Chapter 4 - The Company That Shouldn’t ExistNathan arrived twenty-six minutes later.
She ignored it.
It vibrated again.
And again.
Then continuously.
She opened one eye.
Her bedroom was gray with early morning light. Her injured leg rested on two pillows. The pain had become a deep, throbbing pulse during the night.
From the living room came the sound of her seventeen-year-old brother yelling.
“Tessa!”
She groaned.
“If the apartment is on fire, leave me.”
Eli appeared in the doorway holding his phone.
“You’re famous.”
“Worse.”
“Way worse.”
He turned the screen toward her.
A video showed Vanessa’s hand crossing Tessa’s face.
The clip replayed automatically.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Tessa looked away.
“Turn it off.”
“It has twenty-three million views.”
“That number means nothing to me before coffee.”
“There are news vans downstairs.”
Tessa sat upright.
“What?”
“Three.”
“Why?”
Eli gave her a look.
“Because apparently rich people behaving badly is America’s favorite breakfast.”
She grabbed her own phone.
Eight hundred and fourteen notifications.
Unknown calls.
Messages.
Interview requests.
A producer from a national morning show.
Two attorneys.
Someone claiming to represent a handbag restoration company.
A woman offering free physical therapy.
And hundreds of strangers demanding her Cash App information.
Tessa felt sick.
She opened social media.
The video was everywhere.
BILLIONAIRE’S WIFE SLAPS INJURED WAITRESS.
STERLING MARRIAGE IMPLODES IN PUBLIC.
WHO IS TESSA MONROE?
That last headline frightened her most.
“No.”
Eli sat on the edge of the bed.
“What?”
“They’re looking into me.”
“People online look into everybody.”
“They’re going to find Mom.”
Eli’s expression changed.
Their mother had died four years earlier after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
The debt remained.
So did the memories.
Tessa did not want strangers turning the worst years of their lives into content.
“We don’t talk to anyone,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Not one reporter.”
“Okay.”
“And you don’t post anything.”
“Tess—”
“Promise me.”
He sighed.
“I promise.”
Someone buzzed from downstairs.
Tessa stiffened.
Eli walked to the intercom.
“Who is it?”
A man’s voice answered.
“Daniel Ross, Sterling Capital security.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Ten minutes later, Daniel stood in their tiny living room.
He was in his early forties, built like a former linebacker, and possessed the calm patience of someone paid to stand between powerful people and disasters.
“Nathan sent me.”
“I figured.”
“He’s concerned about the reporters.”
“I’m concerned about Nathan sending security to my apartment.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“He expected you to say that.”
“He should know me better.”
“He said you’d say that too.”
Tessa hated that.
Daniel handed her a card.
“This is my number. Use it if anyone follows you, threatens you, or contacts your brother directly.”
Eli examined the card.
“Can I call if my algebra teacher threatens me?”
“No.”
“Worth asking.”
Tessa rubbed her forehead.
“What does Nathan want?”
“To know you’re safe.”
“That’s all?”
Daniel hesitated.
That was enough.
“What happened?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss company matters.”
“Then why did your face change?”
“My face didn’t change.”
“You work for a billionaire. You probably get paid to have no facial expressions. It changed.”
Daniel sighed.
“Sterling Capital received information this morning.”
“What kind?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Does it involve Vanessa?”
His silence answered.
Tessa leaned back.
“I don’t want to be involved.”
“Nobody is asking you to be.”
“Good.”
Another buzz from downstairs.
Eli checked the intercom screen.
“It’s not a reporter.”
“Who?”
He looked puzzled.
“Some woman.”
Tessa frowned.
“Name?”
“She says she’s Vanessa Sterling.”
Daniel stood instantly.
Tessa stared at him.
“You’re joking.”
The intercom buzzed again.
Daniel moved toward the door.
“I’ll handle it.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“If she came here, I want to know why.”
“You should not speak to her.”
“You’re not my bodyguard.”
“No. I’m the man who gets blamed if my employer sees his wife throw you down a stairwell on TMZ.”
Eli looked impressed.
“That was dark.”
Tessa pushed herself upright and reached for her crutches.
“Let her up.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then I’ll go downstairs.”
“You have a fractured leg.”
“Which means you’ll have a very embarrassing story to tell Nathan when I fall.”
Daniel muttered something under his breath.
Five minutes later, Vanessa entered the apartment.
Gone was the silver gown.
She wore jeans, sunglasses, and a camel coat. Her hair was tied back. Without the perfect presentation, she looked younger.
And tired.
Tessa remained standing.
Vanessa looked around the apartment.
One couch.
A scratched coffee table.
Family photographs.
A television older than Eli.
Something in her expression shifted.
“I came alone.”
Daniel stood by the window.
“No, you didn’t.”
Vanessa glanced toward the hallway.
“My driver doesn’t count.”
“What do you want?” Tessa asked.
Vanessa removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were red.
“I owe you an apology.”
Tessa waited.
Vanessa swallowed.
“I shouldn’t have hit you.”
“No.”
“I was angry.”
“I noticed.”
Vanessa’s mouth tightened.
“I’m trying.”
Tessa said nothing.
“I was humiliated, and I took it out on you.”
“That’s closer.”
Vanessa stared at her.
“You enjoy this?”
“No. I just don’t accept apologies that secretly blame me.”
Vanessa looked away.
For several seconds, traffic noise filled the room.
Then she tried again.
“I was cruel to you. The wine didn’t matter. The bag didn’t matter. I hit you because I was angry at my husband and because, for five minutes, you were someone I thought I could hurt without consequences.”
Tessa studied her.
That sounded true.
“I’m sorry,” Vanessa said.
Tessa nodded once.
“I accept the apology.”
Vanessa blinked.
“You do?”
“Accepting an apology doesn’t mean I trust you.”
Vanessa almost laughed.
“Fair.”
Then her expression changed.
“This next part is harder.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You probably already know.”
“Know what?”
She turned to Tessa.
“Nathan received files this morning.”
Tessa glanced at Daniel.
He did not react.
Vanessa continued.
“Those files make it look like I stole money from my husband’s company.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Tessa believed the fear in her eyes.
Not necessarily the denial.
“Why come to me?”
“Because whoever sent those files used your name.”
Tessa froze.
“What?”
Vanessa took a folded printout from her bag.
Daniel grabbed it before Tessa could.
He examined it.
His face hardened.
“What does it say?” Tessa asked.
He hesitated.
“Daniel.”
He handed her the paper.
It was a wire authorization.
Recipient: Monroe Holdings LLC.
Amount: $6,400,000.
Authorized by: Vanessa Sterling.
Tessa’s stomach dropped.
“I don’t have a company.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I know.”
At the bottom of the page was an address.
Tessa recognized it instantly.
Her mother’s old house in Queens.
A house that had been sold four years ago.
Her hands began trembling.
Vanessa’s voice became quiet.
“Someone didn’t just use my name.”
May you like
She looked at Tessa.
“They used yours too.”
Related Stories
