Chapter 7 - Veronica Had Helped Emily Once
I confronted Veronica again.
This time, she stopped pretending ignorance.
She admitted she first saw Emily alive twelve years after the supposed crash.
By then Allan was dead.
Veronica had found a storage box containing his old personal records.
Inside was a photograph of Emily taken years after her funeral.
Veronica tracked her down.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to know what Allan had done.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Emily begged me not to.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
Veronica had actually helped Emily once.
She gave her money.
Paid for temporary housing.
Promised never to tell me.
For years, she kept that promise.
Then something changed.
“What?”
Veronica looked ashamed.
“I started dating you.”
That was when Emily became a threat.
Not because Veronica hated her.
Because Veronica feared that if Emily resurfaced, I would discover she'd known the truth long before our engagement.
“She wanted you to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“And you refused.”
“Yes.”
So Veronica began pressuring her.
Not physically.
Financially.
Emotionally.
She told Emily that revealing herself would destroy me.
That I'd spent decades mourning.
That the company and family reputation would implode.
Emily backed away.
Then Veronica discovered the green folder.
“What did you think was in it?”
“Something about Allan.”
“And?”
“I wanted it destroyed.”
Not because it threatened me.
Because it threatened the story Veronica had built around her dead husband—and around herself.
That explained why Emily called her the champagne lady.
Veronica wasn't the original architect of the lie.
She became its caretaker.
Then I asked:
“Why did Emily write ‘Do not let her take the child’?”
Veronica's composure broke.
“I don't know.”
May you like
I believed her fear.
Which meant whatever happened in the last few days had escalated beyond the old documents.
