“You always were so blind to the people closest to you, Ben,” she said.

She leaned in, her eyes gleaming with malice under the harsh office lights.

“Claire didn’t just get sick,” Vanessa whispered.

“She found out what I was planning, and she tried to stop me.”

“But a weak heart can only take so much stress, can’t it?”

Benjamin’s face drained of what little color he had left.

“You monster,” he breathed, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Take her out,” Detective Pierce ordered sharply.

The officers dragged Vanessa toward the double glass doors of the study.

“Check the safe, Benjamin!” Vanessa screamed back over her shoulder as they pulled her into the hallway.

“Check the blood types of your precious little girls!”

“Check who actually signed the birth certificates!”

Her voice faded down the corridor, replaced by the heavy thud of the front door closing.

Then, there was only the sound of the wind howling against the glass pane outside.

Benjamin stood motionless in the center of the room.

His gaze was fixed on the Persian rug beneath his feet.