15,

agne glasses filled the grand ballroom

handeliers sparkled above, casting golden

anessa King moved through the crowd with pra

rior, her mind was set on so

r the King Group board meeting she had requested

d as Chairman. His be

by Benjamin Anderson, the late lab technician from Pacific Grand Hospital whom she had met by

chairman of King Group by virt

-the embezzlement, the offshore a

fering. The lies, the gaslighting, the cruel manipulations

h Eric and Caleb to her place two days ago. She couldn't h

e low, steady. "I will expose them all for the wor

ked, barely fa

to that." S

ing was fine with her, Vanessa's mind remained stuck on how Mabel had r

n-T

ed through the air

ce. Glasses slipped from hand

re through

st. The force knocked her off balance-she stumbled, the

th her, soaking through

in frantic rhythm, chairs screeched acr

unding toward her. The world spun, sound warpi

he ground, but they weren't from the pain of the

e. For believing that longtime frie

hands-marrying the son of her late father's chil

er only son-before he left for that

en after his death, she never

ismissed it all because she was too broken by his death, too unwilling

e was payin

g heartbeat, tears

another chanc

... my poo

of the world darkening. The pu

.. she sa

-

the lone figure draped in hospita

hospital lights. The

er chest, searching for t

pain. No b

her like a vice.

pen. Her PA, Jeremy and a doctor

ealth evaluation results," the

tin

shallow. Her fingers grip

d I get

the car waiting to take us back to the hotel we lodged in."

t today?" Her voice was

red a quick, puzzled glan

ing her with a mix of curiosity and concern. "You always did you

ssa

y 5th,

o tilt, her gaze b

ore Adina's IVF. Before she uncovered the truth about w

ot. Before she d

...

led, grasping a

real. It couldn

eremy, her PA, and the doctor-still watching h

n given a s

had made th

a blur of unansw

doctor's faces, they were starting to wonde

was truly her chance to live again-it

the vipers lurking in plain sight, the

~

y... March

bump, jarring Vanessa

sts in her lap, the tensio

er's eyes flicked toward her. She had made a

ead her, searching for any hin

nt, her face a mask

e she was, in 2016, making decisions with the knowledge of a

ld never trust blindly again. Sh

e, she would not fail her

tect her no ma

ph Avenue, I need to see s