Chapter 8 - The Poisoned Mind
I stared at my son in absolute disbelief, my mind struggling to process how he had escaped the police station.
"Daniel, how are you here?" I gasped, taking a step toward the desk.
He didn't stand up to greet me, and his eyes were completely devoid of their usual warmth.
"Captain Reynolds let me go after Vanessa called him and dropped the charges," Daniel said, his voice terrifyingly flat.
"She dropped the charges?" Rosa whispered, confused by the sudden change in tactics.
Daniel slowly raised the original charter document, staring at the faded ink of my late husband's signature.
"Vanessa told me everything, Mom," Daniel said, looking at me with an expression of pure disgust.
I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I realized Vanessa had used his release to manipulate him further.
"Whatever she told you is a lie, Daniel, she is a con artist," I pleaded.
Daniel slammed his fist onto the wooden desk, making me jump in surprise.
"She told me the truth about how Dad built this fortune!" he yelled, his voice cracking with emotion.
He explained that Vanessa claimed her grandfather was my late husband's original business partner.
According to her twisted story, my husband had stolen the patent for their first product and left her family in ruins.
"She said her family lost everything because of our greed, and she only came here to take back what rightfully belongs to her," Daniel explained.
He looked at me with tears streaming down his face, devastated by the fake legacy he now believed in.
"Is it true, Mom? Did we build this empire on stolen money?" he demanded.
I closed my eyes, realizing the sheer genius of Vanessa's psychological warfare.
She knew she couldn't keep Daniel in jail forever, so she decided to turn him against me completely.
"Your father never stole anything from anyone, Daniel," I said softly but firmly.
"Vanessa is a career criminal, and her real husband just tried to extort us a few hours ago!"
Daniel shook his head, completely brainwashed by the woman he loved.
"She showed me the forged documents Dad used, they looked completely real," he argued.
"She forged the wire transfers to frame you, why wouldn't she forge those too?" I countered logically.
Daniel hesitated, the absolute certainty in his eyes beginning to crack.
I walked over to the desk and pulled a small, locked leather diary from a hidden drawer he didn't know existed.
"This is your father's personal journal from the year he started the company," I said, handing it to him.
Before Daniel could open the diary, the study doors burst open with a loud crash.
Vanessa walked into the room, flanked by her armed guards and a man wearing the collar of a Catholic priest.
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"I am so glad you could join us, Margaret," Vanessa smiled wickedly.
"Because Daniel and I are getting married right now, whether he wants to or not."
