Chapter 5 - The Story Vanessa Intended to Sell
Brooke refused to send Ryan anything until she spoke with her own lawyer.
Ryan respected that.
But she explained enough.
Six months earlier, Vanessa had approached her about developing a digital program for overwhelmed stepparents and new caregivers.
The concept changed several times.
At first it was about blended-family routines.
Then infant sleep.
Then something Vanessa called “calm conditioning.”
“She said she had a process,” Brooke told him.
“What process?”
“She never gave me a clinical description. I thought it was routines. Lighting. Noise. Feeding schedules.”
“Was she claiming to be a doctor?”
“No.”
“A therapist?”
“No. She was careful about that.”
Brooke sounded sick.
“She positioned it as personal experience. That's common online. I told her we couldn't make medical claims.”
Ryan looked across Megan's kitchen at Emma chewing the edge of a burp cloth.
“Where did the crying come in?”
“Before-and-after material.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
Brooke continued reluctantly.
“Vanessa said Emma had severe separation anxiety when she first started caring for her. The pitch was supposed to show improvement.”
“But Emma didn't.”
“What?”
“She wasn't like that.”
Ryan thought about the months before Vanessa became Emma's primary daytime caregiver.
Emma cried like any baby.
She also smiled easily, slept reasonably well, and reached for nearly everyone she knew.
Over the last two months, that had changed.
Emma became agitated upstairs.
She cried when Vanessa carried her toward the bedroom.
She stiffened when placed on the bed.
Ryan had blamed teething.
Then sleep regression.
Then himself for traveling.
Brooke said, “Ryan, I never saw anything like what you're describing.”
“You saw the footage.”
“Edited clips. Short ones.”
“How short?”
“Ten seconds. Fifteen. Sometimes less.”
“And you didn't wonder why she was crying?”
Brooke took a breath.
“I did.”
That answer mattered.
“What did Vanessa say?”
“That Emma cried when she was overtired. That filming didn't cause it.”
Brooke paused.
“There's something else.”
Ryan waited.
“Vanessa got angry when I told her the early clips weren't compelling.”
The words from the notification returned.
Baseline footage still isn't strong enough.
Brooke explained that in marketing, the emotional difference between the problem and the solution had to be obvious.
She had meant clearer storytelling.
Not more suffering.
“I told her we needed context,” Brooke said. “A caregiver saying, ‘This was our difficult week,’ then later showing improvement.”
“What did Vanessa hear?”
Brooke's voice broke slightly.
“I don't know.”
Ryan did.
He remembered her smile.
Still crying?
Want me to do it again?
Vanessa hadn't merely captured Emma's distress.
She had learned that stronger distress made stronger footage.
Brooke told Ryan she would preserve all project materials and cooperate with proper requests.
Before ending the call, she added one thing.
“There was supposed to be a launch next month.”
Ryan looked at Megan.
“For what?”
Brooke hesitated.
“A paid course called The Calm Home.”
Ryan nearly laughed.
Instead he asked the question that had been sitting underneath everything.
“Was Emma's name in it?”
“No.”
Ryan felt one second of relief.
May you like
Then Brooke said:
“Vanessa called her Baby E.”
