His eyes moved toward Vanessa.
She knew.
Rachel opened her tablet.
“Would you like to see the stairwell footage?”
Vanessa turned white.
Daniel moved forward.
“Turn that off.”
An investigator stepped between them.
Rachel played it anyway.
Daniel appeared on the screen.
Then Vanessa.
Then their argument.
Then the fall.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“No…”
I watched Daniel’s face collapse as twenty-seven minutes of missing footage destroyed nearly two years of lies.
“You told me the cameras were erased,” Vanessa whispered.
Daniel snapped, “Shut up.”
Wrong response.
Vanessa immediately turned to the investigators.
“He told me Claire was going to take everything. He said if I told police she pushed me, we could protect the company.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You lying bitch.”
Vanessa backed away.
“And you told me she would never get out.”
An investigator lifted his hand.
“Both of you need to stop talking.”
Daniel ignored him.
He pointed at me.
“You think you can just walk back into my company?”
I stepped closer.
“My company.”
“You lost your shares when you were convicted.”
Rachel finally smiled.
“No, she didn’t.”
Daniel froze.
“The founder-protection trust retained them. Because Ms. Mercer’s conviction appears to have resulted from manipulated evidence, the trustees voted last night to restore her full authority pending formal exoneration.”
Daniel opened his mouth.
