Chapter 7
Alessandra confronted Vanessa first.
She wanted to see how much confidence remained when Gavin was not in the room.
Vanessa arrived with Ethan and an attorney.
Ethan’s bruised cheek had darkened.
He smiled when he saw Alessandra.
“You hit harder than I expected.”
Alessandra ignored him.
She slid printed garage photographs across the table.
Vanessa glanced down.
Her breathing changed.
Barely.
But Alessandra saw it.
“Why did you take these?”
Vanessa looked at her attorney.
Then back.
“I was documenting his condition.”
“For whom?”
Silence.
Alessandra leaned forward.
Vanessa’s hand slowly closed over one photograph.
“For Gavin.”
“Why?”
“He asked.”
Ethan interrupted.
“Enough.”
Alessandra’s eyes moved toward him.
He held her gaze with the same arrogance he had shown before attacking her.
“You think because you run this hotel everyone has to explain themselves.”
Alessandra smiled faintly.
“No.”
Her voice dropped.
“But people usually start explaining when they're afraid of what I already know.”
Ethan’s smile vanished.
Vanessa looked toward him.
Power shifted again.
Alessandra noticed.
She pressed harder.
“What were the photographs for?”
Vanessa finally answered.
“To show Tobin had been left alone.”
Alessandra stared at her.
“You were the people who left him alone.”
Vanessa said nothing.
That contradiction was the point.
The images were meant to create a story separate from the truth.
Alessandra asked:
“Who was supposed to see them?”
Vanessa’s fingers tightened.
Then her attorney quietly told her not to answer.
Alessandra leaned back.
She had enough.
Not the answer.
The direction.
May you like
Someone intended to show those photographs to a third party.
And make it appear that Tobin had been abandoned under Alessandra’s watch.
