Chapter 9 - Interrogation in the Garden
While the remaining guests hurriedly gathered their belongings and evacuated the estate grounds, Claire walked down toward the stone balustrade overlooking the river, seeking a moment of quiet reflection away from the chaos.
Footsteps crunched softly on the gravel behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Vanessa stood a few paces away, her expensive bridal gown stained with spilled champagne where the cascading tower had trembled during the initial confrontation.
'Are you satisfied?' Vanessa asked, her voice cracking with a mixture of humiliation and lingering defiance. 'Did destroying my wedding bring you some kind of twisted corporate satisfaction?'
Claire turned slowly, her expression calm, devoid of malice or triumph. 'Your wedding was built on a foundation of theft, lies, and stolen identity, Vanessa. I didn't destroy it. I simply stopped paying for the illusion.'
Vanessa swallowed hard, looking down at her trembling hands. 'I didn't know. He told me he was a venture capitalist. He showed me bank statements, apartment leases in Manhattan, luxury cars... I swear I didn't know he was draining your accounts.'
'Did you ever wonder how a man who spent three years crashing on my couch and freeloading off my company suddenly acquired the capital to buy a Hudson Valley estate for three hundred people?' Claire asked quietly.
Vanessa flinched. She looked away, staring out across the river. 'He told me he had a silent backer. He told me... he told me what I wanted to hear.'
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'Ambition without integrity is just a slow-motion suicide,' Claire said softly. 'You wanted entry into a world you hadn't earned, and he wanted a trophy wife to validate a fake persona. You found each other. Don't blame me because the bill finally came due.'
Vanessa opened her mouth to retort, but no words came out. The sheer, crushing weight of reality had finally broken through her defenses. Without another word, she turned and hurried back toward the main manor, her ruined lace train dragging dust along the flagstone path.
