Chapter 13 - The Broken AllianceWhile Adrian faced decades behind bars, Vanessa Hart found herself trapped in a nightmare of her own making.
Without the backing of the Cole family, Hart Development had collapsed into bankruptcy within thirty days. Her father, ruined by the sudden recall of all bank loans engineered by Gabriel, suffered a massive stroke and retired from public life.
On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, I stepped out of a private security vehicle outside the county courthouse.
Vanessa was waiting on the broad concrete steps under a cheap umbrella, wearing a faded coat, her hair unstyled, looking entirely stripped of the glamour she had displayed at my birthday party.
When she saw me surrounded by three armed Moretti security guards, she rushed forward, only to be immediately blocked by one of my team.
"Elena! Please!" Vanessa begged, her voice cracking with desperation. "Please, just give me two minutes!"
I signaled for my guard to step aside and walked slowly up to her.
"What do you want, Vanessa?" I asked quietly.
"I’m broke, Elena," she sobbed, dropping her umbrella as tears mixed with the falling rain on her face. "The bank foreclosed on my apartment yesterday. Your brothers blocked me from every real estate firm in the state! I can't even get a job as an administrative assistant!"
I looked at the woman who had stood beneath the chandelier three months ago, laughing as my blood stained the ballroom floor.
"You stood in my home," I said softly, my voice as cold as the rain around us. "You laughed while my husband tied me to a beam and whipped me thirty times. You thought my silence was weakness, Vanessa."
"I was stupid! Adrian lied to me! He told me you were nobody!" she cried out, reaching out to grasp my arm.
Before her fingers could touch my coat, Nico appeared from behind me, catching her wrist in a firm, painless grip and gently pushing her back.
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"You chose your side that night, Vanessa," I told her, looking straight into her tear-filled eyes. "You wanted the wealth, the status, and the cruelty that came with the Cole name. Now you can share their ruin."
I turned away and walked into the courthouse, leaving her standing alone in the pouring rain.
