Chapter 5: The Doctor
Vanessa and I left the hotel through the kitchen.
Security suggested the side exit because employees were still gathered in the lobby, and videos of Daniel slapping me were already spreading online.
Outside, Chicago rain hit my bare shoulders.
I didn't care.
Vanessa stood beside me, clutching her suitcase.
Twenty minutes earlier, I had hated her.
I still did, in some ways.
But now she looked less like the woman who stole my husband and more like someone who had just discovered she'd climbed willingly into a trap.
“Where are you going?”” she asked.
“My sister's.””
“Does Daniel have a key?””
“Yes.””
“Then don't.””
I looked at her.
“You don't get to give me advice.””
“I know.””
“At least we agree on something.””
She flinched.
A black SUV pulled away from the curb.
For one terrified second, I thought it was Daniel.
It wasn't.
My phone rang.
Emily.
I answered.
“Sarah? Oh my God. Where are you?””
“Outside the Ashford.””
“I’m coming.””
“Don't go to my house.””
“Why?””
“I'll explain later.””
“Are you hurt?””
My fingers touched my cheek.
“I’m okay.””
“You don't sound okay.””
“I need somewhere Daniel can't find me.””
Emily was silent for half a second.
Then her voice hardened.
“I'm twenty minutes away.””
Vanessa stepped under the hotel's awning.
“Sarah.””
I looked at her.
She was holding a document.
“I found this in my suitcase.””
“Daniel's?””
“I think he put it there.””
She handed it over.
It was a consulting agreement between V.R. Consulting and a company called Northlake Behavioral Health.
My eyes caught on one name.
*Dr. Martin Keller.*
Something stirred in my memory.
“Who is he?””
“I don't know.””
I did.
I just couldn't place him.
Then it hit me.
“Daniel's doctor.””
Vanessa frowned.
“His doctor?””
“Not exactly. Daniel introduced us at a charity dinner last year.””
I remembered a silver-haired man shaking my hand.
Daniel had said Martin specialized in executive stress.
Then I remembered something else.
Three months ago.
Our kitchen.
Daniel watching me pour coffee.
“You've seemed exhausted lately,” he'd said.
“I've been sleeping badly.””
“You should talk to Martin.””
“I don't need a psychiatrist.””
“He isn't just a psychiatrist, Sarah. He helps people manage stress.””
I had refused.
Daniel brought it up again a week later.
Then again.
My stomach turned.
Vanessa read my face.
“What?””
“He's been trying to get me to see this doctor.””
Her eyes widened.
My phone buzzed.
Michael.
*Do you recognize Dr. Martin Keller?*
I stared at the message.
“How does Michael know?””
Vanessa whispered, “Call him.””
I did.
He answered immediately.
“I was about to contact you.””
“I have a contract between Vanessa's company and Northlake Behavioral Health.””
Michael went silent.
“Where did you get it?””
“Vanessa found it in her suitcase.””
“Photograph every page.””
“Who is Martin Keller?””
“A psychiatrist who signed the preliminary competency assessment attached to your estate documents.””
The street seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
“He's never treated me.””
“That is exactly the problem.””
Rain blew under the awning.
Vanessa whispered, “What did he say?””
I put Michael on speaker.
“He says Keller signed a competency assessment.””
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Michael continued.
“The assessment claims you've exhibited paranoia, impulsive aggression, financial irresponsibility and emotional instability.””
I laughed.
I couldn't help it.
The sound came out sharp and frightened.
“Based on what?””
“That isn't clear.””
Vanessa looked toward the hotel.
Then she went completely still.
“Sarah.””
“What?””
“The party.””
I followed her gaze.
“What about it?””
She looked sick.
“Daniel told me to provoke you.””
My blood went cold.
“What?””
“He didn't say it like that.””
“Then how did he say it?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“He told me you were unstable. He said you'd become jealous and aggressive lately.””
“You believed him.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
“He said if you confronted me tonight, I shouldn't back down.””
The necklace.
The comments.
The touching.
Her whispering in Daniel's ear every time I approached.
“You wore my necklace on purpose.””
She looked down.
“Yes.””
My stomach twisted.
“Why?””
“Daniel gave it to me this afternoon.””
“And told you to wear it?””
“Yes.””
I stepped away from her.
“You knew I'd recognize it.””
“I thought he wanted you to finally understand we were together.””
“You thought humiliating me publicly was your grand romantic announcement?””
Her eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.””
I wanted to scream at her.
Instead, another thought stopped me.
“Daniel knew I would react.””
Vanessa nodded slowly.
“And there were cameras everywhere,” she whispered.
The anniversary party had a professional video crew.
Hundreds of employees.
Phones.
Witnesses.
Daniel hadn't tried to prevent the confrontation.
He had only stepped in after I reacted.
*Don't start something tonight.*
His words returned to me.
Not a warning.
A setup.
Michael spoke through the phone.
“If your husband needed evidence supporting an incompetency petition, a public incident could be useful.””
My skin crawled.
“I threw wine.””
“And he slapped you,” Michael said.
“That matters too.””
“Except the video might only show what happened after I threw it.””
Vanessa's head snapped toward me.
“The company cameras.””
“What?””
“There are security cameras in the ballroom.””
Michael said, “Get that footage before it disappears.””
Vanessa was already opening her phone.
“I know the head of hotel security.””
She dialed.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
“Daniel.””
“Don't answer.””
She declined it.
A message arrived immediately.
She read it.
Her face changed.
“What?””
She turned the phone toward me.
*You have ten minutes to come upstairs before I send everything to Sarah.*
I stared at her.
“Everything?””
Vanessa whispered, “I don't know.””
Another message arrived.
This time it was a photograph.
Vanessa gasped.
I looked.
It showed her sitting inside Daniel's office late at night.
On the desk in front of her were financial documents.
Her hand was holding a pen.
Daniel's message beneath it said:
*Remember whose signature is on the transfer paperwork.*
Vanessa's knees nearly buckled.
“No.””
“You signed something?””
“He said they were consulting invoices.””
Michael's voice sharpened.
“Vanessa, do not delete anything.””
She looked terrified.
“What did I sign?””
Before Michael could answer, my phone received an email.
Unknown sender.
Subject:
*SECURITY FOOTAGE — CARTER ANNIVERSARY EVENT*
I opened it.
There was a video attachment.
Only thirty-seven seconds.
I pressed play.
The camera showed the ballroom from above.
Vanessa and Daniel stood together before I approached.
There was no audio.
But Daniel could clearly be seen removing something from his pocket.
The necklace.
He fastened it around Vanessa's neck himself.
Then he leaned toward her and whispered.
Vanessa nodded.
A few seconds later, I entered the frame.
But that wasn't the part that made my blood freeze.
May you like
Before I reached them, Daniel looked directly toward the ballroom camera.
And gave someone a thumbs-up.
