“It’s not a joke, Cindy. I really am Karl’s ex-wife. I know that’s hard to hear because he’s told you I was dead, but I assure you, I am very much alive.” She lifted the folder she’d been holding in her hand, and clung to the small photo album she held in the other, nodding in the counter’s direction, hoping Cindy would follow her.
When she did, Vanessa let a cautious breath slip from her lips. She pushed the album to the side and placed the folder directly between them on the counter, sliding it across to Cindy.
With a shaky hand, the young woman opened the folder and looked down at the documents in front of her.
“This is our marriage license.” Vanessa spoke carefully, afraid if her voice were too rough, she’d fail to get through to Cindy. “This is our wedding announcement in one of the society magazines. And this,” she said cautiously as Cindy unfolded the legal document, “is our divorce decree.”
Cindy remained silent as she kept her eyes fixed to the papers in front of her.
“This is my birth certificate. And this—” She reached into the pocket of her jeans and slid two plastic cards across the counter as well. “These are both my driver’s licenses. One in my married name, and the other in my maiden name, issued after our divorce two years ago.”
Cindy closed the file, and when she lifted her gaze, Vanessa could see a single, lonely tear sliding down her pale cheek. The young woman turned to Karl.
“You told me she was dead.”
“Trust me,” he mumbled. “My life would be so much better if she were.”
His steely blue gaze covered Vanessa, and she fought the chill settling into her bones. Tall, blond, straight hair with a runner’s slimbuild, Karl stood before her in one of his designer business suits looking every bit the cold-hearted bastard he was.
“You took everything from me and you still have your grubby hands in my goddamn pockets, Vanessa.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see Michael’s fist clench. She held up her hand, hoping it would be enough to keep things calm. Michael looked at her for a long moment, finally nodding his head as he stepped away from Karl and walked to stand beside her at the counter.
“I took no more than I earned as your wife of twenty years. If you calculated the cost of everything I’ve ever done for you, the settlement I walked away with doesn’t halfway cover it. I devoted my life to you and you repaid me by emotionally tormenting me and sleeping with every woman you fancied. You cared so little about me, were so certain of your control over me, you didn’t even try to hide it, flaunting your infidelity like it was some sort of sick badge of honor. You’d made me into the perfect victim, so you had no reason to believe I’d ever fight back. I won’t let you do the same to another unsuspecting woman who doesn’t know any better—”
“Karl,” Cindy interrupted, “is any of this true?”
Karl’s hard face softened as he collected himself, something Vanessa called him getting into character all the times she’d watched him do it. With outstretched arms, he walked toward Cindy.
“Darling,” he crooned, his voice rich with emotion Vanessa knew damn well he was faking. “Don’t believe the bitter hatred she’s spewing. Vanessa’s mission in life is to make mine miserable. I gave her most of my fortune just to free myself from her tentacles.”
Bull’s-eye! Karl’s aim was always perfect when it came to stomping on her confidence. And like all the other times, the arrow lodged deep into her self-confidence.
“You’ve got one more time to come out your face like that about Vanessa before I shut your disrespectful mouth for you.”
Michael defending her was just as sexy as his sweet caressagainst her skin. His protectiveness fortified her. Instead of shrinking back, she held up her finger to stop him. She needed to be the one to do this on her own.
Unlike before, she’d spent too much time in the presence of two great women who’d poured power into her for the last two years. The old Vanessa would’ve folded and crumpled with Karl’s words. This Vanessa took the hit and regrouped, ready to come out swinging with a shot of her own.
“Karl, the only person who was ever miserable in our relationship was me.” She turned her attention to Cindy before she continued.
“In the beginning, he showered me with gifts and attention. The type of praise was addictive the way he so liberally applied it.” She closed her eyes and allowed the memories to sweep over her. The Karl of more than twenty years ago was just as charming and handsome as he was now. It was no wonder she hadn’t discovered what a snake he was until many years into their marriage.
“It didn’t take long for that to change. Soon, he began pulling the praise away and replacing it with criticism.” She took a shaky breath as her life played like a highlights sports reel across her mind. “First, it was my hair. He didn’t like it. It didn’t matter if it was short or long, it wasn’t what he wanted. It had to be tucked into a severe bun at the back of my neck. To him, it was elegant, and his wife needed to be elegant at all times to impress his business associates.”
She watched Cindy move a trembling hand across the tight bun on her head and hoped her recount penetrated.
“Then it was my clothes. He didn’t want to see me in jeans or anything form-fitting. And the only jewelry I could wear were my wedding rings and the pearl earrings and necklace set he’d given me.”
Vanessa looked at Cindy’s neck and ears and saw what looked like a carbon copy of the pearl set he’d given her twenty years ago.
God, you’re such a bastard, Karl.
“Then, when my friends and family started questioning the changes in my appearance, Karl separated me from them. He movedus out of Denver to an exclusive neighborhood in New Jersey. He said it was so he could build his new business in New York. As you can probably imagine, that was just an excuse. The real reason was he wanted to isolate me from anyone who could recognize what was going on. And it worked.”
She pressed her hand onto the solid granite of the countertop to gain purchase. Talking about this wasn’t easy, but she could see by the way Cindy’s gaze was fixed to hers, that she was doing the right thing, so she continued.
“He was conditioning me to be his willing victim, and I didn’t recognize it before it was too late. Before I knew it, everything I did was because he liked it or it benefited him in some way. My wants or needs didn’t enter into the calculation. That included who I worked for. I’m a credentialed accountant, who could’ve worked anywhere. However, the only job he allowed me to hold was working as an accountant for his company.”
