuss over the phone.””
“Did he mention a woman named Vanessa Cole?””
Margaret went quiet.
When she spoke again, her voice was different.
“Where are you?””
“At a resort in the Caribbean.””
“With Vanessa?””
“Yes.””
“Oh, Richard.””
He gripped the railing.
“What does that mean?””
“It means I hoped you would have come to your senses by now.””
“Margaret, I need you to tell me what you know.””
She exhaled sharply.
“Dad met a woman shortly before he died. He said she was connected to Victor, but he wouldn't tell me how. Then, after the accident, Victor came to the house and insisted that Dad had been investigating a financial scheme involving the trust.””
“What scheme?””
“I don't know. Victor said Dad had found irregularities and was preparing to take legal action.””
Richard remembered the company records.
The missing money.
The suspicious transfer.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“I did! I called you three times. You were in New York with Vanessa, and you told me not to interfere in your private life.””
Richard had no answer.
He remembered the calls now.
Margaret had left messages saying that something was wrong with the trust. He had dismissed them because Vanessa was beside him, telling him that his family would never accept their relationship.
He had chosen to believe the person who made him feel wanted.
“What happened after that?”” he asked.
“Victor closed Dad's files. He told us the investigation was over. A year later, I found a letter in Dad's desk addressed to you. It was missing when I went back to retrieve it.””
Richard's pulse quickened.
“What did it say?””
“I only saw the first page. It mentioned a second set of trust documents and a person Dad called the beneficiary's guardian.””
“Who was the beneficiary?””
“I assumed you.””
“And the guardian?””
Margaret paused.
“Eleanor.””
Richard stared across the ocean.
His wife had been involved in his father's affairs long before the divorce, long before Vanessa, perhaps even before he understood what his marriage meant.
But that didn't explain the signature dated after the first meeting.
“Margaret, I need you to do something for me.””
“What?””
“Find the original trust documents. Everything Dad left behind. Don't contact Victor. Don't tell anyone I'm asking.””
“Richard, I need to know what's happening.””
“I'll explain when I understand it myself.””
Margaret sighed.
“All right. But promise me something.””
“What?””
“If Eleanor reaches out to you again, listen before you accuse her of anything.””
The call ended.
Richard remained on the balcony for another minute, listening to the waves.
Then he returned to the bedroom.
Vanessa was sitting beside the bed, staring at her hands.
“Who was that?”” she asked.
“My sister.””
“Does she know?””
“Know what?””
Vanessa looked up.
“That your father might not have died in an accident.””
Richard said nothing.
She stood abruptly.
“I need to leave.””
“Not until we finish this conversation.””
“Richard, you don't understand. If Victor is involved, we're in danger.””
“Who is Victor working for?””
“I don't know!””
“Then why are you afraid of him?””
Vanessa walked to the suitcase and began stuffing clothes into it.
“Because he knows things about me. Things I never told you.””
Richard watched her throw a dress into the bag.
“Such as?””
She stopped.
For the first time, the confident woman who had persuaded him to abandon his marriage looked genuinely terrified.
“My birth certificate doesn't list my real father.””
Richard blinked.
“What?””
“My mother changed my surname when I was a child. I grew up believing my father had abandoned us. After she died, I found a letter saying he had paid for my education through a private trust.””
Richard felt a chill crawl up his spine.
“Who was he?””
“I never knew.””
“Did Victor tell you?””
Vanessa nodded.
“What did he say?””
She looked at him.
“He said my father was a man who would never acknowledge me publicly.””
Richard couldn't speak.
Vanessa reached into her handbag and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“I found this among my mother's belongings years ago. I never showed it to anyone.””
She handed it to him.
The paper contained a list of names, dates, and account numbers. Most were unfamiliar.
But one line stood out.
*Edward Hayes — Guardian's Account — Beneficiary: V.C.*
Richard read it twice.
“V.C.,” he whispered.
“Vanessa Cole.””
He looked up.
“You're telling me my father left money for you?””
“That's what Victor said.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I thought you'd leave me.””
Richard laughed bitterly.
“You thought I'd leave you if I knew you were connected to my father's money? So you let me destroy my marriage instead?””
Vanessa began to cry.
“I loved you.””
“You loved the life I could give you.””
“I didn't know who I was until I met you.””
“That doesn't mean you had to lie.””
She wiped her cheeks.
“I know.””
For a moment, the room was quiet.
Then Richard noticed the paper in her hand.
It wasn't the same sheet she had just given him.
She was holding another document, one she had pulled from the lining of her handbag.
He reached for it.
Vanessa tried to hide it.
“Give it to me.””
“Richard, don't.””
He took it from her.
It was a photocopy of a birth certificate.
The mother's name was familiar.
The father's name had been blacked out.
But someone had written a note across the bottom.
If she ever meets Richard Hayes, tell her who she is before he finds out.
Richard looked at Vanessa.
“Who wrote this?””
“I don't know.””
“Where did you get it?””
“My mother's things.””
He turned the page over.
On the back, a second note had been written in blue ink.
Edward wanted to tell his son the truth. Eleanor stopped him.
Richard's hands began to shake.
He looked at Vanessa, then at the document, then at the framed photograph of his father.
“Your mother knew my father.””
Vanessa whispered, “I think so.””
“And Eleanor knew your mother.””
“I think so.””
Richard felt the room tilt again.
The affair, the money, the false name, the mysterious trust, the dead man who might not have died as everyone believed.
Every path led back to the same question.
Why had the two women in his life been connected long before either had admitted it?
A sharp knock interrupted his thoughts.
Officer Daniel entered with Malik behind him.
“Mr. Hayes,” Daniel said, “we've identified the person who entered your room.””
Richard turned.
“Who?””
Daniel glanced at Vanessa.
“The person used a stolen staff card, but the cameras captured her face when she left the corridor.””
“Her?””
Daniel nodded.
“The woman is registered at this resort under the name Margaret Hayes.””
Richard's blood ran cold.
His sister was supposed to be in Connecticut.
And she had just told him she would never contact Victor.
He reached for his phone.
It was already ringing.
Margaret's name flashed across the screen.
Richard answered.
“Margaret, where are you?””
Her voice came through in a whisper.
“Richard, don't trust Vanessa.””
He looked at the woman standing beside him.
Then Margaret added five words that changed everything.
May you like
“She's not the person you think.””
The line went dead.
