Chapter 4 - The Appointment That Never HappenedVanessa canceled the appointment two days later.
Migraine.
The next one was supposedly rescheduled.
Then the doctor had an emergency.
Daniel said nothing.
He watched.
That was something his father had taught him.
When people lie badly, confrontation helps them.
Silence does not.
Daniel placed the strip of adhesive in a desk drawer.
He didn't know what it proved.
Maybe nothing.
But he had started remembering details differently.
Vanessa never changed clothes in front of him anymore.
She slept in loose gowns.
She had stopped asking him to touch her stomach weeks earlier.
When he mentioned not feeling the baby move, she blamed an anterior placenta.
It had sounded medically plausible.
Perhaps it was.
That afternoon Daniel called the clinic Vanessa had originally used.
He did not ask for records.
He knew they couldn't release them.
"I'm trying to confirm an appointment my wife asked me to attend."
The receptionist searched.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Whitmore. I can't confirm patient information without authorization."
"Understood."
He hung up.
No answer.
But something about even needing to ask made him feel sick.
That evening Eleanor Whitmore visited.
At sixty-eight, Daniel's mother remained the only person who could enter his house without invitation and criticize the flowers while doing it.
She found him alone in the library.
"Where's Vanessa?"
"Out."
Eleanor noticed his mood.
"What happened?"
Daniel hesitated.
Then told her.
Not everything.
Only Caleb's claim.
Eleanor stared at him.
"He's three."
"I know."
"And you're investigating your pregnant wife because a toddler said her stomach comes off?"
"When you say it like that, I sound insane."
"You are acting insane."
Daniel looked away.
Eleanor softened.
"Your father distrusted everyone. Don't inherit that part of him."
"Did Vanessa tell you about her next doctor's appointment?"
"Why would she?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Eleanor sat across from him.
"Daniel, pregnancy after loss is frightening. Vanessa doesn't need a detective. She needs a husband."
The words landed.
That night Daniel apologized to Vanessa.
Not completely.
But enough.
"I don't want to turn this into something cruel."
Vanessa sat at her dressing table.
"Then don't."
"I want to trust you."
She looked at his reflection.
"Do you?"
Daniel took too long to answer.
Vanessa stood.
"That's what I thought."
She went into the bathroom.
Her phone remained on the table.
It vibrated.
Daniel wasn't trying to read it.
But the preview appeared automatically.
RICHARD: We need to move it tonight. He found something.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Vanessa emerged.
She saw where he was looking.
Her face changed.
"Who is Richard talking about?"
She snatched up the phone.
"Company business."
"What needs to be moved?"
"Documents."
"From where?"
"Daniel, stop."
"Is he talking about me?"
Vanessa walked past him.
Daniel followed.
"What did he mean by 'he found something'?"
She turned sharply.
"You wanted to become suspicious? Congratulations. Now everything will look suspicious."
"Then explain it."
"I don't owe you an explanation for every text message."
"You're my wife."
"Not your employee."
She left the bedroom.
Daniel remained still.
Richard Hale had been CFO of Whitmore Development for eleven years.
He had worked with Daniel's father before Daniel became CEO.
Daniel had trusted him with acquisitions, financing and corporate accounts worth hundreds of millions.
Now, for the first time, Daniel wondered whether the lie inside his house had anything to do with the company outside it.
He opened his laptop.
At 11:17 p.m., he searched recent internal audit reports.
One file immediately caught his attention.
A review Daniel had ordered four months earlier had been suspended.
May you like
At Vanessa's request.
Because she had told him the stress might endanger their unborn baby.
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