Chapter 7 Cracks On The Surface

Vanessa's P.O.V

The next morning was cold and a mist curled across the hills surrounding the Hartwell's villa. Vanessa sat at the breakfast table in the sunroom, poking at the waffle and egg she had no intent on eating. Her thoughts were a mess; Cathan's unreadable expression from last night, Reggie's message, the suffocating weight of secrets.

Across the table sat Silvie, Cathan's younger sister. Barely nineteen, she was a quiet observer, always scribbling things in her notebook. But today, she was watching Vanessa with a thinly veiled curiosity.

"Do you know there are twenty cameras hidden in this villa?" Silvie said casually.

Vanessa blinked. "Excuse me?"

Silvie grinned, brushing her smooth fingers through her curls. "Uncle Austin gets paranoid. He installed them after the housekeeper stole a gold tea set. He does not know that I hacked into the system."

Vanessa stared. "You hacked... the surveillance system?"

"I love puzzles so much," Silvie smiled. "Besides, it is how I know that you and Cathan were talking on the balcony until 2 AM."

Vanessa sighed. "Is there any iota of privacy in this place?"

"Not when you marry into the Hartwell's empire."

Before Vanessa could respond, Cathan entered the room.

He was dressed down for the first time; blue jeans, a crisp blue shirt with no tie. But there was tension in his shoulders, and his eyes flicked briefly towards her before focusing on Silvie.

"Silvie, a word."

Silvie stood with a dramatic sigh. "Let me guess, you are about to ask me to stay out of your marriage. "Tch, Boring."

"Out now," Cathan said flatly.

With a wink at Vanessa, Silvie disappeared.

Cathan took the seat across from her.

"I got a message last night," he said.

Here we go.

"From who?" she asked, playing dumb.

He slid his phone across the table. In it was a photo of Reggie at the airport staring back at her.

"Did you call him?"

"No I did not," she said quickly. "He messaged me, but I did not ask him to come."

"Did you tell him where we were?"

"No."

He leaned back. "He is here. In this city."

She froze.

Cathan studied her like she was a chessboard, calculating. But beneath it, there was something raw. Not anger, but disappointment.

"I did not ask for this," she said softly. "I am desperately trying to survive in a world I do not belong to. And maybe he thinks he is helping me, but I did not ask him to."

For a moment, the mask slipped.

"It doesn't matter what you ask," Cathan said. "People see him hovering around my wife, and they make assumptions. They will question your loyalty. And mine as well."

Vanessa swallowed hard. "Then maybe they should stop caring too much about appearances and start caring about what is actually real."

Meanwhile...

Reggie's P.O.V

Reggie stood in front of the hotel's boutique floor-length mirror, adjusting the cuffs of his blazer. His assistant, Dinah, was reading to him his schedule.

"Sir you have a meeting with the Brezzo Group at 1PM, a press briefing at 3PM, and a dinner invite from Council Chairman Elliot tonight."

"Cancel the dinner," he said.

Dinah paused. "Sur do you think it is wise to be seen here, so close to the Hartwell's villa?"

"I didn't come here to be seen," Reggie said. "I came for her."

Dinah frowned. "You do know that she is married, right?"

He looked at her. "She is miserable. That is not marriage, that is a contract."

Back at the Villa ...

During the afternoon tea, Vanessa met Anna the villa's senior housekeeper. She was an older woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue. Anna ran the household like a military base, and she had been working in the Hartwell's villa for thirty-two years.

"You sit straight in front of the elders," she said as she corrected Vanessa's posture mid-sip. "And never speak unless you are spoken to."

"I think I prefer the people who didn't notice me," Vanessa muttered.

"They are easier," Anna said. "But easier does not teach you how to survive."

There was a flicker of something kind in the woman's eyes. It was brief, but it was there.

Later In The Evening...

As the sun set low, the family gathered again, but this time, the mood was much colder.

Cathan's mother, Layla Hartwell, sat at the head of the table, her diamond earrings shining like stars.

"We have been informed that Mr Reggie Franklin is in town," she said lightly, but her eyes were steel. "What a coincidence."

Vanessa felt everyone's eyes shift towards her.

Cathan spoke before she could. "We have nothing to do with his travel plans."

"I should hope not," Layla said. "Scandal has a stench, it stinks."

Vanessa said nothing. She could not.

And then came the knock at the door.

Silvie reappeared, her face pale. "There is a man here, he says he has a message for Vanessa."

Everyone stood.

Cathan was the first to get to the entrance. He opened the door to a man in uniform. A private courier.

"A message from Mr Reggie Franklin," the man said, handing over a sealed envelope with the address in gold ink.

Cathan didn't move.

Vanessa took it.

Her fingers trembling.

She opened the note.

It read:

~ I know you are afraid. You do not have to be.

If you are ready to go, I will be waiting. 8PM.

- Queen Lake

Cathan stepped close, reading over her shoulder. His voice was low but cold.

"You have until 7:59PM to make your decision." He said as he left the room.

Vanessa saw a word as she turned the note over, only to find something else scribbled in Reggie's handwritten note.

~ P.S: There is more going on in that house than you know. Ask Cathan about his engagement contract with Madison.

Vanessa's heartbeat quickened as she turned slowly to look at her husband.

And for the first time, she wondered if Cathan had been playing her all along.