Chapter 7
Vanessa was arrested three days later.
Cops picked her up at a hotel downtown where she’d been hiding out since the questioning.
Charged with first-degree murder of Ethan Carter.
The state’s attorney said they were looking into adding charges for the other two deaths, plus attempted murder for pushing me down the stairs.
She was denied bail at her arraignment.
The judge called her a danger to the community.
I watched the hearing on TV from Mia’s apartment, where we were staying until the house was cleaned up.
Vanessa wore an orange jumpsuit, her hair pulled back in a tight bun, no makeup.
She glared at the camera the whole time, like she was daring someone to say she was guilty.
Her lawyer said she was innocent.
That all the evidence was fabricated.
That Cole was a stalker.
That I was a jealous wife who’d framed her to save my marriage.
No one believed him.
Not after the receipt.
Not after the texts.
Not after the neighbor came forward and picked her out of a lineup.
Daniel was a mess.
He’d been drinking nonstop since the hearing.
He’d lost twenty pounds in two weeks.
His eyes were hollow.
He kept calling me.
Texting me.
Leaving long, rambling voicemails begging me to forgive him.
I didn’t answer any of them.
I couldn’t.
Every time I heard his voice, I saw him standing by the vending machines at the hospital, smelling like her perfume, promising he’d make it all go away.
I couldn’t trust him anymore.
Maybe I never would.
Lila was doing great.
She was still in the NICU, but she was gaining weight every day.
The doctors said she’d be strong enough to come home by the end of the week.
I went to see her twice a day.
I sang to her.
I read her books.
I told her how much I loved her.
How I was never going to let anything bad happen to her ever again.
Elena, my lawyer, called me on Tuesday.
“Bad news,” she said. “Vanessa’s lawyer leaked a story to the press. They’re running it on the front page of the Tribune tomorrow.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of story?”
“The kind that sells papers,” she said. “They’re saying you’re a jealous, unstable wife who fabricated all the evidence against Vanessa. That you pushed yourself down the stairs to frame her and get sympathy. That you paid Cole to lie about the fire. They’re running old photos of you from college—you drunk at a party, you crying at a funeral—anything to make you look crazy. Daniel’s name is all over it too. They’re saying he was trapped between two crazy women and didn’t know who to believe.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can they do that?” I said.
“They can try,” Elena said. “It’s all hearsay. No facts. But it doesn’t matter. People love this shit. Rich husband. Pregnant wife. Murderous mistress. It’s a soap opera. The court of public opinion is going to have a field day. Social media is already blowing up. Half the people think you’re a hero. The other half think you’re a monster.”
I hung up.
I opened Twitter.
Sure enough.
#JealousRachel was trending.
People were calling me a liar.
A baby killer.
A gold digger.
Someone had posted a photo of me leaving the hospital the day I’d gone to meet Cole.
The caption: Bitch can’t even stay in bed long enough to heal before she’s out plotting her next lie.
I threw my phone across the room.
It hit the wall and clattered to the floor.
Mia ran in from the kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
I told her.
She picked up my phone and read the tweets.
Her face got redder and redder.
“Who the fuck do these people think they are?” she said. “They don’t know you. They don’t know what happened.”
She threw my phone on the couch.
“Who cares what they think? We have the truth. We have the evidence. Vanessa is going to jail for the rest of her life. That’s all that matters.”
She was right.
But it still hurt.
It hurt to have strangers judging me.
It hurt to have my name dragged through the mud.
It hurt that Vanessa was still hurting me, even from behind bars.
The worst part came that night.
A celebrity gossip site posted a photo.
Daniel, leaving Vanessa’s apartment at two in the morning, three days before she was arrested.
He was carrying a duffel bag.
His hair was messy.
His shirt was unbuttoned.
The caption: Still choosing her? Daniel Carter spotted leaving mistress Vanessa Holt’s apartment just hours before her arrest for murdering his own brother.
I stared at the photo.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
He’d been with her.
After everything he knew.
After reading the texts.
After seeing the lighter fluid.
After hearing what she’d done to Ethan.
He’d still gone to her.
He’d still chosen her.
I called Elena.
“File the emergency custody papers tomorrow,” I said. “Full, sole, legal and physical. No visitation. None. And freeze every single one of our joint bank accounts. Every credit card. Everything. He doesn’t get a dime. Not a penny. Not ever again.”
“Done,” Elena said.
I hung up.
I walked into the spare room where Lila’s crib was set up, waiting for her to come home.
I sat down on the floor next to it and cried.
Quiet, ugly sobs that shook my whole body.
I’d lost my husband.
I’d lost my home.
I’d lost my reputation.
All because I’d trusted the wrong people.
All because I’d loved a man who’d never deserved me.
The next morning, Elena filed the papers.
The judge granted the emergency custody order that afternoon.
Daniel was served at his apartment.
He called me ten times in a row.
I sent every call to voicemail.
He texted me.
I didn’t read a single one.
On Friday, the doctors called.
Lila was coming home.
Mia and I drove to the hospital.
We brought her home in a little pink outfit my mom had sent from Florida.
She was so small.
So perfect.
We walked into Mia’s apartment, and I carried her straight to her crib.
I laid her down.
She stretched, yawned, and fell asleep.
I stood there, watching her, when my phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
I opened it.
A photo.
My house.
The front door was open.
Another text.
I’m inside. We need to talk. Come alone. Bring Lila.
My blood turned to ice.
I recognized the number.
I’d memorized it from all the times Daniel had called me from her phone.
Vanessa.
She was out.
May you like
She was in my house.
And she was waiting for me.
