Chapter 16 - Diane’s Price
“I want immunity from the company.”
Diane sat in my attorney’s conference room.
“I can’t give you immunity from criminal liability.”
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
“A written agreement that Sterling Capital won’t sue me for taking internal files if I turn over everything.”
My attorneys refused to promise anything immediately.
Diane expected that.
She handed the drive to her own lawyer.
“If we agree, you get the footage.”
I hated bargaining while Sophie’s treatment sat inside a file.
But obtaining evidence improperly could poison everything.
So lawyers negotiated.
Not me.
The agreement ultimately protected Diane from certain company civil claims tied to specified disclosures, without restricting government investigations or unrelated claims.
Then the drive was transferred and forensically copied.
The ten minutes began.
Vanessa stood over Sophie beside the coffee table.
Sophie reached toward the glass.
Water spilled.
Vanessa grabbed her wrist.
“You ruin everything.”
Sophie cried.
Vanessa pulled her hair.
Exactly as I had suspected.
Then Vanessa raised her hand.
She did not strike.
She stopped inches from Sophie’s face.
Sophie covered herself.
Vanessa smiled.
That smile was worse than a slap.
“You remember.”
My chest tightened.
The phrase established prior conditioning.
But still did not show what Sophie was remembering.
Then Vanessa dragged her toward the sofa.
Sophie resisted.
Vanessa whispered:
“Do you want the room?”
Sophie went instantly silent.
There it was.
Fear used as obedience.
The footage continued.
Vanessa checked her phone.
A message appeared.
She read it.
Then looked directly toward the hidden camera.
“Fine.”
She deliberately moved Sophie back beside the table.
Placed the glass in Sophie’s hands.
Waited.
The scene I walked into had been staged.
Not the spill itself.
The circumstances.
Vanessa wanted me to arrive while Sophie was frightened.
She knew my schedule.
Diane admitted she had notified Vanessa when my car entered the property.
I felt physically ill.
My home had become a set.
My daughter had become a prop.
The footage gave us our strongest evidence yet against Vanessa.
It also exposed Diane’s active participation.
Her civil agreement didn’t protect her from other consequences.
She knew that.
Then the final seconds changed everything.
A message flashed across Vanessa’s phone screen.
FROM: G.H.
MAKE HIM LOSE CONTROL.
Grant Holloway.
Grant—not Caleb—had instructed Vanessa that afternoon.
The corporate executive fighting Caleb had secretly communicated with Caleb’s infiltrator.
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Our two supposed enemies were connected.
📖 Grant’s message proved he knew Vanessa was inside my home, and the reason they secretly cooperated would reveal who had actually been manipulating whom. 👇
