Chapter 9 - The Confession Room
The concrete basement of the Cook County Department of Corrections smelled of industrial bleach and defeat. In an interrogation booth partitioned by reinforced acrylic glass, Vanessa sat in an orange jumpsuit that hung loosely over her trembling frame.
Her immaculate blonde blowout was gone, replaced by tangled, greasy hair pulled into a pathetic knot. Her acrylic nails had been clipped down, and the designer diamond studs were stripped from her ears. When the heavy steel door clicked open and Ethan stepped into the room, she looked up with a wild mixture of hope and terror.
"Ethan!" she gasped, throwing herself against the glass divider. "Ethan, baby, you came! I knew you wouldn't leave me in this hellhole! The other inmates... they know what the charges are. They threatened me, Ethan! You have to call the warden! You have to get me into private protective custody!"
Ethan pulled out the metal chair opposite her and sat down. He didn't pick up the wall phone. He simply sat back, arms crossed, regarding her like a specimen under a microscope.
"Pick up the phone, Ethan!" she sobbed, banging her palm on the partition. "Please! I made a mistake! My mother pushed me into it! Evelyn was the one who bought the chain, I swear to God! She told me we had to teach Lily discipline!"
Ethan picked up the receiver on his side, his face an impenetrable mask.
Vanessa hastily jammed the plastic receiver to her ear. "Ethan, listen to me—"
"Julian Montgomery," Ethan interrupted, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper that cut right through her frantic babbling.
Vanessa froze. The color drained from her face until she looked like a corpse.
"I... I don't know who that is," she stammered, her eyes darting away toward the guard standing by the door.
"Don't lie to me, Vanessa," Ethan said smoothly. "Blake quit as your lawyer an hour ago. The federal prosecutor just added wire fraud, interstate racketeering, and child endangerment to your docket. You are looking at thirty-five years without parole. Your mother is currently having a panic attack in the infirmary because her bail was rejected with prejudice."
A sob tore out of Vanessa's throat. "He promised me... he told me you were going to leave me anyway! He said Clara’s ghost would always be between us!"
"You listened to a monster," Ethan said, leaning closer until his reflection merged with hers on the scarred glass. "And you tortured my baby girl for money."
"Julian approached me eight months ago," Vanessa wept, the truth pouring out like poison from an open wound. "At the charity tennis tournament in Aspen. He said he had a rightful claim to the Montgomery estate. He said Lily was a brat who didn't deserve it. He paid off the clinic to fake Lily’s tests. He said if I staged a dramatic scene at the gala—if I showed the board and the press that Lily was unhinged and dangerous—he’d have her placed under a court conservatorship."
"And the dog chain?" Ethan asked, his voice shaking with restrained violence. "Whose idea was that?"
Vanessa swallowed hard, tears streaking her pale face. "Julian said... he said dogs should be treated like dogs. He told me to break her in front of everyone so nobody would ever doubt she was crazy."
Ethan closed his eyes for two seconds, letting the cold fury settle into pure resolve. When he opened them, there was no pity left.
"Give Marcus the encrypted drive Julian gave you," Ethan said. "The passwords. Every email. Every transaction."
"If I do... will you get me out of here?" she begged, pressing her forehead against the glass. "Will you drop the charges?"
"No," Ethan replied coldly. "You will serve every single second of your sentence. But if you cooperate, I won't ask the state prosecutor to try you in the maximum-security state penitentiary downstate. That is the only mercy you will ever receive from me."
May you like
He hung up the phone. Vanessa screamed his name, beating wildly against the glass as Ethan pushed his chair back and walked out into the corridor without looking back.
***
