Chapter 10 - What Derek Had Promised Vanessa
Vanessa finally agreed to a formal interview with investigators.
Her attorney instructed her not to answer questions about the accounting scheme without a cooperation agreement.
She answered questions about the wedding.
The truth arrived in pieces.
Derek had told Vanessa that Rachel planned to expose Diane’s original misuse of deposits at Monday’s board meeting.
He said the lender would call the company’s loans.
He said Diane could face criminal charges.
He said Mercer Event Group would collapse before Vanessa returned from her honeymoon.
Most of that was speculation.
Vanessa believed it.
“What was the purpose of the cannon?” the detective asked.
Vanessa looked down.
“To scare Rachel. Make her leave.”
“Why metal?”
“Derek said small pieces would sting. Maybe scratch her. People would see her screaming and think she was overreacting.”
“You specified the left eye.”
Vanessa covered her face.
“I knew it was sensitive.”
Rachel listened later through her attorney.
The cruelty was worse when explained calmly.
Vanessa had not intended to blind her.
She had intended to use Rachel’s known vulnerability to create pain that could be dismissed as drama.
Then Derek supplied the second half of the plan.
Guests’ videos of Rachel yelling, pushing Vanessa away, and knocking over glasses would be sent to Diane and the directors before Monday.
Derek wanted Rachel placed on medical leave.
Without CFO access, the audit would stall.
“Did you know Derek took Rachel’s authorization token?” the detective asked.
“No.”
“Did you know he approved $186,000 that morning?”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“No.”
Investigators showed her the bank transfers.
Then the larger diversion totals.
Vanessa went quiet.
Derek had convinced her they were still using inflated invoices to replace the money Diane had originally misused.
In reality, most of the later payments never returned to Mercer Event Group.
They went to Sloan Event Fabrication, private lenders, and an account Derek controlled alone.
Three earlier clues now meant something different.
Derek’s desperation to keep guests recording Rachel had been strategic.
His entry into Rachel’s changing area had been financial, not personal.
His threat that Rachel was “trying to bankrupt him” was literal.
Vanessa had helped commit fraud to protect Diane.
Derek had turned that protection into his own theft.
Then he persuaded Vanessa to assault the one person likely to uncover both.
The major twist did not make Vanessa innocent.
She had poured the metal herself.
But it destroyed the story she had told herself—that she and Derek had committed one terrible act together to save the family.
Derek had been willing to sacrifice her too.
His attorney’s next filing proved it.
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Derek claimed Vanessa alone modified the cannon.
He said he had no idea metal was inside.
